causeway

Coyotes – The Song Dog

By Mia McPherson, on November 24th, 2012%

Not long after arriving at Antelope Island yesterday I heard the sound of Coyotes singing, it is a sound that always brings a smile to my lips and delights me.

Coyote on the shore of the Great Salt Lake 1 – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 242mm, natural light, not baited or called in

I couldn’t get any decent images of the pair of singing Coyotes on the island because there was too much dried vegetation in the way but it was fun to watch them even though they had stopped calling by then.

Later on; after leaving the island, I spotted another pair of Coyotes along the causeway and photographed them for a while. They were probably going to look for the leftover bits of ducks that the falcons leave on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake.

Coyote on the shore of the Great Salt Lake 2 – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 257mm, natural light, not baited or called in

I enjoy photographing the Coyotes along the causeway because the setting there is so different from the prairie grasses and sagebrush habitat on the island itself.

Coyote on the shore of the Great Salt Lake 3 – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 257mm, natural light, not baited or called in

The Coyotes look beautiful in their fluffy winter coats and the warm morning sunlight. I can’t wait to hear the Song Dogs sing again, it is a sound that should never be silenced.

Mia

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Coyote on the shore of the Great Salt Lake

By Mia McPherson, on March 11th, 2011%

Coyote on the go with the Great Salt Lake in the background

Coyote on the go with the Great Salt Lake in the background
Antelope Island State Park Causeway, Davis County, Utah
Nikon D200, f5.6, 1/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 280mm, natural light, not baited

Photographing with a partner often pays off in good ways. Yesterday Ron and I went back out to Antelope Island State Park for the third day in a row, Ron does the driving and I do the spotting. The speed limit on the causeway to the island is 55 mph so sometimes I see birds or animals just about the time we pass them on the road.

Yesterday I spotted a Coyote (Canis latrans) on the south side of the causeway and said “Stop, stop” to Ron. We couldn’t stop right away because there was a vehicle right behind us so we had passed the coyote by quite a bit by the time we could stop and turn back and in that time the coyote crossed the road to the north side of the causeway. Jackpot!

It would have been very challenging to photograph the coyote on the south side of the causeway because of the angle of the light but the north side works out great.

Coyote looking towards the east

Coyote looking towards the east
Antelope Island State Park Causeway, Davis County, Utah
Nikon D200, f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

We spent a few minutes photographing the Coyote in the early morning light as it walked and stood on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake. The water level is up from where it was last year so the coyote stayed close to the road so we were able to photograph the coyote in many different poses. This one still has its winter coat but before long it will shed it for the sleeker summer coat. The color of their eyes is beautiful any time of day but the rising sun sure makes them even more lovely.

I’m hoping we can find a den this year so we can photograph the pups, from a safe and ethical distance of course. Neither of us ever want to disturb or disrupt animals or birds, especially when they have young.

Mia

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