West Desert Mourning Dove Images

Male Mourning Dove perched on a gnarly fence post – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

This morning I am sharing three simple Mourning Dove images that I took two days ago out in the sky island mountains of Utah’s West Desert. It was a quiet, sunny and slightly breezy morning. I was slowly driving down from the forested parts of the mountains when I spotted this male dove perched on a fence post in lovely light. Because he didn’t fly off immediately I got set up to photograph him.

Mourning Dove on a breezy morning – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

The slight breeze ruffled some of the male Mourning Dove’s feathers and in this image it made his head feathers lift in the back which created a slight crest.

I photographed more Mourning Doves earlier in the morning at a higher elevation that were foraging and chasing each other around in the grasses. Today though I preferred the simplicity of these photos. I like the peaceful feeling I get when I view these images. Some days I need that peaceful feeling almost as much as I need the air that I breathe.

Mourning Dove in a light breeze – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I took quite a few images of this male Mourning Dove perched on this gnarly old fence post before I decided to leave him and head to other canyons that I wanted to explore that morning. I thanked the dove, turned on my Jeep and headed down the bumpy road feeling grateful that he stuck around long enough for me to take these images.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to view more of my Mourning Dove photos plus facts and information about this species.