Mule Deer Doe & May Snow In The Stansbury Mountains
My best photo of the morning was a Mule Deer doe in a stand of junipers and even then a cloud blocked the beautiful light. Yes, that is snow on the junipers, on May 1st!
Nesting House Wrens And A Closed Gate
I tried to get up into a canyon in the Stansbury Mountains yesterday but was met with a closed gate so I turned my Jeep around and decided that I would explore a different canyon.
Utah’s West Desert In Bloom
Native or introduced these purple wildflowers were a joy for me to see and photograph in the West Desert of Utah.
Gone Wandering
I am out wandering and I have a very poor cell signal so I will be surprised if this gets published. This is a photo taken before Sunset last night where I am camping.
Upside Down Red-breasted Nuthatch In A Fir Tree
While trying to get up into the mountains of the West Desert the other day I heard a call that excited me, it was the call of a single Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Sometimes Great Views Are All I Get
Sometimes I go out to look for birds to photograph and all I get are great views of the scenery, sometimes I am okay with that and sometimes it is very frustrating.
Nature’s Calendar – Spring Sprang A While Ago
The birds we observe, learn from and photograph care naught for the constrictions of our human calendars instead they listen to ancient, instinctual rhythms inside themselves.
Winter Inversions – Why It Is Depressing To Head Home During Our Inversions
I do get depressed some days on the way home from being up in the mountains and our winter inversions are why. Sorry for being a downer today.
Winter Ferruginous Hawk Lift Off And Flight Series
I was able to photograph two Ferruginous Hawks yesterday morning in the West Desert in Tooele County. The light was good, I had birds in my viewfinder and I was away from our building inversion so I was one happy woman.
Photographing Wild Turkeys In The Mountains
I'm always glad to see and photograph Wild Turkeys and most of the time I see them more than I can photograph them because they are often too far away but some days it does work out that I can have them in my viewfinder and click the shutter release.
Red-breasted Nuthatches Hanging Upside Down
The Red-breasted Nuthatches that I photographed foraging and hanging upside down yesterday weren't calling, they seem to be quiet during that activity but I could hear other nuthatches in the trees all around me.
Red-breasted Nuthatch Foraging In A Douglas Fir
For a few seconds yesterday morning I was thrilled to have a Red-breasted Nuthatch foraging on a Douglas Fir cone in my viewfinder directly in front of me.
Cutest Bee Flies in the World on Rabbitbrush & Curlycup Gumweed
I photographed some of the cutest, fuzzy Bee Flies in the world this week nectaring on Rabbitbrush and Curlycup Gumweed in the Stansbury Mountains of the West Desert.
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Portrait in the Stansbury Mountains
It isn't often that I am able to get close enough to a Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay that my only option is to take closeup portraits of them yet that is precisely what happened to me two days ago.
Let’s Talk Turkey About Wild Turkeys In A West Desert Canyon
I photographed a small flock of Wild Turkeys yesterday in the West Desert of Utah, specifically in a canyon of the Stansbury Mountains. I just never know when turkeys will show up and I am glad they did yesterday because I didn't photograph many other birds.
Western Branded Skipper Butterflies And Rabbitbrush
I saw plenty of Western Branded Skipper butterflies nectaring on blooming rabbitbrush in both the canyons I explored yesterday morning and I can't resist, nor do I want to, photographing wildflowers and butterflies.
Young Wildlife – Moose, Marmot, Pronghorn, Red Fox and Wild Horses
Spring is the season of birth and rebirth, the leaves of trees unfurl, the dormant grasses and forbs poke up through the ground, flower buds burst open and flowers in all the colors of the rainbow appear on the landscapes, birds nest and incubate and wild animals give birth to their young.
Wild Turkey Tom Strutting and Displaying Plus Memories Turkeys Arouse In Me
Breeding season has begun for Wild Turkeys so when I spotted a flock of them yesterday in the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County I was hoping to photograph a tom turkey strutting.
Snow-covered Deseret Peak and the Stansbury Mountain Range
My only keeper images of the morning were a few photos I took of the Stansbury Mountain Range and Deseret Peak and even those weren't that great but I loved seeing the snow-covered mountains.
Mountain Chickadee in Ophir Canyon
Last week while photographing birds in Ophir Canyon I was able to take a short series of photos of a Mountain Chickadee perched in a juniper right after I photographed some bushtits.
Nemesis Birds – Bushtit Photos
Bushtits are a nemesis bird for me, I have only had a few opportunities to photograph these tiny, frenetic birds and I have yet to get high quality images of them.
Feathered Tarsi – Ferruginous & Rough-legged Hawks Have Feathered Legs
North America has two hawk (buteos) species that have feathered tarsi, or legs, those two species are Ferruginous Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk Looking At The Rising Sun – Plus a New Personal Challenge
I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk while in a canyon going up into the Stansbury Mountains as the bird looked into the rising sun.
Northern Utah Mule Deer
These two Mule Deer were photographed in different settings, different lighting situations but about the same time of the morning and I find them both appealing.
Ferruginous Hawk, Harvest Moon and the Rising Sun
Truthfully I had better luck with the moon and mountains than I did birds yesterday except for one handsome Ferruginous Hawk perched along the road near farm lands.
When the Birds are Slow In Utah There is Always Great Scenery
Finding birds was very challenging yesterday in the canyons of the Stansbury Mountains but it wasn't hard to find beauty in the scenery.
Prickly Poppies, Bees and a Grasshopper
Each Prickly Poppy flower is about 3 to 5 inches across with yellow centers of clustered stamens and delicate petals that look like white crepe paper.
Light Morph Ferruginous Hawk in the West Desert
Yesterday I was able to photograph the largest buteo in North America, a gorgeous Ferruginous Hawk that was on top of a hill with the Stansbury Mountains of the West Desert in the background.
Chipping Sparrow, Mourning Dove and Changing Views
I couldn't resist photographing this tiny Chipping Sparrow singing while perched on a "cedar" fence post with the sky and dark juniper behind it.
West Desert Horned Lark On Sagebrush
My best images of the day though were of this male Horned Lark that I found and pointed out on sagebrush singing and being blown around by the wind.