desert

Sharp-shinned Hawk Perched And Preening

By |October 19th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Sharp-shinned Hawks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When it comes to accipiters I see Sharp-shinned Hawks less frequently than I do Cooper's Hawks or Northern Goshawks so when I have a Sharp-shinned Hawk in my viewfinder I become very excited.

Photographing Autumn Townsend’s Solitaires

By |October 9th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Townsend's Solitaires, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last Friday as I looked for birds in a few West Desert canyons I was serenaded by the songs and calls of Townsend's Solitaires and while I loved hearing them it was frustrating because they were either too far away or hidden from my view.

Immature Turkey Vultures In Northern Utah

By |September 18th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I don't have many decent photos of immature Turkey Vultures so when I spotted several of them 11 days ago in northern Utah I was excited but my hopes for good light on the hatch year birds were dashed by clouds.

Gray Flycatcher Perched In Fragrant Sumac

By |September 8th, 2019|Categories: Bird ID, Birds, Box Elder County, Gray Flycatchers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

As it turns out this flycatcher gave me a wonderful behavioral clue that made identifying it a little easier for me because I watched it wag its tail slowly up and down repeatedly while perched which Gray Flycatchers are known to do.

Adult White-crowned Sparrow In Rabbitbrush – Small in The Frame

By |September 4th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Sometimes the colors of in a photo I have taken are what pleases me and draws me in even if my subject is small in the frame, in this case my subject was an adult White-crowned Sparrow.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets – Challenging Subjects

By |September 1st, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Morgan County, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Ruby-crowned Kinglets always seem to be on the move and blend into their habitat well which makes them challenging subjects to photograph.  I love the challenge of photographing small birds though.

Luke’s SWOT Analysis And Desert Diorama

By |May 11th, 2019|Categories: Bighorn Sheep, Coyotes, Davis County, Dead Horse Point State Park, Emery County, Rattlesnakes, The Wedge, Utah, Wayne County, White-tailed Prairie Dogs, Wildlife|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Okay, so you may be wondering who Luke is? Luke is my youngest grandchild, he is 11, he is in 5th grade and he lives in North Carolina.

Mule Deer Doe & May Snow In The Stansbury Mountains

By |May 2nd, 2019|Categories: Mule Deer, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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! 

Male Red-tailed Hawk Resting On A Desert Cliff

By |April 28th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The best bird I spotted that I could photograph was a male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face and what I loved about this photo was all the grasses, lichen, wildflowers and the sage high up on the cliff.

More Photos Of The Rufous Red-tailed Hawk Female

By |April 1st, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had a great time photographing this beautiful rufous Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning and I'm glad I had good light when I did.

Yellow-bellied Marmot Pup Warming Up On The Rocks

By |March 7th, 2019|Categories: Box Elder County, Utah, Wildlife, Yellow-bellied Marmots|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yellow-bellied Marmots are also called "Whistle Pigs" and "Rock Chucks" so I have to wonder should I call their pups "Whistle Piglets" and "Rock Chucklets" or just call them cute and adorable?

White-tailed Antelope Squirrel Resting On A Boulder In Wayne County, Utah

By |February 22nd, 2019|Categories: Utah, Wayne County, White-tailed Antelope Squirrels, Wildlife|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed this White-tailed Antelope Squirrel in 2016 near Torrey in Wayne County, Utah, the squirrel was resting on a boulder a couple hundred yards away from where I was camping.

Winter Ferruginous Hawk Lift Off And Flight Series

By |December 16th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Yellow-bellied Marmot Pup With A Pale Face In Northern Utah

By |November 29th, 2018|Categories: Box Elder County, Utah, Yellow-bellied Marmots|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

At one of the burrows where I photographed Yellow-bellied Marmot pups in the spring there was one pup of the five that had a paler face than the other four had and I thought that was interesting.

Adult White-crowned Sparrow On A Fence With Rabbitbrush In The Background

By |November 24th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, New World Sparrows & Allies, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was thinking back on brighter days this morning and decided to share this photo of an adult White-crowned Sparrow perched on a fence with the bright yellow blooms of rabbitbrush in the background.

Autumn American Goldfinch and Rose Hips

By |November 23rd, 2018|Categories: American Goldfinches, Birds, Box Elder County, Finches and Allies, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Earlier this week I left home well before the sun came up, sat on my rear end for over five hours, traveled over 230 miles and the only decent image I took was of this American Goldfinch perched on a wild rose surrounded by scarlet rose hips.

Autumn Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler

By |November 13th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wood-Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I seem to have missed out on seeing lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers this year during their fall migration, I saw a few back in late September and early October but haven't seen any for some time.

Cooperative Northern Mockingbird in Autumn

By |October 21st, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Mockingbirds, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Some days one good bird is all I get and if I hadn't spotted this cooperative Mockingbird on a Fragrant Sumac in northern Utah yesterday I would have been mostly skunked.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Photographed in Golden Light

By |October 3rd, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

The same morning that I photographed the Sage Thrasher with the berry in mid air I was also able to take a series of images of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the sweet golden light just after dawn.

Sage Thrasher With Fragrant Sumac Berry In Mid Air In Dawn’s Golden Light

By |October 2nd, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Sage Thrashers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Sage Thrasher seemed like it was bathed in golden light when suddenly I saw that it had a sumac berry which it tossed it into the air and proceeded to swallow it whole.

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