While Franklin's Gulls are in northern Utah for their breeding season brine flies are an important food source for the adults and their young and are a part of their breeding success here in the Great Basin.
In late summer I see Nashville and MacGillivray’s Warblers in the same locations and habitats foraging for the same food, aphids.
What I missed seeing was that the immature Belted Kingfisher had spider webs stuck to its face in a long series of photos that I took of it next to a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.
This is a female Great Spangled Fritillary, a butterfly species that can be abundant in the Wasatch Mountains at this time of the year.
Last week I photographed a fritillary butterfly photobomb a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly as it nectared on a Showy Milkweed high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Any day now I should spot my first of season fledgling Song Sparrow exploring their world and learning how to find food on their own.
The past few weeks I've been hearing and seeing Northern Yellow Warbler fledglings while I have been photographing birds high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Blue Elderberry shrubs are blooming right now high in the Wasatch Mountains. Two days ago I took a few photos of the elderberry blossoms.
I started my morning off yesterday in the Wasatch Mountains photographing an American Mink family that appeared on the bank of a creek.
The last bird I photographed high in the Wasatch Mountains three days ago was an adult Turkey Vulture perched in an aspen in a smoky haze.
I couldn't escape the smoke that is covering Utah even high in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday but I was delighted to photograph a Least Chipmunk and wildflowers through the smoky haze.
Last week before the smoke started to darken the skies in northern Utah I had a few seconds to photograph an adult Cliff Swallow next to a steep mountain road.
The Antelope Island Spider Fest starts on August 2, 2021 and continues through August 7, 2021 this year.
Twelve years ago this morning I woke in Grand Island, Nebraska. I was a little more than 800 miles from my destination of Salt Lake City.
Three days ago I was delighted to have both an immature and an adult male Belted Kingfisher in my viewfinder as I sat next to a creek in the mountains.
I photographed this adult Northern House Wren last week while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains looking for birds and cooling off in higher elevation temperatures.
Brown-headed Cowbird breeding activity hasn't slowed down yet high in the Wasatch Mountains if this displaying male is any indication of their mating attempts.
At the end of June I had a few moments to focus on an adult male American Goldfinch perched on a chokecherry tree high in the Wasatch Mountains.
I photographed my first of year juvenile American Robin two days ago as it foraged on its own high in a Wasatch Mountain canyon near a creek.
What intrigued me the most was the post-coital posture of the female Spotted Sandpiper where she kept one wing raised for a long period of time.
I haven't had many opportunities to take Willow Flycatcher photos so far this year but two days ago I had one in my view finder and took images of it.
Yesterday morning I spent part of my time in the Wasatch Mountains focused on a Gray Catbird searching for ripe honeysuckle berries.
I'm sharing another simple post this morning of a Cedar Waxwing I photographed last summer that had a small chokecherry in its bill that wasn't ripe.
One of the birds I photographed on the June morning was this American Robin that was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of it.
While photographing nesting House Wrens three days ago I was also able to photograph an adult Green-tailed Towhee up close in a serviceberry shrub.
After taking photos of Cliff Swallows gathering nesting materials two days ago I took more Northern House Wren photos of the nesting pair I found in the Wasatch Mountains.
Yesterday morning I photographed Cliff Swallows gathering nesting materials and fighting in bright morning light high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Had it not been for my keen eyesight and a little bit of movement in a serviceberry shrub I would have missed out on taking nesting Northern House Wren photos yesterday.
This adult male Northern Yellow Warbler photo taken in the Wasatch Mountains a few years ago reminds me that any day now I could see and hear these bright yellow birds.
Sage Thrashers return to northern Utah in March and it is now time for me to start listening for their songs and melodies.