{"id":2217,"date":"2011-04-23T08:17:27","date_gmt":"2011-04-23T14:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2217"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:10:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T11:10:03","slug":"antelope-island-state-park-springs-awakening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/04\/23\/antelope-island-state-park-springs-awakening\/","title":{"rendered":"Antelope Island State Park – Spring’s Awakening"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SpringtimeSpringtime View of Frary’s Peak – Nikon D200, f10, 1\/320, ISO 400, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve spent a few days out on Antelope Island State Park this past week and from all appearances spring is making its debut. You wouldn’t know it by looking east and seeing the snow-covered peaks of the Wasatch Mountain Range, but yes, winter is leaving the Great Salt Lake Valley.<\/p>\n

The weather is still a bit unstable at this point in time, one day it will be warm and sunny and the might be next cold with threatening storms on the horizon.<\/p>\n

The photo above of Frary’s Peak on the island is quite a bit different looking than the image I posted awhile back here<\/span><\/a>, now there is only a little bit of snow left on the peak, the sagebrush has started to leaf out and the grasslands are turning green.<\/p>\n

\"Long-billedLong-billed Curlew wing lift – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Along the causeway on the drive out to the island you can easily see many of the shorebirds that make the Great Salt Lake and surrounding areas their home during the breeding season are returning. I’ve seen flocks of Avocets, Long-billed Curlews and Willets feeding on the shoreline.\u00a0 The numbers of gulls have increased and I saw my first of the year Franklin’s Gulls fly past me as I came to the island.<\/p>\n

Long-billed Curlews make themselves know by a wonderful call. Quite often I hear them before I can see them and for me they herald spring’s arrival.<\/p>\n

\"LoneAn alert Coyote\u00a0 – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 400, +0.7, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve been seeing Coyotes more frequently roaming about the island\u00a0 hunting voles and I’ve noticed that they are beginning to shed their warmer winter coats for the sleeker ones they don in summer.<\/p>\n

The Coyote in the image above shows the shorter fur around its eye and a spot on top of the forehead. The Bison on the island have also begun to lose big hunks of fur and if you look closely you will find hanks of it hung up on sagebrush branches and the dried stalks of Moth Mulleins.<\/p>\n

I’d love to find a Coyote den this year to photograph the pups rolling around in mock fights with each other.<\/p>\n

\"LoggerheadLoggerhead Shrike on a dead bush – Nikon D200, f56., 1\/200, ISO 400, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the Loggerhead Shrikes have already selected a mate and\u00a0several pairs of them have flown low into the sagebrushes with nesting material in their bills. It won’t be long before there will be eggs in those nests. I’ve seen a few Sage Thrashers already and while going up to the parking area for Frary’s Peak I saw my first of the season Savannah Sparrow too. I’m looking forward to seeing the birds of the island I have missed all winter long.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Pronghorn feeding on Gray’s Biscuitroot – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 400, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\n

The herds of Pronghorn have been out grazing on the spring growth of the new shoots of grasses and Gray’s Biscuitroot.<\/p>\n

I have noticed that many of the females are heavy with their young. I am fascinated by how quickly the newborn pronghorns are able to run quickly along side their parents especially taking into consideration that it takes most humans a year or so to walk at all. Besides that\u00a0I think that young pronghorns are so cute that they delight me.<\/p>\n

\"Gray'sGray’s Biscuitroot (Lomatium grayi<\/em>) in bloom – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\n

Gray’s Biscuitroot blankets some parts of the island in spring with their bright yellow blooms and green fern-like leaves. The biscuit roots are in the parsley family.\u00a0It is documented that Lewis & and Clark \u00a0would send scouts out to Native American camps and would trade for baskets of biscuit root and a bread that the natives made of the root called Cowas. Both the root and the dried seeds are quite edible, I’ve yet to take a nibble of the root, maybe one day I will.<\/p>\n

The brine flies have started to make their appearance. An important food source for many of the birds on the island there will soon be places along the road where the swarms of brine flies look like dark mini-tornadoes. At least they don’t bite and the swallows love them.<\/p>\n

Speaking of biting; I’m dreading the biting gnats that show up on the island about this time of year. They are very tiny little things but they sure makes their bites known. You can’t even see them to swat the nasty buggers! Be sure to use an insect repellent or you might be quite miserable!<\/p>\n

Despite those gnats\u00a0it is always worth the time to go to Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> and savor the gorgeous views, the abundant varieties of birds, unique geological formations\u00a0and the wildlife seen on the island.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve spent a few days out on Antelope Island State Park this past week and from all appearances spring is making its debut. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,100,247,199,183,26,5347],"tags":[4096,4021,514,733,4002,3981,515,513,4005,4171,4066,4132,4133,185,165],"class_list":["post-2217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-coyotes","category-loggerhead-shrikes","category-long-billed-curlews","category-pronghorn","category-utah","category-wildflowers","tag-antilocapra-americana","tag-bird-photography","tag-biting-gnats","tag-canis-latrans","tag-coyote","tag-davis-county","tag-frarys-peak","tag-grays-biscuitroot","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-lanius-ludovicianus","tag-loggerhead-shrike","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-numenius-americanus","tag-pronghorn","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/antelope-island-spring-frarys-peak-mia-mcpherson-1188.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-zL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101005,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/24\/spring-pronghorn-buck-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":2217,"position":0},"title":"Spring Pronghorn Buck Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to get out into the field yesterday morning and while I was on Antelope Island State Park I took a series of spring buck Pronghorn photos.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring buck Pronghorn close up, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/pronghorn-buck-early-spring-portrait-mia-mcpherson-4137.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/pronghorn-buck-early-spring-portrait-mia-mcpherson-4137.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/pronghorn-buck-early-spring-portrait-mia-mcpherson-4137.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/pronghorn-buck-early-spring-portrait-mia-mcpherson-4137.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7989,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/01\/springtime-pronghorns-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":2217,"position":1},"title":"Springtime Pronghorns on Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"These Pronghorn images were taken a few years ago during the spring and I thought I would share them this morning partly because the yellow flowers in these images; Gray's Biscuitroot, have just started to bloom this year.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pronghorn doe in the spring, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-female-walking-mia-mcpherson-6380.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-female-walking-mia-mcpherson-6380.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-female-walking-mia-mcpherson-6380.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-female-walking-mia-mcpherson-6380.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15006,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/05\/20\/loggerhead-shrikes-and-a-few-things-that-bug-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":2217,"position":2},"title":"Loggerhead Shrikes And A Few Things That Bug Them","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning while Antelope Island there was a Loggerhead Shrike perched on a dead branch that was near the north shoreline of the Great Salt Lake.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"One adult Loggerhead Shrike bringing in prey to another, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrikes-prey-mia-mcpherson-7091.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrikes-prey-mia-mcpherson-7091.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrikes-prey-mia-mcpherson-7091.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrikes-prey-mia-mcpherson-7091.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4621,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/13\/feathers-fur\/","url_meta":{"origin":2217,"position":3},"title":"Feathers & Fur","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I thought I would post a few images taken this past week from Antelope Island State Park and the west desert in Tooele County. 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