{"id":23794,"date":"2015-05-14T05:45:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=23794"},"modified":"2026-04-28T06:14:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:14:23","slug":"desert-cottontail-nibbling-on-dew-laden-grass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/14\/desert-cottontail-nibbling-on-dew-laden-grass\/","title":{"rendered":"Desert Cottontail nibbling on dew laden grass"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DesertDesert Cottontail nibbling on dew laden grass – Nikon D810, f13, 1\/500, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

After a few rainy days last week I was able to go to Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> and photograph this Desert Cottontail nibbling on dew laden grasses.<\/p>\n

The pink specular highlights (spots) in this image are Redstem Filaree blooms and the yellow ones are from the blooms of Black Mustard at the base of a sagebrush.<\/p>\n

Some people don’t like the bright specular highlights and will clone them out or using a brush to tone them down but they are what they are and I won’t bother to “fix” them because I don’t feel they need fixing.<\/p>\n

I have found it challenging to photograph the Desert Cottontails and the Black-tailed Jackrabbits on Antelope Island State Park because they are usually very skittish and take off as soon as I can get focused on them so I was pleased that this one stayed calm and allowed me to take a wonderful series of images of it.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

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

After a few rainy days last week I was able to go to Antelope Island State Park and photograph this Desert Cottontail nibbling on dew laden grasses. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134796,"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":[511,1022,1683,26,99],"tags":[4865,3746,4286,3747,3748,4864,3745,4032],"class_list":["post-23794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-desert-cottontails","category-utah","category-wildlife","tag-cottontails","tag-desert-cottontail","tag-eating","tag-grass","tag-nibbling","tag-rabbits","tag-sylvilagus-audubonii","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/desert-cottontail-eating-mia-mcpherson-9134.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-6bM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35211,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/04\/a-mountain-cottontail-on-antelope-island-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":23794,"position":0},"title":"Mountain Cottontail on Antelope Island State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I had to share at least one image of this Mountain Cottontail on Antelope Island State Park that showed its little, fluffy white tail, after all that is where they get part of their name.","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":"Mountain Cottontail resting on the snow on Antelope Island State Park in Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/desert-cottontail-snow-mia-mcpherson-0303.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/desert-cottontail-snow-mia-mcpherson-0303.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/desert-cottontail-snow-mia-mcpherson-0303.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/desert-cottontail-snow-mia-mcpherson-0303.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5314,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/09\/cottontail-rabbit\/","url_meta":{"origin":23794,"position":1},"title":"Desert Cottontail Rabbit","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this little Cottontail Rabbit yesterday on Antelope Island State Park. Black-tailed Jackrabbits are far more common on the island so I was tickled to see this Cottontail near the haybarn.","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":"Desert Cottontail, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/cottontail-rabbit-mia-mcpherson-3627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/cottontail-rabbit-mia-mcpherson-3627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/cottontail-rabbit-mia-mcpherson-3627.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"January 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past few months, I've been seeing fewer Eastern Cottontail rabbits, which led me down a momentary rabbit hole wondering if this rabbit species hibernates.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Summertime Eastern Cottontail eating grass, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/eastern-cottontail-rabbit-young-mia-mcpherson-2398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/eastern-cottontail-rabbit-young-mia-mcpherson-2398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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