{"id":26725,"date":"2015-07-16T05:48:36","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T11:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=26725"},"modified":"2025-10-25T13:13:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T18:13:53","slug":"sky-line-drive-and-wasatch-mountain-journeys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/16\/sky-line-drive-and-wasatch-mountain-journeys\/","title":{"rendered":"Sky Line Drive and Wasatch Mountain Journeys"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-132100 size-full\" title=\"Female Dusky Grouse walking across Sky Line Drive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984.jpg\" alt=\"Female Dusky Grouse walking across Sky Line Drive in the Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Female Dusky Grouse walking across Sky Line Drive<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I have been thinking a lot about Sky Line Drive this week which includes Bountiful and Farmington Canyons and the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest so I thought I&#8217;d share a few bird and critter images taken up there today.<\/p>\n<p>The first is a female Dusky Grouse that crossed the gravel road on the way up. Dusky Grouse are upland game birds and I have seen them a few times going up the canyons and one time a male all the way at the top. You can&#8217;t get much more upland than that in Davis County!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-161730 size-full\" title=\"Green-tailed Towhee singing in the Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-mia-mcpherson-5812.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-mia-mcpherson-5812.jpg\" alt=\"Green-tailed Towhee singing in the Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-mia-mcpherson-5812-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-mia-mcpherson-5812-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-mia-mcpherson-5812-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-mia-mcpherson-5812-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-mia-mcpherson-5812-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-mia-mcpherson-5812.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Green-tailed Towhee singing in the Wasatch National Forest<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Green-tailed Towhees can be found singing on their territories in July and with their rufous crowns raised it is easy to identify them visually. I usually hear them before I see them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-145805 size-full\" title=\"Moose calf running through an alpine meadow, Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/moose-calf-uinta-mia-mcpherson-4336.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/moose-calf-uinta-mia-mcpherson-4336.jpg\" alt=\"Moose calf running through an alpine meadow, Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/moose-calf-uinta-mia-mcpherson-4336-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/moose-calf-uinta-mia-mcpherson-4336-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/moose-calf-uinta-mia-mcpherson-4336-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/moose-calf-uinta-mia-mcpherson-4336-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/moose-calf-uinta-mia-mcpherson-4336-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/moose-calf-uinta-mia-mcpherson-4336.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Moose calf running through an alpine meadow<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I like to try to find Moose on the eastern side of the mountains and I always feel very lucky when I can photograph a Moose calf like this one running across an alpine meadow.<\/p>\n<p>I might need to go wandering up the canyons and Sky Line Drive soon just to see what birds and creatures I can find.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/birds\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my bird photos and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/mammals\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my mammal images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I might need to go wandering up the canyons and Sky Line Drive soon just to see what birds and creatures I can find. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132100,"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":[27,1022,1424,2212,316,1834,3886,26,773],"tags":[4425,3904,4426,195,4442,4358,4357,4070,6790,3905,3492,4037,4069,2303,2326,6698,4179,4018,855,4195,5908,4854,401,102,4032],"class_list":["post-26725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-dusky-grouse","category-green-tailed-towhees","category-moose","category-sky-line-drive","category-uinta-national-forest","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-alces-alces","tag-alpine-meadow","tag-calf","tag-canyons","tag-cow","tag-dendragapus-obscurus","tag-dusky-grouse","tag-female","tag-gravel","tag-green-tailed-towhee","tag-grouse","tag-moose","tag-mountains","tag-pipilo-chlorurus","tag-road","tag-serviceberry","tag-singing-2","tag-sky","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-towhee","tag-towhees","tag-upland-game-birds","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-6X3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6218,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/29\/dusky-grouse-male-francis-peak\/","url_meta":{"origin":26725,"position":0},"title":"Dusky Grouse Male &#8211; Francis Peak","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Near the summit of Francis Peak, elevation 9,560 feet, I spotted this Dusky Grouse male on the edge of a gravel road with a steep drop off to the west and I was able to get a few photographs of it before we motioned to a pickup truck coming down\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dusky Grouse male up Bountiful Canyon, Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-8155.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-8155.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-8155.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-male-mia-mcpherson-8155.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8981,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/22\/female-dusky-grouse-in-the-wasatch-mountain-range\/","url_meta":{"origin":26725,"position":1},"title":"Female Dusky Grouse in the Wasatch Mountain Range","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't see Dusky Grouse near as often as I would like to see them so I was quite happy when I saw several of them last week on my way up Skyline Drive to Bountiful Peak in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Dusky Grouse in the Wasatch Mountain Range, Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5977.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5977.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5977.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5977.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60552,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/28\/fall-colors-in-the-wasatch-mountains-plus-a-male-dusky-grouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":26725,"position":2},"title":"Fall Colors In The Wasatch Mountains Plus A Male Dusky Grouse","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning is cloudy and gray but seven years ago today it was bright, the air was crisp and the fall colors of the Front Range of the Wasatch Mountains were in their full glory.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bountiful Peak in autumn, Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wasatch-mountains-fall-color-mia-mcpherson-2391.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wasatch-mountains-fall-color-mia-mcpherson-2391.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wasatch-mountains-fall-color-mia-mcpherson-2391.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wasatch-mountains-fall-color-mia-mcpherson-2391.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8985,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/24\/green-tailed-towhee-high-up-on-bountiful-canyon\/","url_meta":{"origin":26725,"position":3},"title":"Green-tailed Towhee high up on Bountiful Canyon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week while heading up the Skyline Drive of Bountiful Canyon this Green-tailed Towhee was singing on top of a shrub and I was surprised when it hung around for about 2 minutes","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green-tailed Towhee high up on Bountiful Canyon, Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-mia-mcpherson-5784.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-mia-mcpherson-5784.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-mia-mcpherson-5784.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-mia-mcpherson-5784.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104572,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/28\/low-light-young-green-tailed-towhee\/","url_meta":{"origin":26725,"position":4},"title":"Low Light Young Green-tailed Towhee","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Three mornings ago before the sun rose high enough to light up a willow thicket a young Green-tailed Towhee perched on a branch directly in front of me.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Green-tailed Towhee in low light, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-low-light-mia-mcpherson-7739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-low-light-mia-mcpherson-7739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-low-light-mia-mcpherson-7739.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-low-light-mia-mcpherson-7739.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102676,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/27\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-from-a-treetop\/","url_meta":{"origin":26725,"position":5},"title":"Green-tailed Towhee Singing From A Treetop","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to observe, hear and photograph a beautiful Green-tailed Towhee singing from a treetop two days ago high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Treetop Green-tailed Towhee singing, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-9448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-9448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-9448.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-9448.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}