{"id":92977,"date":"2021-08-05T06:25:22","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T12:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=92977"},"modified":"2026-03-24T13:27:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:27:52","slug":"poppies-birds-trees-butterflies-and-a-smoky-haze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/08\/05\/poppies-birds-trees-butterflies-and-a-smoky-haze\/","title":{"rendered":"Poppies, Birds, Trees, Butterflies And A Smoky Haze"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BloomingBlooming Prickly Poppy in a smoky haze at dawn<\/span><\/p>\n

I hadn’t been out to the West Desert sky island mountains in Tooele County<\/span><\/a> since the first week of June so a trip out there yesterday seemed to be in order. I wanted to check out what birds I could find along with anything else that caught my eyes. It was very smoky yesterday and the smoky haze was evident in some of my photos.<\/p>\n

The first time I raised my lens yesterday morning it was for blooming Prickly Poppies that were along the shoulder of the bumpy gravel road. The poppy flowers glowed in the light of dawn even through the smoky haze. The delicate flowers are gorgeous but the prickly part of their name is well deserved. I would not want to touch them.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Red-tailed Hawk and a smoky haze<\/span><\/p>\n

The first bird I photographed yesterday was a handsome young Red-tailed Hawk I spotted perched high on a dead branch of a tree with junipers in the background along with the smoky haze. The immature raptor didn’t do much except look around, call once, and preen a few of its feathers so I thanked the hawk and kept looking for more birds.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Red-tailed Hawk perched on a Douglas Fir<\/span><\/p>\n

The next bird I spotted was an adult Red-tailed Hawk in poor lighting conditions. The adult bird of prey moved to a Douglas Fir that was in great light but it didn’t do much either and when it finally lifted off it did so with its back to me. That happens often for bird photographers.<\/p>\n

\"DouglasDouglas Fir cones in August<\/span><\/p>\n

The adult Red-tailed Hawk on the Douglas Fir reminded me to check out the developing cones of the firs at higher elevations. I was relieved to see many cones on the Douglas Firs.<\/p>\n

Why? Because they are bird food<\/span><\/a>! When these cones ripen and open later this fall I know that I’ll be able to photograph birds coming to the trees for the seeds stored in the cones. The brown cones are from last season and are likely picked clean but the green cones will feed the birds throughout the colder months of the year.<\/p>\n

\"WhiteWhite Fir cones in August<\/span><\/p>\n

There are White Firs in the same area as the Douglas Firs but they typically only produce cones on the uppermost parts of the trees. I keep an eye on those cones too even though photographing birds at such steep angles is a challenge.<\/p>\n

What I need to do for White Firs is find a mountainous back road that allows me a great, eye level view of the tops of the trees.<\/p>\n

\"WestWest Desert Weidemeyer\u2019s Admiral butterfly<\/span><\/p>\n

Later on I caught the movement of a black and white butterfly puddling near a creek. At first I thought I was photographing a White Admiral butterfly then I remembered that we don’t have White Admirals in western North America. Our black and white admiral butterflies here in the west are Weidemeyer\u2019s Admirals. I photographed two of the butterflies in this location.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t a very birdy morning and I truly hadn’t expected it to be. Most of the birds have already nested and their young have fledged and are feeding on their own. It will get busy again in the fall.<\/p>\n

\"SaltSalt Lake City in a smoky haze, August 4, 2021<\/span><\/p>\n

On the way home I took a few photos of the smokey haze that filled the air. It was awful, made my eyes hurt, my head ache, my sinuses drip and looked utterly depressing. When I complain about the smoke from wildfire here this is what a view of Salt Lake City Looks like.<\/p>\n

A front is supposed to come in later today that should help to clear out some of the smoke. For a day or two.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good despite its problems.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my insect and spider images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first time I raised my lens yesterday morning it was for blooming Prickly Poppies that were along the shoulder of the bumpy gravel road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,13114,449,358,5345,26,10084,1314,5347],"tags":[10502,12065,12066,4004,2284,2663,6627,6098,4897,4170,6041,6042,7708,6879,3843,1030,4098,6877,8009,6909,6518,4033,4169,2386,4067,4071,10085,4069,4302,11717,12067,2285,6878,7707,10089,153,4209,7706,4018,10452,10404,6699,2315,4427,4076,10086,10501,5065,4307,4193],"class_list":["post-92977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-flatbud-prickly-poppy","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-tooele-county","category-trees","category-utah","category-weidemeyers-admiral-butterflies","category-west-desert-utah","category-wildflowers","tag-abies-concolor","tag-admiral","tag-admirals","tag-adult","tag-argemone-munita","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bloom","tag-blooming","tag-branch","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-cone","tag-cones","tag-creek","tag-dawn","tag-desert","tag-douglas-fir","tag-fir","tag-firs","tag-flowering","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-limenitis-weidemeyerii","tag-mountains","tag-native","tag-poppies","tag-poppy","tag-prickly-poppy","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii-var-glauca","tag-puddling","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-rocky-mountain-douglas-fir","tag-sky","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-smoky","tag-smoky-haze","tag-summer-3","tag-tree","tag-trees","tag-weidemeyers-admiral","tag-white-fir","tag-white-wildflowers","tag-wildflowers","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/prickly-poppy-tooele-county-mia-mcpherson-3430.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-obD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88818,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/23\/trees-shrubs-wildflowers-and-a-butterfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":92977,"position":0},"title":"Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers And A Butterfly","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"On a recent trip to the West Desert sky island mountains in Tooele County I found my lens pointed at trees, shrubs, wildflowers and a butterfly.","rel":"","context":"In "California Tortoiseshell Butterflies"","block_context":{"text":"California Tortoiseshell Butterflies","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/california-tortoiseshell-butterflies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"California Tortoiseshell butterfly on blooming Wax Currant, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/california-tortoiseshell-butterfly-wax-currant-blooming-mia-mcpherson-0128-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/california-tortoiseshell-butterfly-wax-currant-blooming-mia-mcpherson-0128-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/california-tortoiseshell-butterfly-wax-currant-blooming-mia-mcpherson-0128-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/california-tortoiseshell-butterfly-wax-currant-blooming-mia-mcpherson-0128-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105668,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/26\/blooming-prickly-poppies-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":92977,"position":1},"title":"Blooming Prickly Poppies In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Prickly Poppies are one of my favorite summer wildflowers. I find these poppies in desert habitats, most often in the foothills of sky island mountain ranges.","rel":"","context":"In "Flatbud Prickly Poppy"","block_context":{"text":"Flatbud Prickly Poppy","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/trees-shrubs-and-flowers\/wildflowers\/flatbud-prickly-poppy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flatbud Prickly Poppies in bloom, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/prickly-poppy-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/prickly-poppy-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/prickly-poppy-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/prickly-poppy-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47487,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/06\/29\/prickly-poppies-bees-and-a-grasshopper\/","url_meta":{"origin":92977,"position":2},"title":"Prickly Poppies, Bees and a Grasshopper","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Each Prickly Poppy flower is about 3 to 5 inches across with yellow centers of clustered stamens and delicate petals that look like white crepe paper.","rel":"","context":"In "Flatbud Prickly Poppy"","block_context":{"text":"Flatbud Prickly Poppy","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/trees-shrubs-and-flowers\/wildflowers\/flatbud-prickly-poppy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Prickly Poppies with a grasshopper and a bumblebee, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/prickly-poppy-bee-mia-mcpherson-4479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/prickly-poppy-bee-mia-mcpherson-4479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/prickly-poppy-bee-mia-mcpherson-4479.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/prickly-poppy-bee-mia-mcpherson-4479.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96239,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/14\/snow-dusted-views-of-utahs-west-desert-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":92977,"position":3},"title":"Snow Dusted Views Of Utah’s West Desert Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw snow on Utah's West Desert mountains for the first time since late spring so I thought I'd share a few views of what I saw while out there yesterday morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Tooele County"","block_context":{"text":"Tooele County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/tooele-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dusting of snow on Utah's West Desert mountains, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/west-desert-after-fall-snow-mia-mcpherson-085927.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/west-desert-after-fall-snow-mia-mcpherson-085927.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/west-desert-after-fall-snow-mia-mcpherson-085927.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/west-desert-after-fall-snow-mia-mcpherson-085927.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97106,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/07\/drought-stricken-douglas-firs\/","url_meta":{"origin":92977,"position":4},"title":"Drought-stricken Douglas Firs – How It Is Affecting The Birds That Eat The Seeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was out in the sky island mountains of the West Desert of Utah a few days ago I was again met with virtual silence in and around the Douglas Firs that are there.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Douglas Fir cones November 5, 2021, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/douglas-fir-cones-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/douglas-fir-cones-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/douglas-fir-cones-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3223.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/douglas-fir-cones-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3223.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":95701,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/27\/thoughts-on-our-drought-douglas-firs-and-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":92977,"position":5},"title":"Thoughts on Our Drought, Douglas Firs, And Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Drought stressed Douglas Fir trees will produce what is called a \"stress crop\" of cones which is what I believe is happening to the firs in this location.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch clinging to a fir cone, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-breasted-nuthatch-adult-mountains-mia-mcpherson-2998.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-breasted-nuthatch-adult-mountains-mia-mcpherson-2998.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-breasted-nuthatch-adult-mountains-mia-mcpherson-2998.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-breasted-nuthatch-adult-mountains-mia-mcpherson-2998.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\/92977","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=92977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}