Flowering Chokecherry – Nikon D500, f13, 1/1250, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Chokecherry trees are flowering in northern Utah and some have just started to bloom heavily at higher elevations in the Wasatch Mountains. After the sun warms the chokecherry blooms up a little in the morning I have been delighted by their fragrance wafting through the air. I love to take a deep breath and savor the aroma of their blooms which has a slight hint of honey to it. The scent is heady, delicious, and it tickles my olfactory senses. I know I don’t have long to savor the smell of the chokecherry blooms.
Chokecherry in bloom in the Wasatch Mountains – Nikon D500, f13, 1/800, ISO 640, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Because of our wetter than normal spring it seems that the chokecherries are doing well, extremely well. Many of the chokecherry branches are bending low because of the weight of the blossoms.
Western Chokecherry bough in bloom – Nikon D500, f13, 1/1600, ISO 640, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
They might be flowering trees but I am well aware that they are also blooming bird food.
It won’t take all that long for the blooms to become fruit and to ripen. By mid to late July birds will start to feast on the fruits although in August the chokecherries seem to be the ripest up in Utah’s Wasatch and Uinta Mountains.
Immature American Robin swallowing a ripe chokecherry – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 640, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
This year I hope to spend time focused on the birds that feed on the ripened chokecherries. Last year I saw and photographed American Robins gorging on them in the high Uintas and the Wasatch Mountains. Other birds feed on them too and I’d love adding images of those birds feasting on the chokecherries to my portfolio.
For now though I am going to take deep breaths and inhale the great smelling perfume of the blooming chokecherry trees while I can.
Life is good.
Mia
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What lovely pictures. I can smell the sweet perfume of the Chokecherries from here. 🙂
The Lakota and other tribes make wasna out of them…they look like theyvare covered with snow when they bloom….these are beautiful images…hope it means lots of bird food!!!
Gorgeous. And how I envy your rain.
Beautiful photos of my favorite tree. My parents have them in their yard, I have always loved the smell in the late spring. The story about their yard was the original builder in 1872, William Streeper, hiked up the canyons of Centerville and brought down native plants to plant in around his house. To date in their yard if it is not edible like nut or fruit trees it is native. Many of the fruit and nut trees are the original.
When you mentioned the fragrance of the Chokecherry having a sweet smell of honey, I thought of the honeysuckle vines in my Grandmother’s garden. Your pictures are always interesting to see, but these shots also awakened my memories of the sweet smell of Spring. Now I’m looking forward to seeing the birds feasting on the fruit. Thanks for sharing.