Tooele and Juab Counties
Located in the northwestern Utah, the 7.7 million-acre West Desert is uniquely different from any other part of the state. Much of this area is a part of the Great Basin region, a place of isolated sky island mountain ranges separated by desert playas and wide-sweeping sagebrush flats.
I have been able to take more Rock Wren photos in the West Desert the last two times I have wandered out there.
Two days ago I had the opportunity to photograph a male Western Tanager up close in the foothills of some of the sky island mountains in the West Desert of Utah.
Yesterday while out in the sky island mountains of the West Desert I spotted a female Black-chinned Hummingbird repeatedly checking out a knothole in a tree.
Last week before I found the Rock Wren I wrote about I also found a subadult Peregrine Falcon perched on a wooden post in the West Desert.
One of the first birds I heard singing three days ago in the West Desert of Tooele County was a Lark Sparrow perched on top of a sagebrush.
When this female Cassin's Finch landed next to a creek two days ago in the West Desert I was happy to take her photo.
Yesterday when I spotted a Rock Wren singing from the top of a juniper in Utah's West Desert I hoped to take a few decent photos of it before it flew away.
I woke up this morning dreaming of Mountain Bluebirds so I thought I would share two images of them from previous springs.
I found and photographed this Pronghorn buck in Utah's West Desert after photographing birds at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge in April of 2019.
The last time I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I found a Wild Turkey tom displaying next to some old farm equipment for the nearby hens.
Some days start off the wrong way and when they do I look for things that soothe me. Views of mountains calm me down so today I am sharing a simple view of some West Desert mountains.
Yesterday morning was clear, bright, chilly, and I spent ten minutes photographing an adult male Rough-legged Hawk that I found in the West Desert.
Earlier this week I photographed a light morph, adult male Rough-legged Hawk in the West Desert of Utah with three different backgrounds.
Yesterday morning I was able to take Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawk lift off photos where both of the raptors still had their feet on their perches.
After photographing this male Horned Lark on Antelope Island three days ago I decided to share a photo of him plus female and immature larks in a single post.
January 21st is National Squirrel Appreciation Day and it recognizes these creatures that some people consider pests while others find them fascinating.
As best as I can figure out what is in this photo is a cook's memorial that I found 7 years ago today out on a range in Utah's West Desert.
This is my 2020 photographic year in review. I'm selecting some of my favorite photos from 2020 and a few that just make me happy to see them.
Two years and one day ago I only photographed two birds on a trip out into the West Desert and this light morph Ferruginous Hawk made the trip well worth the journey out into the cold.
Yesterday morning not long after sunrise I spent some time photographing a light morph, immature Ferruginous Hawk hunting for its breakfast.
There are times when I feel as if I am riding out a storm due to circumstances or events that are out of my control I remind myself that all storms come to an end.
I always feel a sense of sadness when I can't get to those mountain canyons and the birds that live there all year long when they close those gates for the winter.
The highlight of my morning yesterday was when I spotted an immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk perched on a cedar post in the West Desert.
This male Cassin's Finch did pop out into the open with a mahogany seed in his bill and even though he was in the shade I took a few photos of him.
One of the Dark-eyed Juncos that I had in my viewfinder was perched on top of a rabbitbrush with seeds and fluff in its bill that turned its head towards me.
I listen for birds everywhere I go. Their calls and songs help me to locate them so I can photograph and observe them as they go about their lives.
Over the past month I thought about whether I wanted to share images and tell the story of this Western Meadowlark that lost its life because of a barbed wire death trap and finally decided that the story needed to be told.
The past couple of weeks on some of my journeys to the West Desert of Utah I have been able to have a few long distance views of Ferruginous Hawks and that has me excited.
This is a really simple photo with three features, the White-crowned Sparrow, the stump, and a very dark background.
The Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Wild Turkeys and the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay made the very bumpy and extremely dusty ride into the mountain canyons well worth taking.