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 photograph birds all the time and there are a few that simply take my breath away and totally mesmerize me, this dark morph Ferruginous Hawk is one of those birds.
Two mornings ago a small flock of Mountain Chickadees came in to forage on the seeds in some Douglas Fir trees and I had fun trying to keep up with the small dynamos.
It has been a long time since I had a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in my view finder so when I spotted it hovering over a field I knew I had to stop and get photos of it.
If I get a single image, like this foraging Red-breasted Nuthatch feeding on the seeds of a Douglas Fir tree, I am happy.
A soft blue sky, a juniper and a Rock Squirrel made me pretty happy two days ago because I don't have these squirrels in my viewfinder nearly as often as I'd like to.
Yesterday morning I spent a few minutes photographing Mountain Chickadees foraging in Douglas Fir trees which was a lot of fun but challenging too.
Six days ago I was happy to see three flocks of Wild Turkeys and the smallest flock was in good light, at the edge of a forest and they were cooperative.
I proudly credit being an Army Brat on discovering a great location to photograph these Red-breasted Nuthatches and other woodland birds.
While hoping to photograph Brown Creepers two days ago I spotted a Hermit Thrush at a distance on the ground in the deep shadows of a stand of trees.
I didn't get the Brown Creeper photos I have been dreaming of yesterday but I did take lovely images of an immature Ferruginous Hawk in early morning, golden light.
I wanted to share two photos of the Mountain Chickadees I photographed yesterday morning that flew in and fed on Douglas Fir seeds.
Crappy images like this blurry Brown Creeper make me more determined to get the photos I want, that I salivate over and dream about.
What I like about this male Red-breasted Nuthatch photo is the contrast of light and shadows. While I can't see all the fine feather details in the shaded part of the nuthatch what I can see is simply enough.
Two days ago I spotted a Wild Turkey tom crossing a dirt road high up in the Stansbury Mountains and to my delight there were several more males following behind him.
When it comes to accipiters I see Sharp-shinned Hawks less frequently than I do Cooper's Hawks or Northern Goshawks so when I have a Sharp-shinned Hawk in my viewfinder I become very excited.
Even though I came home with very few photos I'm still glad I went wandering. I had great views, sunshine, birds to delight my eyes and ears and I soaked it all up like a thirsty sponge.
I like to share some of the views I see while I am out wandering to look for birds because the scenery and different habitats I see at times are simply spectacular.
I don't see nearly as many Ferruginous Hawks as I would like to so I am always glad when I have one in my viewfinder that I can photograph even if it is taking a dump.
The cones of Douglas Firs provide food for birds and mammals and the trees provide shelter and nesting areas too. I've been paying attention to the Douglas Firs we have here for several years because of the birds I know I can find eating the seeds of the trees from their cones.
Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds show a preference in the perches that they use to rest, to keep an eye on their territories and once they select a favorite perch it can be like striking gold for a bird photographer.
In my post about Chipping Sparrows, Wild Turkeys and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds earlier this week I mentioned that I had taken more photos of the turkey hen so this morning I thought I'd share one more photo of her.
While I photographed male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds a few days ago in the West Desert I also took a few moments to photograph some of the butterflies nectaring on the blooms of the Wax Currant bush which included Red Admiral butterflies.
The gems of my photographic journey yesterday morning were Broad-tailed Hummingbirds that were hanging around a Wax Currant bush next to the dirt road where the sounds of their wings alerted me to their presence.
My best photo of the morning was a Mule Deer doe in a stand of junipers and even then a cloud blocked the beautiful light. Yes, that is snow on the junipers, on May 1st!
I tried to get up into a canyon in the Stansbury Mountains yesterday but was met with a closed gate so I turned my Jeep around and decided that I would explore a different canyon.
Native or introduced these purple wildflowers were a joy for me to see and photograph in the West Desert of Utah.
I went wandering to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge yesterday and it was delightful because of the clear skies, the cool weather and the grand views of the mountains.
I am out wandering and I have a very poor cell signal so I will be surprised if this gets published. This is a photo taken before Sunset last night where I am camping.
While trying to get up into the mountains of the West Desert the other day I heard a call that excited me, it was the call of a single Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Sometimes I go out to look for birds to photograph and all I get are great views of the scenery, sometimes I am okay with that and sometimes it is very frustrating.