My Mom Would Have Been 92 Today

By |May 17th, 2024|Categories: Eastern Cottonwood, Miscellaneous, Oklahoma, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

My mom would have been 92 today. I miss her terribly, but she is with me in so many ways. She was also with me when I went to Tishomingo NWR last Saturday.

What The Fluff? Great Egret Photos

By |April 23rd, 2024|Categories: Birds, Eastern Cottonwood, Great Egrets, Oklahoma, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I took this Great Egret photo yesterday at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. Even with the morning mist, I could tell something fluffy was stuck on its bill.

Why I See More Than A Tree In These Photos

By |December 29th, 2023|Categories: Conservation, Davis County, Environment, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Habitat, Trees, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Both of these photos show the same tree on Goose Egg Island at Farmington Bay WMA. The images were taken in December of 2022 and 2013.

Box Elder Seeds And Water Birch Leaves

By |November 19th, 2023|Categories: Box Elders, Salt Lake County, Utah, Water Birch|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm sharing two photos this morning: one of Box Elder Maple seeds and another of Water Birch leaves that I took last autumn while on walks close to home.

Yellow Warbler And Golden Quaking Aspen Leaves

By |September 17th, 2023|Categories: Birds, East Canyon, Morgan County, Quaking Aspens, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Yellow Warblers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Three years ago today, I was up in the Wasatch Mountains, focused on a bright Yellow Warbler snugly nestled in a hawthorn tree on a hillside.

Pretty but Problematic: The Bradford Pear Tree

By |May 7th, 2023|Categories: Bradford Pears, Salt Lake County, Trees, Shrubs and Flowers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On the first of May I took a series of blossoming Bradford Pear tree images. I've been meaning to do that for years to show that they are pretty, but...

Sycamore Bark Close Up

By |December 5th, 2022|Categories: American Sycamore, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday afternoon, after I walked around my local pond and the Jordan River Parkway Trail, I stopped to take close up photos of the bark on my neighbor's American Sycamore tree.

Golden Cottonwood Leaf On Fresh Snow

By |November 11th, 2022|Categories: Eastern Cottonwood, Salt Lake County, Trees, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning I had planned on walking along the Jordan River after the sun came up and when I saw that there was fresh snow on the ground I was even more excited.

Low Light Male Mountain Bluebird

By |April 22nd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Mountain Bluebirds, Scenics, Summit County, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago while I was high in the Wasatch Mountains this adult male Mountain Bluebird landed close enough for me to take photos of him.

Snow Dusted Views Of Utah’s West Desert Mountains

By |October 14th, 2021|Categories: Tooele County, Trees, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Thoughts on Our Drought, Douglas Firs, And Birds

By |September 27th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Poppies, Birds, Trees, Butterflies And A Smoky Haze

By |August 5th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Flatbud Prickly Poppy, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, Weidemeyer's Admiral Butterflies, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers And A Butterfly

By |May 23rd, 2021|Categories: California Tortoiseshell Butterflies, Shrubs, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Serviceberries Are Blooming In The Wasatch Mountains

By |May 24th, 2020|Categories: Morgan County, Shrubs, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

What got me so excited was seeing how many serviceberries there were blooming on the slopes of the mountains and how thick the blossoms were on each of the shrubs.

Fall Colors In The Wasatch Mountains Plus A Male Dusky Grouse

By |September 28th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Dusky Grouse, Sky Line Drive, Bountiful Canyon, Trees, Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Douglas Firs – Bird Food Grown, Stored And Served in Handy Cones

By |September 15th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Daggett County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Pine Siskins, Red Crossbills, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 Hummingbird Defending His Chokecherry Perch

By |June 27th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Morgan County, Shrubs, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It was interesting to watch and photograph this little Broad-tailed Hummingbird defend his favorite perch from the intruders I barely saw but could hear as they flew in and he flew out to chase them away.

Flowering Serviceberries – More Blooming Bird Food

By |June 9th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Lazuli Buntings, Morgan County, Shrubs, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Yellow Warblers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Like the chokecherries I wrote about yesterday it seems that because of our wetter than normal spring the serviceberries are also doing very well so there should be plentiful fruit for the birds to feast on before they migrate this fall.

Flowering Chokecherry Trees – AKA Blooming Bird Food

By |June 8th, 2019|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Morgan County, Shrubs, Smith and Morehouse Reservoir, Summit County, Trees, Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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. 

Lazuli Buntings In Serviceberry Trees – Fattening Up Before Migration

By |August 26th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Lazuli Buntings, Morgan County, Shrubs, Trees, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Over the past couple of weeks I have been able to photograph male, female and immature Lazuli Buntings as they have been gorging on the fruits of Serviceberry trees to fatten up before their migration.

Gunlock State Park, a few birds and Mojave Joshua Trees

By |October 13th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Gunlock State Park, House Finches, Mojave Desert, Red-tailed Hawks, Trees, Utah, Washington County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I enjoyed my journey to Beaver Dam Wash, Gunlock State Park and the Mojave Desert even though I didn't see the birds I hoped to photograph, every journey is an adventure.

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