Early Morning Coyote and the Great Salt Lake
Yesterday an early morning session with a Coyote, the Great Salt Lake and some rocks made my day, I was so very happy to photograph the "Song Dog".
Yesterday an early morning session with a Coyote, the Great Salt Lake and some rocks made my day, I was so very happy to photograph the "Song Dog".
This is a Common Checkered-Skipper and can be found in most of the U.S., some southern parts of Canada and northern Mexico.
These two Mule Deer were photographed in different settings, different lighting situations but about the same time of the morning and I find them both appealing.
The first of September means the start of Autumn to me. It means the oaks in the high country have already begun to turn red.
Photographing birds while they are flying can be challenging and photographing Monarch Butterflies in flight can be just as challenging to do too.
Rocky Mountain Bee Plants are blooming all over the Salt Lake Valley right now and those beautiful, spider-like flowers are attracting hummingbirds, moths, butterflies, bees and a host of insects.
Today is the day for SpiderFest on Antelope Island State Park, a celebration of the interesting spiders that live on the island.
When I spotted two bull elk early in the morning in the sagebrush of the Centennial Valley on the 10th of July I was very excited and started taking photos as soon as I could.
I can't resist photographing birds or wildlife up close so I swung my lens around and focused on the face of the Mule Deer and laughed out loud because she was covered in spiderwebs.
I enjoyed photographing the Eight-spotted Skimmer and Variegated Meadowhawk while also taking photos of Red-tailed Hawk juvenile.
My best photos of the day were of a buck Pronghorn that was very close to the dirt road I was on, he was so close I had trouble keeping all of his head in the frame.
Yesterday while up in the Wasatch Mountains I was delighted to be able to photograph two Least Chipmunks I found in East Canyon of Morgan County, Utah.
There were three Uinta Ground Squirrels in the riparian zone along East Canyon Creek and I felt that I had to take photos of them in the bright, clear light, they were so cute.
I have been very successful spotting Yellow-bellied Marmots and their pups the past few weeks in northern Utah and it has been a delight for me to photograph and observe them.
Yesterday I was able to photograph a Yellow-bellied Marmot with pups, these are photos I have wanted to take for years but until now haven't been able to create.
I had a great time photographing a roadside Yellow-bellied Marmot yesterday in northern Utah and the marmot was very cooperative. So cooperative that I took way, way too many images of it.
My best find of the day was my first of the year Swainson's Hawk about two thirds of the way down the island perched in some trees near a freshwater spring.
In this American Bison's tears I saw my own tears and deep concerns for what is happening to our environment now and the potential threats that future generations will have to face if we don't take action today.
The warm temps and wet weather have produced lush, green spring grasses and forbs and the Mule Deer are now able to find fresh food without snow cover
I got lucky and the first Mule Deer that leaped over the fence filled my viewfinder and I didn't clip anything.
I have complained about the midges in this post because they are messy and annoying but one thing that I feel is critical to mention is that these midges are an important food source for the birds that live and breed at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
While up in Mercur Canyon I caught a flash of browns and grays on top of a rock and realized I was seeing the Rock Squirrel I photographed on the same slope last month.
I am very fond of Yellow-bellied Marmots so when I spotted one clambering down some rocks into a crevice close to the road I became excited and as soon as I could I started taking photos of it.
I was excited and delighted to spot and photograph a coyote running on the ice of the Great Salt Lake a few days ago in the golden light just after dawn.
These portraits of bison bulls drinking from an iced over puddle were taken with my Nikon D500, my 500mm VR lens with a teleconverter attached from inside a vehicle.
I didn't have much luck at all with birds yesterday in the west desert canyons but I did spot and photograph a Rock Squirrel in Mercur Canyon.
I'm dreaming of seeing Greater Sage-Grouse, Sandhill Cranes and White-tailed Prairie Dogs as spring warms up the sagebrush steppe.
I did not see many birds that dreary day but I did have fun photographing a Coyote hunting, catching and consuming a vole in low light conditions.
There are some that say the state can better care for those lands. I'd call them fools but we humans are all distant cousins so I'll tame that down a bit and call them misled instead. Intentionally and deliberately misled.
While photographing a Great Blue Heron at the first bridge I spotted a dark shape running, slipping and sliding on the snow-covered ice and could see that it was a Raccoon.