desert

Autumn Townsend’s Solitaire Plus Snow In The 10 Day Forecast

By |October 4th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Townsend's Solitaires, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I found quite a few birds yesterday in far northern Utah and of all the photos I took this autumn Townsend's Solitaire was my favorite.

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.

Red-tailed Hawk Pre-flight Poop Shot

By |September 25th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When the Red-tailed Hawk took a pre-flight poop I thought I'd get my chance at those lift off and flight photos.

Immature Light Morph Ferruginous Hawk

By |September 22nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday on the last full day of summer I found a couple of hawks in the West Desert including this immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk.

Immature Light Morph Red-tailed Hawk Plus A Dark Morph Adult

By |September 19th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When I spotted the light colored breast of this immature light morph Red-tailed Hawk from a distance it seemed to glow in the morning light.

Late Summer Turkey Vulture And Common Sunflowers

By |September 16th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I found an adult Turkey Vulture perched on a metal pipe with a field of sunflowers below and it behind it. I liked the pop of yellow in my photos of this bird.

More West Desert Red-tailed Hawk Images

By |September 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I went out into the West Desert yesterday and came back with more Red-tailed Hawk images that I was delighted to have taken and that I am happy with.

Cooperative West Desert Red-tailed Hawk

By |September 13th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last week I photographed a very cooperative adult Red-tailed Hawk that was next to a road in the West Desert of Utah on a smoky morning.

Adult Red-tailed Hawk Lifting Off

By |September 11th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It didn't take long before the Red-tailed Hawk raised its wings to lift off from the juniper with a smoky blue sky in the background.

Our Sage Thrashers Will Migrate Soon

By |August 30th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Sage Thrashers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Sage Thrashers are only in Utah for their breeding season and by now all their chicks have fledged and are feeding on their own.

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.

What The Changes In The 2021 AOS Supplement Meant For Me

By |June 26th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Double-crested Cormorants, Neotropic Cormorants, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The 2021 AOS Supplement did mean that I had a bit of work to do on my site after I read that it had been published on the ABA website last night.

Western Kingbird Attempting To Take Over A Bullock’s Oriole Nest

By |June 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Bullock's Orioles, Utah, Western Kingbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

At times I see some odd things in the field and two days ago that was what appeared to be a Western Kingbird attempting to take over a Bullock's Oriole nest.

The Price I Paid For These Red-tailed Hawk Chick Photos

By |June 14th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I went up to northern Utah hoping to take photos of some Red-tailed Hawk chicks that I know will soon be leaving their nest and I found them.

Say’s Phoebe In Sage

By |June 11th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Say's Phoebes, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I think Rufous-bellied Phoebe would be a great name instead of Say's Phoebe, with or without the hyphen. It is certainly more descriptive.

Subadult Peregrine Falcon

By |May 24th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Peregrine Falcons, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Nesting Lark Sparrow Photos

By |May 22nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Lark Sparrows, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Singing Rock Wren In The West Desert

By |May 20th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Rock Wrens, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

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