Least Chipmunk Grooming Session
These five images of a Least Chipmunk grooming session are some of the last photos of chipmunks I took high in the Wasatch Mountains in 2020.
These five images of a Least Chipmunk grooming session are some of the last photos of chipmunks I took high in the Wasatch Mountains in 2020.
I spent the morning up in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday where one of the furry creatures I saw and photographed was a Rock Squirrel on a lichen encrusted boulder.
When a Least Chipmunk popped up on a fence post that was so close I wasn't sure I'd be able to get sharp images of it due to my minimum focusing distance I still tried. I'm glad that I did.
I had a great time photographing three recently fledged Red-tailed Hawks from two different nests in northern Utah yesterday morning.
This morning I'm grateful that I spotted a single Gray Catbird pop up on top of a snowberry bush yesterday morning because if I hadn't none of the following photos would have been possible.
The Song Sparrow didn't let the gray clouds overhead, the moisture in the air or its damp feathers stop it from singing to all the other birds within earshot. I have to admire that.
I have taken thousands of images of Yellow-bellied Marmots where the marmots have been closer but very few of them that include as much habitat as this photo does.
The female Red-tailed Hawk blended into the lichen covered cliff face so well that even with my sharp eyesight I didn't see her until the male landed next to her.
I photographed this Least Chipmunk last summer high up in a mountain canyon where it appeared to be sniffing the lichens that covered the top of a wooden fence post.
Last Friday as I looked for birds in a few West Desert canyons I was serenaded by the songs and calls of Townsend's Solitaires and while I loved hearing them it was frustrating because they were either too far away or hidden from my view.
I don't have many decent photos of immature Turkey Vultures so when I spotted several of them 11 days ago in northern Utah I was excited but my hopes for good light on the hatch year birds were dashed by clouds.
I spent 26 minutes yesterday photographing juvenile Red-tailed Hawk siblings and had a blast watching them preen, lift off, flying, scratching, resting and landing.
I spent a few moments watching and photographing a Least Chipmunk yesterday in the Wasatch Mountains and tried to savor every second I had with it.
I haven't had many Turkey Vultures in my viewfinder since they returned on spring migration this year so I was happy to spot one on Saturday morning that I could photograph.
I've been seeing baby Uinta Ground Squirrels and two days ago I was finally able to photograph some of the cute little balls of fur near their burrow.
What is better than photographing a male Red-tailed Hawk? Photographing the hawk with blooming wildflowers, in this case Gray's Biscuitroot.
The best bird I spotted that I could photograph was a male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face and what I loved about this photo was all the grasses, lichen, wildflowers and the sage high up on the cliff.
Last month I was able to take my best photos of Rock Wrens so far since I moved to Utah but even those aren't as close to the bird as I would have liked them to be.
Yesterday morning I was delighted to find two House Wrens foraging in a brush pile in the Wasatch Mountains not long after sunrise. This time of the year the wrens aren't singing like they do in the spring so I have to rely more on my eyes and not on a combination of my eyes and ears to locate them.
Back in March of this year I started watching and photographing a pair of Red-tailed Hawks in the process of building their nest on the face of a high cliff, these two juveniles are the results of the hard work of that pair of hawks.
Photographing Yellow-bellied Marmot pups have delighted me this spring and since they don't stay little for long I have taken photos of them every time I have had the chance.
Spring is the season of birth and rebirth, the leaves of trees unfurl, the dormant grasses and forbs poke up through the ground, flower buds burst open and flowers in all the colors of the rainbow appear on the landscapes, birds nest and incubate and wild animals give birth to their young.
The two times I have observed and photographed these Yellow-bellied Marmot pups I have enjoyed watching them explore the area around their burrow, not only are they cute they are also entertaining.
Punxsutawney Phil can have the spotlight today, our Yellow-bellied Marmots will have their time in the sun soon enough.
The juvenile and out of focus adult Mourning Doves were perched on a lichen encrusted, slightly frosted fence rail near the road in the southern part of the Centennial Valley.
I photographed this adult Red-tailed Hawk earlier this year in northern Utah as it perched on a lichen-covered rock surveying its world and thought I would share it today.
I needed time out with the birds yesterday and this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk helped me to relax, breathe and remember that things have a way of working out.
I was ready when this Green-tailed Towhee perched on a lichen topped fence post yesterday long enough for me to fire off 30 frames before he flew down to the ground.
I was able to point my lens at this male Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen-covered perch for a few frames before he flew away.
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.