Western Meadowlark in Snow – Stretching, Preening and Resting
I had a great time photographing a Western Meadowlark in snow yesterday on Antelope Island State Park near the White Rock Bay campgrounds.
I had a great time photographing a Western Meadowlark in snow yesterday on Antelope Island State Park near the White Rock Bay campgrounds.
There are loads of young Sage Thrashers on Antelope Island at the moment so it seems their first broods were fairly successful.
I am always happy to photograph Swainson's Hawks no matter where I find them so I was pleased to find this one perched on a lichen covered rock yesterday in Box Elder County, Utah.
I can't resist Pronghorn fawns, well maybe I can, but I don't want to and won't! I saw three fawns close together yesterday on Antelope Island State Park and they put me into cuteness overload.
Being in the right place at the right time can be awesome like last year being in the Targhee National Forest when a cow Moose and calf walked down a hill.
I had fun photographing Western Kingbirds again yesterday on Antelope Island State Park and hours later I was still hearing their calls in my mind.
Earlier this week while photographing Western Kingbirds I also had opportunities to photograph a first year male Bullock's Oriole on Antelope Island State Park.
By the third or fourth visit to the area where the Western Kingbirds were located the sun was shining and the light was great. I felt like singing along with the kingbird to celebrate the clearing sky.
I saw two Coyotes right after arriving on Antelope Island yesterday that were bathed in the soft light of dawn, I can't resist taking images of the beautiful "Song Dogs" that I see and I couldn't resist this pair.
For the past week I have been anxiously awaiting my first sighting of Lark Sparrows and yesterday I finally saw them.
Can the disappearance of Sagebrush Seas be stopped? Yes, it could be but we need lawmakers that believe in science and act on it.
It never, ever fails that when I have an opportunity to photograph Golden Eagles something always goes wrong.
It was lovely to see the sunshine yesterday and to have the Western Meadowlark and Belted Kingfisher in my viewfinder.
Earlier this week I was able to photograph a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow up close while it fed on sagebrush seeds on Antelope Island State Park.
I too have nestled lovingly into this world and climbed its mountains, roamed its forests and sailed its waters.
After a long dry spell for birds on Antelope Island today I was surprised to photograph this Mountain Chickadee, a bird I didn't expect to see on the island.
I was delighted to find quite a few Sandhill Cranes in the Centennial Valley of Montana last week and this pair was close enough to photograph.
For me there is something very serene and peaceful about this west desert Pronghorn image.
In the past 10 Days I have shared a Western Meadowlark and a Sage Thrasher perched on Sagebrush and today I am posting a Willet perched on Big Sagebrush.
Sage Thrashers are considered sagebrush obligates meaning that they require sagebrush for some part of their life cycle and for the Sage Thrashers in Utah that means they need it during the breeding cycle.
I spent some time yesterday on Antelope Island State Park photographing and listening to a very cooperative and melodious Sage Thrasher.
Yesterday was a bit like a wonderful open air concert on Antelope Island with the calls of Curlews, Willets, Chukars, Red-winged Blackbirds and Western Meadowlarks floating through the air.
Five days ago while on Antelope Island I photographed this Western Meadowlark as it sang on the stump of a dead Sagebrush.
The Centennial Valley says "home" to me with the expansive views it offers of not only the valley but the Centennial Mountains and the Lower Lake and beyond. I find peace there.
Yesterday while in the West Desert in Tooele County the cirrus clouds appealed to me that fanned out over the Stansbury Mountains.
A few days ago I saw quite a few Sandhill Cranes starting at just past the Visitors Center for Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, in one of the farmer's fields I saw 11 of them feeding in the freshly tilled soil.
I saw and photographed my first Greater Sage-Grouse this summer in Beaverhead County, Montana while traveling through the Centennial Valley. Yay! Lifer!
Two days ago I posted a portrait of a juvenile Loggerhead Shrike that I had photographed on Antelope Island State Park, today I am posting an image of an adult Loggerhead Shrike taken a day after I photographed the young shrike.
It was great to get back out into the field yesterday and even better that there were some cooperative Lark Sparrows in my viewfinder.
Brewer's Sparrows were abundant at the location where I photographed Ospreys close to the Flaming Gorge Reservoir last week and it seemed like they sang every time they popped up on top of the Sagebrush in the area.