Under The Weather
For the first time this winter, snow fell at home yesterday night. Although the snow didn't stick, it is a sign of the weather changing.
For the first time this winter, snow fell at home yesterday night. Although the snow didn't stick, it is a sign of the weather changing.
Being a tactile person, I appreciated getting close to and touching a cottonwood tree on the bank of the Jordan River on my walk last Sunday.
While up high in the Uinta Mountains yesterday morning I photographed this female Tree Swallow checking out a nesting cavity in a Quaking Aspen.
While I photographed hummingbirds last week high in the Wasatch Mountains I also took images of an adult male woodland Coyote watching me watching him.
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.
Yesterday morning I spent some time high in the Wasatch Mountains and came home with a few Ruby-crowned Kinglet photos that I liked enough to share.
My best find yesterday morning was a resting adult Great Horned Owl that I spotted in a thicket next to a field while traveling 40 to 45 miles per hour.
I haven't been outside to measure the snow but I'd estimate that 6 to 8 inches have fallen already just by looking out my living room window.
This year all I have been able to say is that snow has fallen on the mountains. Down here in the valley the snow has been MIA.
Starting today I will be keeping an eye out for the return of Bald Eagles to the lower elevations of northern Utah.
My trip out into the sky island mountains of the West Desert last week caused my concerns about this years crop of Douglas Fir seeds to grow.
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.
Today I wanted to share these photos of some West Desert views of clouds, mountains, and the moon because I'd like to be out there seeing and photographing them all.
My eyes and my birding instincts didn't lead me astray because there was a Clark's Nutcracker perched at the top of the fir.
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.
Utah is hot. It is scorching. Our hottest temps are yet to come and there is no relief in sight for our drought.
Yesterday while out in the sky island mountains of the West Desert I spotted a female Black-chinned Hummingbird repeatedly checking out a knothole in a tree.
Yesterday I was able to take the Violet-green Swallow photos that I have been dreaming of since I first moved to Utah in 2009.
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.
It is a chilly 29°F where I live in northern Utah on New Year's Day 2021 and from my living room window I can see that it is foggy outside.
If you can't be with friends, family or loved ones this year because of the pandemic I hope that you will be able to talk to them and wish them Happy Holidays on the phone or via video chat.
Seeing and photographing the Bushtits in northern Utah was a gift that I didn't expect yesterday and I am grateful to finally have images of them that I like.
I was "over the moon" excited when I spotted an adult male Nashville Warbler out in the open at the top of a willow yesterday while up in the Wasatch Mountains.
The bright yellow bird that flew into my field of view was a male American Goldfinch that stood out like a ray of sunshine against the shadows of some tall nearby trees.
Tree Swallows and other birds should be nesting in the Uinta Mountains by now and I am itching to hop into my Jeep to drive up there to find them.
Almost one year ago I spent my morning photographing so many Yellow-rumped Warblers that they seemed to almost drip from the trees.
Imagine my surprise when through my viewfinder I could see that the female Mountain Bluebird had landed on a Swiss Army knife that was stuck into the bark of one of the trees.
Yesterday I had a blast photographing a pair of Mountain Bluebirds at a natural nesting cavity at the edge of a forest along with some other woodland birds.
Two years ago I was able to find and photograph quiet a few young Gray Catbirds high in the Wasatch Mountain canyons including this one who seemed to be keeping an eye on me.
I came across this adult Red-shouldered Hawk while walking around at John Chesnut Sr. Park in Florida way back in January of 2009.