Sky Line Drive and Wasatch Mountain Journeys
I might need to go wandering up the canyons and Sky Line Drive soon just to see what birds and creatures I can find.
I might need to go wandering up the canyons and Sky Line Drive soon just to see what birds and creatures I can find.
It hasn't been a very birdy trip so far but I did photograph a pair of Greater Sage-Grouse yesterday morning that were close enough to take images of.
Just a quick post this morning from Wayne County, Utah of a Wild Turkey hen I saw feeding near a small pond on the way up to Boulder Top yesterday.
Two months ago today I was photographing on a Greater Sage-Grouse lek in 21°F weather in Wayne County, Utah.
The two second Greater Sage-Grouse skirmish was over but only for a few seconds before these two males started back up again.
Before my recent trip to Capitol Reef National Park and photographing grouse in Wayne County I photographed this Chukar on Antelope Island State Park.
I will share more Greater Sage-Grouse images from this lek soon but as usual I came home from this trip exhausted and it will take me a few days to get through all the images I took.
I was stunned and amazed to find not just one Greater Sage-Grouse leks but TWO!
The Chukars are singing from the rocks in the morning and if I am lucky I might be able to photograph them fighting over the hens again like I did three years ago.
Except for one fleeting glance of a Chukar at the end of November I have not seen Chukars on Antelope Island for several months.
I've been missing Chukars on Antelope Island for the past few months.
If hope is the thing with feathers then I want to heap as much hope as I can find into the future of Greater Sage-Grouse.
Greater Sage-Grouse should already be on the endangered species list but they aren't.
After seeing few Chukars on Antelope Island State Park over the winter it is a delight to see them perching on rocks, preening, calling and warming up in the first rays of sunlight on the island again.
The last time I went to Antelope Island State Park I noticed that the Chukars were more visible than they have been for awhile and I also noticed a tiny wildflower called Redstem Filaree starting to green up.
The weather forecast for today isn't as bright as it was on the day last January when I photographed this Chukar walking across a field of fresh snow instead the forecast for today is rather dreary.
Male Ring-necked Pheasants add a vivid splash of color against a field of white at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, I photographed this male a few days ago as it foraged in the snow.
Male Ring-necked Pheasants are a bold splash of rainbow colors against the white snow laying on the ground right now at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
And it won't be long before I am photographing wildlife in drifts of snow and birds on perches covered in white.
I photographed this Chukar in a field of white undisturbed snow last January, as I recall it was bitter cold that morning but the bright sun seemed to warm the Chukar as much as it warmed my hands.
I saw and photographed my first Greater Sage-Grouse this summer in Beaverhead County, Montana while traveling through the Centennial Valley. Yay! Lifer!
Even this Chukar seemed to be shrugging off the winter doldrums. Or maybe it was airing out its arm pits.
Just a simple high key image of a hen Ring-necked Pheasant this morning that was taken in January at Farmington Bay WMA in Davis County, Utah.
Yes, more Chukars in the snow! I spotted this Chukar on top of a mound of snow that the plow had pushed to the side of the road on Antelope Island State Park.
These Chukar images were taken last Friday and this bird is the same one in my post titled "Some fun with birds from yesterday", I wanted to share more photos of it.
A wonderful fun-filled day with great companionship and plenty of birds. I can't ask for more.
Ring-necked Pheasant males are far more colorful than the females and in snow they seem even more vividly colored.
I have been noticing more Ring-necked Pheasants than usual of late but that it mostly because the birds don't blend well into the snow and we have had plenty of the white stuff fall the past few weeks.
It is almost hard to believe that in just two months these Chukars will be fighting for territories as they begin the mating season while there is over 9 inches of fresh snow on the ground where I live this morning.
Yesterday I spotted a covey of Chukars on Antelope Island foraging in the snow, this Chukar was pulling guard duty and standing on top of a snow covered rock and for a bit it was calling.