1 October 2014 - Hunting Season, Birds and Antelope Island

I haven't had a chance to go out looking for birds in quite a while. The paper today had an article about duck hunting season starting this Saturday. It dawned on me that if I wanted to go out to the lake or marsh areas, I'd better do it before the hunters start shooting and scare everything away. 

After considering my options, I decided on Antelope Island. First, I haven't been out there since early May and second, people on the bird list were reporting an Oven Bird down at Garr Ranch. After all the rainy cold days we've had, it seemed like a good idea.

I was shocked to see how low the lake is. There are places where I'm sure you could actually walk to the island if you could handle the seven mile distance and the extremely sticky lake bottom.

Didn't see a great variety of birds. On the causeway there were some big rafts of gulls and large numbers of avocets already in their winter plumage. A handful of long-billed curlews and assorted smaller peeps. But the scenery was magnificent. 

In all the times I have been out there, I have always seen ravens on the causeway. He looks like a metal sculpture.

 

 The buffalo were out in big numbers. Going south on the island they were up near the ridge, but coming back north they had moved down to the road. 

These are spring babies. They were busy bumping heads, running around, and executing stiff-legged jumps. Very cute. 

I also ran into mule deer and pronghorn antelope. 

Only fitting that a jack rabbit is hiding under a rabbitbrush. 

You can usually count on finding Great-horned owls in the barn. I wasn't disappointed. I caught this guy in the middle of a yawn. He never opened his eyes. That is some gaping maw.

 His friend was tucked in the side beams. 

I had to get out and do some hiking. Nice path. Great views. 

 
On my way back across the causeway, it looked like plumes of black smoke were rising up along the sides of the road. It was towers of insects. Not sure if they were mosquitoes or brine flies. 
I pulled over to the side of the road to check out the shore birds and my car was immediately surrounded by flying things--as though I were in the eye of a bug tornado. 



I wanted to get the effect of the plumes, but no way was I getting out of the car. This is a bad picture, but you get the idea. The camera just did not want to see the towers of insects. These plumes were probably 10 feet or more high and about three feet apart for several miles. That's a lot of bugs. The swallows were busy flying through them, like whales and krill.

Then one last look and back to civilization.

26 September 2014 - A Circuitous Route

The weather people are forecasting a big slow rain storm for this weekend. They think the rain will start tonight, continue all day Saturday and possibly into Sunday. I have been meaning to take a trip up the canyon and check out the aspens. With the weekend forecast of rain and wind, I thought I should go today before the rain pulls the leaves off the trees.

It was a glorious day. Lots of deep blue sky, puffy clouds and swaths of golden aspens gleaming through the pines. What more could you ask for?  My trip started at the bottom of Big Cottonwood Canyon with a drive to the top, a walk around Silver Lake, then over Guardsman Pass and down to Midway, Heber, and on home. When Jack and I traveled together we were firm believers in the circuitous route--preferring to take a different way back from the way we came. You never know what you'll discover. 

There was a lot more water in Big Cottonwood Creek than I expected to see based on our drought situation. Even Silver Lake was fuller than last year.

 

You can accompany me on today's postcard perfect color tour. 

 

Truly a golden day.

23 September 2014 - Autumnal Equinox, the Golden Time

I feel like I am back in school writing an essay (or in this case, a photo essay) on how I spent the first day of fall. The air is beginning to get crisp. Not like the October crisp, but that beginning of a fresher snap in the air. And evenings are full with the cricket chorus. Every now and then a cricket will hang out by a window. Even a single cricket chirp can reverberate through the house.

I had errands to run today so I took my camera along to see if I could capture a sense of the first day of autumn. 

Before I even got in the car, right in front of me was my mountain with its changing colors. The mist burned off quickly leaving us with a hot day--upper 80s in the valley. 

A few leaves in the neighborhood are starting to turn. Found some floating on the dregs of my pond. This is a poplar leaf, complete with damselfly.

 The next thing I saw that truly said fall was a seeing a young deer in my back yard. Not an adult, no longer a fawn, but old enough to already be eating its way across lawn.  Here it is enjoying some orange zinnias. Guess it is time to get the deer repel out and spray it on anything I want to keep. I usually get a respite from deer in July and August. They're baack!

Since I was out on the west side of the valley making an ink run, I thought I'd stop by Lee Kay Ponds then take the access road to the marina. 

Lee Kay was very quiet, birdwise. There was a very large raft of gulls and a small flock of pelicans. I adore pelicans. They are the ballet company of the bird world, and today they were on stage. They tend toward unison. Line up and swim. Circle around then all go head down-tails up at the same time. Almost as though the commands are telepathically conveyed. Cracks me up every time I witness the dance. 

The audience (critics?) for the performance watched from an island close by. Not sure if the big guy is laughing or shouting out instructions.

 Or maybe they are getting their tutus ready for the next performance.  

I left Lee Kay and headed for the access road, which at this time of year becomes what I call Raptor Road. I wasn't disappointed.

My guess is these are siblings--juvie red tails? One on the phone line and the other not too far away on the ground. 

                                                                                                    

 Not sure, but this might be a parent of the two above. Or not. I am quite out of practice. 
 













This should be a kestrel.








 

And this is most likely a harrier. 

These were all within a mile of each other. There was also another very large raptor circling high overhead. Too high to get any kind of detail.

Taking no notice of the hawk situation, a pronghorn was busy chewing cud. 

I thought I would see some ducks or wading birds, but there were very few. A couple black-necked stilts, avocets and a single Lesser Yellowlegs. 

The pickle weed is starting to turn orange and red.  Sunflowers and rabbitbrush are glowing yellow along the road. 

The gold of poplars and rabbitbrush are known to stop artists in their tracks. Many Utah painters have golden leaved trees and shrubs in their landscape oeuvre.

First day of fall not withstanding, it has been quietly happening all along. 

 

Meanwhile, out at the marina a few hardy souls were camping. It isn't the most appealing place, just a cleared out spot covered with gravel on the side of the parking lot.  Not my idea of fun. But this guy was happily baking in the sun. 

 Taking the back way home I ran across some bright red along the side of the road. The seed pods were turning red. Quite lovely.

 Two more gorgeous fields to admire, then home. 

  Just another wonderful day in paradise.