Don’t know why but we named this guy Horace. Love his dirty beak. Canylonlands NP, Utah.
Tag: Utah
Loggerhead Shrike
Somewhat hidden away we heard this Loggerhead Shrike singing away while enjoying lunch at a campsite last fall. This Shrike had a wonderful song that was similar yet more melodic than the example on the Cornell website. This bird was quite content and let us photograph it for quite some time. A wonderful experience indeed.
hello sunshine
You can just feel it.
Like a breath of fresh air.
Hello Sunshine.
Say’s Phoebe
The Say’s Phoebe is a quiet, slightly understated and delightful flycatcher found in dry habitats of the Western United States. This day we found a Phoebe perched upon a shrub hunting for insects on the ground below. It would sally out in typical flycatcher fashion and return to a similar location in this shrub sometimes with meal in beak.
Greased lightning
Greased lightning is the nickname we gave to these little rodents as they shot across the desert landscape foiling many of our attempts at photographing them. The White-tailed Antelope Ground Squirrel is a common to abundant desert dweller across the southwestern United States.
Right at home in this desert landscape the White-tailed Antelope is a diurnal mammal that feeds on a fairly omnivorous diet including seed, plants, arthropods and other insects as well as carrion.
They nest in underground burrows dug into the soft desert soil and use the burrow both as protection from predators and too keep cool during periods of extreme heat and cold.
Take a look at those little critters scurrying around the desert and you may just notice some greased lightning aka the White-tailed Antelope Ground Squirrel.
In sand and sky.
Rabbit brush blooming in a sea of sage and sandstone.
On a trail free of footprints.
Solitude found in sand and sky.
Oh Humbug
Evening approaches at a place they call Humbug point.
Not sure why they named it this as there was nothing to be Humbug about.
Earth and sky.
Earth and sky and earth and sky as far as the eye can see.
Above the canyon rim.
Peeking out of a small slot canyon as the sun begins its daily decline. Soft clouds, juniper and rocks above as another day comes to a close.
The Old West
It felt like walking into an old western movie. High noon, a parched landscape, junipers, tumbleweed and a herd of wild burro roaming a landscape of bluffs, buttes and canyons.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend and happy wandering.
