Monday, February 04, 2013

I went down to Farmington Bay in search of bald eagles.  It was an ok day but a bit of a disappointment. Even though it was clear in Park City and even in most of the Salt Lake valley, the area around the Great Salt Lake was caked in a dense fog.
The fog was Salt Lake's normal combination of real fog and pollution. I snapped this shot of the oil and gas refineries in town as I drove by.  Yuck!
There was a good bit of wildlife wandering around, like this coyote, but you can see how fuzzy he looks when shot through the fog.
I ran across this Harrier, happily nibbling at his frozen McCarpcicle.  Nasty looking, but he seemed happy.
He was really having to work to get decent sized chunks.  I guess that's why the eagles go for freshly caught carp.
When enough people decided to stop and take his picture, he flew off.  I have learned that Farmington Bay can be foggy when everywhere else is clear and that Saturdays are way too busy for photography.  I gave up on my eagles and took off for Antelope Island.
Down by the farm I found the pair of Great Horned Owls that are often seen there.  The male was hidden so deeply in the branches that I couldn't get his picture.  The female was more cooperative.  In just a few weeks, the park service will rope off the area to give the owls privacy when breeding and then raising the owlets.
I normally see hundreds of bison around the park.  I don't know where they were hanging out but I only saw two bulls.
When there are no leaves on the trees, the porcupines are easy to spot.  I saw four of them along the island.
I saw more pheasants on this trip than I ever have.  The only one that got really close nearly hit my truck when flying by.  No photo of him, but the others were fun to watch.
One last pair of photos from back at Farmington.  I liked the icy tree along the snow packed road.  I was starting to take the picture when I noticed something coming out of the fog, and it didn't look like a car.
It was four mountain bikers, out riding in the snow on a 15 degree, foggy morning.  Sorry, but this just seems insane.
Not a great day of photos, but such is life when you need Mother Nature and wildlife to cooperate.

1 comment:

Emily J. said...

Looks like an interesting trip in spite of the fog--especially at Antelope Island. Love the harrier, the owl, and the porcupine particularly!