Antelope visit

 Sunday morning at Antelope Island was interesting.  Not a lot of animals..at least ones that we got close too. A large herd of bison and one of antelope were off in the distance. 

But there were a lot of people, unusual for an early Sunday morning. A group of 'spotters' moved around, one had found a couple of large bucks.

Still it was great to be out in the wide open spaces again..

Enjoy!

Sunrise over the Wasatch

Morning light reflections..

Watchful but not alarmed..

The Lonely Bull...

I think this is a couple of duck hunters that came in across the lake to the wildlife refuge area. The low-rent approach..

Refuge Tuesday

 Molly and I visited the refuge Tuesday...a very quiet day with a few hunters in the distance and lots of ducks in the safe areas. Not many raptors or other birds other than the Great Blue Herons...

Enjoy!

The Gathering place..Herons are often found here in groups during hunting season. It's a safe place away from the noise.

Why did the pheasant cross the road...

A Ring-necked duck..all alone with a bunch of Coots..

Some obnoxious visitors while trying to eat lunch..

Timing - not always planned for, but in this case, the apparent fish in the GBH's mouth is actually the head of a Canadian goose just behind it. Go figure..

Mountain snow..

 We had a good snowstorm in the mountains with just a bit here in the valley. Very beautiful. Here's a couple of photos to try to do it's beauty justice..

Eclipse show

 Saturday morning, despite the clouds, the eclipse show began as predicted and was impressive to watch. How small is humanity compared to things like this?

Anyway, here's some shots..

Refuge Wednesday

 A beautiful day yesterday, good to be alive and out in the refuge. Lots of Great Blue Herons and a few juvenile Black-crowned herons, along with migrating Snowy egrets that provided bright splashed of white. The long dike road was not opened yet, seems later than usual. So all the activity took place around Goose Egg hill and before that.

A few kestrels, one Cooper's hawk and a couple of playful Northern harriers were the only raptors seen. A dearth of raptors this year.

Enjoy!

Muskrat sneaking away to cover..

A juvenile Black-crowned night heron landing in a bush..

Pelicans lifting off..

White-faced ibis in non-breeding plumage

Cloudy day at Antelope

 Randy and I toured Antelope this morning, under threatening clouds but no rain. Also very few people. Of course, the coyotes didn't obey the call, so no photos of them.

Some good antelope photos, a few buffalo's and some quite cute Burrowing owls were seen. A few meadowlarks and other birds, once again, no Great Horned Owl at the farm.

Here's what I saw..

Young ones never gave us a glance..

These owls are so cute....glad to see them

Big boy with a bird!

Loggerhead shrike

Western meadowlark stepping out..

Eared grebe...Quite different and colorful

Found this dead snake in the road and moved it off..have never seen one with these markings..

Zoo walk

 An early entry let us beat the stroller crowds. Quite a bit of activity with the animals, although the baby zebra didn't come out.

Lions, orangutans, meerkats, Pallas cat, Snow leopard...all fell to our photos..

The boys....

Snow leopard curled up in its house..

Pallas cat..seems to be moving most of the time..

Meerkat 

Meditation..

The girls...

Flying high...