2024 Utah Adventure

 Mostly sunny day with temps near 60 degrees.  Many more water fowl along the causeway today but it still looks mostly like sea gulls. I arrive on the Island and head south towards the Ranch. There are no bison behind the VC. I check for Burrowing Owls and yea, they've arrived!! I see 2 owls! As I'm approaching the pit toilet, I see a large herd bison all of the mesa behind it AND a lone Pronghorn moving south. (I think the bison are on the move to have their babies!) As I approach the mesa, the bison look very happy as I see a few running on top of the mesa and more sparring. As I arrive at the mesa, there are 3 bison crossing the road to the mesa. Two cross and the other is waiting. So I wait for him to cross but he just stands there. I decide to continue and as I pass, he crosses behind my car like a well-trained child. (There are also a few on the east side of the road; looks like they are just stragglers.) There are bison all along the hillside. Most are just grazing my a...

 Sunny day, near 70 degrees; heading up to walk at Little Dell after work. Very little snow at the ground level - quite a difference from a couple of weeks ago. Reservoir is still not full by a long shot but there are more ducks. I do not have binocs so I'm not sure what they are. I take a walk along the road which is now clear. Quite walk with just a few chickadees singing. The road is clear other than a few patches of snow the closer I get to the trail. I don't make it to the trail because not far from it, the road is now covered in an inch or three of snow. I could plow thru but decide it's time to turn around. When I get back to my car I decide to head down the hill to the reservoir turning around just before it bottoms out. Good day!

 Sunny day with temps near 60 degrees. It's in the under 40s (and the east downslope winds are still blowing) when I leave. See a Male Pheasant on my way to the Island - 3rd one so far since the highway opening. When I reach the causeway, the winds are almost gone - guess I'm far enough away from the mountains. I like it. Nothing exciting on the crossing today. I reach the Island I decide to head over to the west side looking for where the bison are. The are 3 bison at the intersection of the roads heading north and to the west side.  There is also a bison just crossing over to the west side behind the VC. I drive just past Bison Pt road, seeing only a few bison on Bison Point. Behind the the corrals looks bison-free but it's in the shade and hard to tell. I'm heading to Beacon Hill today! I head back to the east side and drive down to the Ranch. I see a Jack Rabbit (big lone ears - 2nd one this season). Just before Frary Homestead, I see a small herd of bison - most la...

 Cool morning - 28 degrees - but it's supposed to be sunny. Heading up to Antelope Island for a hike. When I reach the causeway, I see a stiff north wind and 29 degrees; it'll be a cold one. Crossing the causeway I spot a coyote heading east. I do a U-turn so I can watch. I snap a few pictures  and then look for a more stable camera spot. When I go back to find the coyote, hey, I find another coyote also heading east but in back of the 1st coyote. There's the 2 of them. I watch for awhile hoping they would meet up but in the time I watched, they did not. Onward! A bit farther down the causeway, I spot several large black birds on the Salt Lake side. Could the Bald Eagle still be around? As I get closer, I see the signature white heads! Three adult eagles and a raven!! The one farthest west has a duck and the only 2 are waiting.  Soon the middle eagle takes flight and that leaves just two. Awesome! Moving on I reach the Island and cannot see any bison. I take a quick peek ...

 Not a pretty day. Winds are blowing a gale and there's a dust storm in Salt Lake but taking my family up to Antelope Island to see what we can see. We leave in gray dusty skies heading north hoping we will get some sun and maybe see the mountains AND Antelope Island. And by the time we reach our exit, we can - yea!! The water on both sides of the causeway is muddy and super wavy  - never have seen it like this before. Just a couple of Ravens soaring along the causeway. Make one stop on the causeway for a token touch of the Great Salt Lake. We reach the Island an find a small herd of bison behind the VC. And there are 3 more by the fence. Continuing down the Island we find zero critters. :( No Pronghorn, deer, porcupine or coyote.) We stop at the Ranch and get nearly blown out of the car. We fight our we thru the wind into the woods looking for an Owl. No luck Try the barn; no luck :( Time to head north. Once there, it's over to the west side of the Island where we find a very...

Another sunny day with temps in the mid-50s. Heading to walk the road behind Jeremy's Ranch with my brother-in-law and my niece this morning. (Sister is not a walker so she's staying behind). A good number of cars already when we arrive. The road is snow packed and the landscape is a mix of snow and clear depending on which direction its facing. Along with the people are lots of dogs. My niece is in heaven. Nice walk with beautiful scenery as always. We walk to my normal turnaround at just past the 1.5 mile marker. It was reported that we walked around 9500 steps -- wee! Good day!

 Yet another sunny day with temps near 60 degrees. (And then the bottom falls out sometime tomorrow.) I finish working 10am and soon after I head up to Lambs Canyon; the 1st trip of the year! Parking area is clear but the road is snow-covered and packed thanks to snowmobiles, etc I have my spikes on for safety. Just after the gate I find a moose track.  Along the road, many piles of moose doo-doo. (But no sightings.) There are also little insects flying and landing on the snow. Quiet walk, just me, the stream and the sound of my steps in the snow/slush. (I do past on guy along the way not too far from the trailhead.) The stream is clear and flowing. There is still piles of snow on top. I would guess there's probably a foot of snow on the road. Just beautiful! I reach the trailhead and decide to walk it to the forest opening. The trail is packed because of X-country skiers. I head across the bridge. On the other side, I see small tracks that exit the forest and head down to the...