Feb 24 - Gravel Pit Trail (Antelope Island)

Heading up to Antelope Island this morning. A bit disappointed that the sun is not out - weathermen said this would be the better day this week-end - wrong as usual as there's clouds everywhere. The one good thing is that it is already 30 degrees out at 7:30 instead of Saturday's 19.

Very grey as I cross the causeway. There's a lot more ice on the Farmington Bay side as it's been a below normal (cold) week.

No birds of prey and hardly any ducks seen as I cross.

Upon reaching the island, I head south towards the Ranch.

The landscape is a mix dry ground and snow.

It's a quiet drive south seeing one Pheasant and a Northern Shrike (exciting as it's not a bird I see often) both near Frary Peak.

And what looks like an Oriole's nest.

As I approach the Frary Homestead, I notice a skinny black "thing" on top a hill. Curious, I stop to take a look, it's a lone Pronghorn!!

I look the herd on the other side of the hill but I don't find any.

Continuing on, I reach the Ranch. There is a small herd (~6) doe behind the Ranch.

And in the distance, near Sentry Peak, is a small herd of bison.

Time to head north to start my hike.

On the way up, I see that Shrike again and surprise, a coyote walking north along the lake bed!! (He's being bothered by a Crow/Raven.)

I pull into the Gravel Pit parking lot. It's 33 degrees, a bit windy, and still cloudy. Time to start up the trail.

As I work my way out of the Gravel Pit, I again see a skinny "thing" stand on top of my hill. Again, it's a lone Pronghorn!

He moves to the other side as the runner who is ahead of me approaches.

As I top the hill, I see some bison near the corrals -- but no Pronghorn herd. :(

I continue along

until reaching the trail up to Beacon Hill. I'm not going up today; I want to continue on the White Rock Trail to the bench overlooking the White Rock meadow to see if there are animals in the meadow.

I reach the bench - great views of Frary Peak

but no critters down there that I can see.

But there is blue sky! Not sure if I'll see it before I leave but at some point today, it'll be sunny here.

Time to head back. I actually don't have to go far before I see 4 bison. They are on the south side of a hill hidden from my view on the way in.

Back at my car, I decide to head over to the west side of the island.

Along the White Rock trail, there is a herd of 4 bison.

Also, not far from the Park Ranger Station, there are a couple more bison. And there's something else that looks suspicious. So I head over to the Station. The suspicious object is one Pronghorn standing and 2 laying down. (Hey, I finally see more than 1 Pronghorn!)

Time to head out. My parting shot is a Kestrel perched near the exit.

Good day!

Feb 22 - East Canyon Reservoir

Beautiful sunny morning with temps in the low 20s (heading for a high in the low 30s). Someday we will start getting some "normal" temps (mid-40s) for this time of year - soon please!

Heading up a bit in elevation to East Canyon reservoir for an short hike to enjoy the fresh, crisp air, sunny skies, a snowy views.

I head up the foothills, when I reach the top, it's a white snowy view (much different than when I was here earlier this winter). Looks awesome! I drive downhill and over to the parking lot.

I intend to walk the trail that heads down to the lake and than north thru the woods but it doesn't look like anyone has been on it in a while -- snow covered. I have no idea how deep the snow will be to break the trail and I do not have snowshoes so I'm walking the snow covered road. (They close the road north of here for people to walk and ski.)

The road is snow-covered but easy walking as I'm hardly sinking into the snow.

The going is very quiet other than the wind blowing.

I'm checking the sides of the foothills for any signs of deer, elk or moose but not seeing any. :( (Just brushes pretending to be animals.)

Eventually I see some birds flitting around the trees. First I see the flashes of red of a flying Flicker.

And not too far him is what looks like a sparrow.

A bit farther, I see a Chickadee in hopping thru the trees.

Still farther, I start seeing lots of tracks along the west side of the road and crossing the road. I don't have to go too much farther to find the culprits - a flock of turkeys! Awesome!

There's at least 10 of them and they are scratching through the snow (and dirt) under the tree looking for food. I thought they'd run away as I approach but nope; they just slowly move into the trees but I could still clearly see them as I walked by.

I continue on until the trail crosses the road. From there I hook up with the trail on the other side of the road as I want to get higher to get a better view.  People definitely have been on this trail before but its now all covered in about 4-5 inches of fluffy snow. I find some rabbits tracks as I move through.

I head up the little hill to get my view to the north towards Big Mountain.

And back to the south towards the Wasatch Mts.

So pretty!!

Time to head back!

On my way back, I hear (and then find) a very talkative Stellar's Jay. And I also find a different set of tracks. I can see paws and it looks like it could be hopping. I haven't a clue.

Good day!

Feb 17 - Antelope Island Short Excursions

Heading up to Antelope Island this morning to have a look around.

Utah has received a lot of snow the last few weeks; all of Utah has snow pack exceeding 100% of normal which is awesome! (And 2 of the 4 Wasatch ski resorts in Big & Little Cottonwood canyon have exceeded 400 inches for the year.) Keep the snow falling!

Last week we got a touch of Spring with temperatures in the 50s before the bottom fell up with yet another cold front Friday night.

Today, temperatures are in the 20s when I head out with a high in the low 30s. The forecast is for mostly cloudy with the possibly of snow showers but we had the same forecast yesterday and it was a beautiful sunny day. Hoping for the same thing today.

As I near the entrance to Antelope Island, there's a new dusting of snow on the ground (street included). The causeway has the same dusting of snow and it's pretty slippery but it looks awesome with the coating of snow.

Not too far from the entrance, I see what could be a Northern Harrier perched in the distance. (Slid right past him trying to stop. :)

As I near the bridge, I'm ready to look for Bald Eagle but because of the 50 degree temperatures a few days ago, the water is open. There aren't even any ducks in sight!

I reach the island and head south towards the Ranch. (It's 26 degrees and somewhat sunny but lots of clouds moving through.)

The landscape is awesome looking because of the snow

but it isn't until just before Frary Peak before I notice a herd of bison under White Rock ridge near a rock outcropping. Took myself a little while to convince myself they were actually bison.

Continuing on, I see a Porcupine and once past the Frary Homestead, I see some bison along the edge of the Bay.

Then on to the Ranch. I'm planning on hiking the Sentry Trail this morning. The sun is out now so the conditions are perfect.

I start out heading down the road looking for animals. No deer behind the Ranch this morning but I do see 2 Pheasant fly east from the garden.

As I near the actual Sentry trail head, I see a large herd of bison farther south.

Hmmm, should I hike the trail or head down towards the bison? I see my answer in the distance....Pronghorn! I'm heading towards the bison (and Pronghorn)!

The Pronghorn are on the west side of the trail; the bison on the east. No wait, there are Pronghorn on the east side too just north of the bison. Oh, and there's a larger grouping of Pronghorn south of the bison. Lots of Pronghorn down here!

I pass the first group of Pronghorn to the west. There's a few standing and a few laying down.

As I continue, I get a glimpse of something low to the ground, brown and furry moving towards the Pronghorn. I see it twice but because of the rolling landscape, I never get a good look. But I'm assuming it's a coyote!

I continue down the road. The 4 pronghorn to the east notice me and start moving south towards the bison.

I pass a few more Pronghorn to the west without issue but the Pronghorn ahead of me are getting a bit skittish. Then a group of them start running west.

And then another group. Pronghorn moving everywhere!

Oops, now the bison are moving west too and crossing the road.

That's the end of my journey down the road. Glad I made the detour!

On the way back to the Ranch, I see a Horned Lark

and I see 4 deer (all doe) behind the Ranch in the trees.

Then I check for the Great Horned Owls; sadly, no sighting still.

I do check with the DNR guy who indicates that there is still male around. Yea! Hoping he "woos" a female to his territory pretty soon.

Time to head north up the road; next stop Frary Peak.

On the way, I see 1 porcupine on the ground (too many people around to stop), another that's quite active in the trees picking Russian Olive fruit.

and then the one I saw earlier.

I reach the lower parking for Frary Peak, park and start up the road. I want to head up and look for rabbits in the rocks near the upper parking. There's just a 23% incline between me and the rocks. Great way to warm up!

I reach the rocks, lots of rabbit tracks in the snow. I move slowly checking for rabbits. I round a rock pile and there's a rabbit. But he quickly jumps in his hole. :(

I continue around the rocks still looking but all I find are tracks. (And some nice views.)

Time to head down for one last stop at Bison Point.

There are several bison along the road at the base of Bison Point and I can see 2 groups of 4 bison along the White Rock trail to the south.

But it's time to head up the trail to the top.

At the top, there are tons of Chukkar tracks. But I don't hear or see any. I check the rock outcropping for them but still, only tracks.

Time to head down.

Great day and a perfect ending when I find a Kestrel perched on a sign just outside the entrance.

Excellent day!

Feb 2 - Antelope Island

 Heading up to Antelope Island today. It's a very gray day with only peeks of sun. But it's warmish at 42 degrees and it's only 8:30 am.

Along the causeway, the frozen icy-ness is gone - we've finally had a few days of near 50 degree days.

No Kestrels along the causeway this morning but I do get a good view of a hawk - perhaps a Northern Harrier.

With all the ice pretty much melted, I'm not surprised that there are no Bald Eagles visible. Just bigger open water holes and many ducks. (Though they are not as concentrated in one area - more open water.

As always, I head directly towards the Ranch.

It's another quiet drive; waiting until well past Frary Peak before I see more first 2 bison of the day.

About a 1/2 from the Ranch, I'm rolling up on a herd of bison that just crossed the road to the western side. So nice to see bison up close and on a drive.

(And there's still a few on the other side of the road too.)

They are moving westward. (Perhaps towards that small herd on the mountainside.)

I haven't did a Great Horned Owl check in several weeks. It's a bout mating season - perhaps the pair is back. (I haven't seen one since Nov 3.)

There are deer on my way around.

But unfortunately, still no owls. I think there's been a pair here for about 15 years; the streak maybe broken. :(

My plan was to hike but it's windy and a cold wind; so I'm being wimpy and just enjoying the drive. Perhaps, I'll go up Bison Point.

Before heading back to my car, I look south and there's a decent size bison herd out well south of Sentry Peak - just little black dots.

Time to head north and over to the west side.

Well, there's a couple of bison at the base of Bison Point.

And as I turn on the road up to the Bison Point parking, yea! Pronghorn!! They are one the south side and not far up the road. I quickly turn around and head over to the White Rock, I can see them better there.

Most of the Pronghorn are on the north side of the road but a few have crossed over. There are a couple right next to the road

(never noticed their little black tuffs of hair over their eyes).

I've heard bison eating vegetation lots of time but this is the first time for the Pronghorn (very exciting).

I even get to watch one cross the road right in front of my car.

Well, it's time to leave them along and head up to the Bison Point parking and then up the trail.

The trail is pretty clear until I get to the switchbacks where it gets snowpacked and icy. As I head up I heard a bunch of Chukkars. There they are not far from me - four of them - making lots of noise.

Then off they fly.

And then another larger flock of perhaps 20 a little farther away fly.

But I still hear Chukkars. Must be the hot area for them today.

I reach the top

and because of the wind, head down pretty quickly.

I look for the Pronghorn on my drive down and they are all on the south side of the road. There are 2 of them just chasing each other round and round the herd for what seems like a couple of minutes. Pretty funny!

And there are a few bison not too far away.

Good day!