April 2 - Gravel Pit (only a portion) - Antelope Island

 Sunny day with highs near 70 degrees today.

Heading up to Antelope Island today as the clock is ticking before those biting gnats are out. Yuk!

I reach the causeway around 8am. Not far out of the gate, I slam on my brakes for 2 Sandhill Cranes just south of the causeway. They are grazing. Nice!

Continuing on, boy, it's so dry out. And the shorebirds, you definitely need binocs to see them. Sad, that we waste so much water for green grass in the middle of a desert. And the houses are still going up. The day of reckoning is coming. :(

I reach the island and head south towards the Ranch. I'm feeling good about hiking the Sentry Trail again as there were no bison insight on Sunday; other than the one I almost ran into.

There are scattered small herds of bison before the gate and all the way to the Ranch. A group of 5 here, 10 there, 2 over there... Not sure why they are scattered. Perhaps it the drought, maybe it's because they're about to give birth. 

We'll see how the rest of year goes as water is going to be a huge issue this year as we're already in extreme drought conditions.

As I roll past Frary Peak, I spot something that looks like a critter. I stop. Yep, it's a coyote!!

A little farther down, I stop to watch a male pheasant slowly cross the road. 

It's the 3rd male pheasant crossing the street in 3 visits.

Still farther down, I spot at least 14 Pronghorn on the west side of the road . Always cool to see them! (And there are bison on the mountains in back of them!!

I continue down the road to the Ranch. Darn! There are bison just south of the Sentry Trail. Don't think I'm hiking it today.

But first, I'll look for some owls. They should be nesting right now; perhaps the little ones are already born. I don't usually see the babies until middle/end of May. 

I walk through the barn and see nothing.

I head out to the woods and when I reach the edge of the meadow. I see 2 birds land in a tree. They don't look like "normal" birds so I start walking over. Hey, they are a pair of Kestrels! One is definitely larger than the other.

As I continue to get closer, I hear the call of a Great Horned Owl nearby. Cool!

As I get closer, the smaller (probably) male Kestrel flies but I get pretty close to the other.

I search the trees for the Owl but can't find it.

I head out thinking I should keep looking for the Owl but it's time to hike.

I head north to the Gravel Pit trail.

On the way, I see a large bird of prey.

There are bison visible on the ridge above the Frary Peak bathroom.

I pull in the Gravel Pit parking and there are a couple cars already parked.

I start up the trail. Along the lower section, I hear a cool bird call and I'm trying to find the bird. There he is walking east - it's a Curlew!!!

Beautiful walk; lots of the Parsley in bloom now.

but once on the ridge, there are bison in the way AGAIN! Not a huge herd like last time - maybe 10. They are not far from the trail and they are moving towards the trail. Crap!

Time to head back. At least I saw some cool critters today!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oct 17 - Antelope Island Drive

Image
Sunny day with highs in the 60s. Heading up to Antelope Island to hike either the Sentry or Gravel Pit trails. I arrive just after 8am. There's more water in Farmington Bay from all the rain we've had recently. And there are still tons of birds. I reach the island and head south towards the Ranch.  There a scattered Bull bison near the Visitor's Center and the road up until the first corner by the rocks. On the downside of the 1st pull-out, I see a herd of Pronghorn. Hard to see because terrain. After the Frary Peak, I run into tons of scattered herd of bison - the family herds. They are really close to road. Can hear the chewing, ripping grass and grunting.  While waiting for one of the herds, a coyote runs across the road. I try to find him as I drive by but have no luck. I continue to pass by herds of bison all the way til about a mile from the Ranch. I arrive at the Ranch and yes, there are more bison around as there's another herd north of Mushroom Springs. Darn! I...
Read more

Nov 14 - Gravel Pit to Beacon Hill (Antelope Island)

Image
 Hazy sunshine day with highs in the 50s. I really should be heading into the mountains but I think a bit burned out there -- I just can't motivate myself to go up there. No worries,, I'll just head to Antelope Island. It's 45 degrees as I cross the causeway. The duck/shorebird population sure dropped from last week but there re still a good number of them remaining. When I reach the island, I turn south towards the Ranch. I see several bison around the Visitor's Center as normal. It isn't until I reach Beacon Hill/White Rock Ridge that I more critters -- Pronghorn, at least 20 of them. Then are moving north about mid-way up the mountain. Then it's past Frary Peak and continuing until I'm about 1.5 miles from the Ranch before I find the bison herd. A little spread out in smaller herds but there's a larger herd just crossing the road. There are Fall calves in the mix. Because of their location, I expecting to find more bison around the Sentry trail. Man a...
Read more

Sept 2 - Desolation Trail to Salt Lake Overlook (Millcreek Canyon)

Image
Partly cloudy day with highs in the mid-80s. I take off after 2:30 arriving around 3pm. The canyon is shockingly empty - Rattlesnake Gulch, Grandeaur Peak  and Desolation Trail -- must be the Utes football opener at 5:30 tonight :) It's good for me as I part and start up the trail. As expected majority of the flowers are gone. But there are Aster, Yellow Composites and a few other yellow flowers in spots.  Vegetation is still very green though. I also find Solomon's Seal berries and Rose Hips. It's extremely quiet out - no birds, no chipmunks, no people talking -- it's awesome! Before I know, I'm at the viewpoint. Looks like rain is coming like they predicted. I stop for a bit and started back down. Good hike!
Read more