Birds, critters and regrettably, hunters.
Yesterday morning’s forecast called for sunny skies until a cold front moving in from the north was scheduled to sock us in with clouds at about 11 AM. So I decided to head for Antelope Island to look for birds (mostly) and take advantage of about three hours of forecast good light.
But the light only lasted for about an hour before the clouds moved in early. Since the first six photos below are presented in the order they were taken, you’ll be able to tell when the light went sour on me just by looking at the photos. Not all of them are particularly good photos but collectively they’re a reasonably accurate representation of my morning on the island, and on the causeway.
A very cold, and thus puffed up, Western Meadowlark right after sunrise. This bird had no interest in taking off in the frigid air so it allowed me to get close.
The meadowlark barely moved in the several minutes I was with it and it sure as hell wasn’t going to sing in that cold air – especially this time of year. This yawn was the only pose variety it gave me.
This big ol’ bull bison was with a group of other bulls but he was the only one that raised his head from his grazing. He didn’t seem to be amused by the cold either, so he stuck his tongue out at the photographer.
At this point the darn clouds moved in early so I tucked my tail and headed for home. But I did find some birds along the causeway.
An adult male Northern Harrier in a typical hunting flight pose, looking down. If I’d seen this bird coming toward me sooner, as I should have, I’d have been able to get some photos of him before he was slightly past me.
Another harrier in flight but by then the light was really poor.
A male American Kestrel with double bands, one of them color coordinated with his perch. Since this guy had a green band on his left leg, at first I thought he might be my old friend AOM, but that turned out to not be the case. And no, I couldn’t read his band numbers/letters in any of my photos.
OK, the following photos are out of order. They were actually among the first photos I took that morning, before sunrise along the causeway before I got to the island.
That early in the morning I had almost the entire 7-mile-long causeway to myself, with the exception of this faraway coyote that wasn’t happy to see my pickup show up and interrupt his hunting. So he broke out into a run and headed for the refuge of the island which was almost six miles away.
Even with ‘him’ this far away I was still too close for comfort so he…
went further out and tried to run on the ice but that didn’t work because all four of his legs kept going out from under him on the slippery ice. I felt sorry for him so I left him behind and headed for the island.
At that point, neither of us knew that there was something unpleasant waiting for him along the causeway up ahead.
A hunter and his decoys just east of the west bridge. And about a half dozen of this hunter’s buddies, all dressed in camo and armed to the teeth, were standing next to their pickups along the side of the causeway road.
If the coyote stayed on this side of the causeway, the north side, he would have to thread the needle between the hunter and his buddies in order to get to the safety of the island. The state of Utah encourages the killing of coyotes – no restrictions and no license required. Coyotes are considered vermin and Utah pays a $50 bounty for each coyote killed.
I didn’t have the heart to stay and watch what might happen, so I headed to the island. When I came back over an hour later, all the hunters and their pickups were still there and there was no sign of the coyote. I hope he made it safely to the island.
Personally, I strongly oppose hunting of any kind along the causeway. And for that matter, the island.
Ron
Hoping against hope that those hunters get 100% skunked.
Love all the shots, even with the light. I never thought I’d see a bison blowing a raspberry.
As far as I could tell, they were skunked Marty. Geese don’t hang out in that area anyway.
Honestly, I almost hate how accurate our weather forecasters have been with the Santa Ana winds pounding SoCal over the last two weeks (and months), it’s stressful to know they’re coming back on Monday.
So I’m happy to see some beautiful birds and mammals this morning (which is, thankfully, beautiful and calm) … until that last shot of a hunter lying in wait for a coyote that is simply minding its own business, doing its own hunting for survival. Bounties are so ridiculously outdated.
Chris, I remember Santa Anas from when I lived in Escondido and Poway as a kid. But I don’t remember huge fires associated with them. Times have definitely changed.
Despite the light closing in on you before you expected it looked like a lovely morning. Until the hunters. Hunting for ‘sport’ does my head in. Like you I hope the coyote got away.
EC, it was a lovely morning, at least for an hour. I wish the forecasters could be more accurate.
What a nice group of pictures and I love the Buffalo the best. He did not seem to have the heavy coat that most have in Wyoming. It is warmer where you are!
Trudy, it’s probably warmer here and we definitely have less wind than WY but this guy’s coat is still pretty thick.
The picture of the hunters shocked me after the natural beauty of the previous wildlife . Different strokes for different folks. Thanks
John, seeing hunters along the causeway always shocks me too. Thankfully it doesn’t happen very often but even once is far too often.
Very interesting and entertaining post this morning. Please send one of those Grey Ghosts down here. We have beautiful females, but never a male. Neat shot of the Bison. I have lots of experience with coyotes here and really like and admire them. I understand the problems they cause for farmers and ranchers, but I love them and would be hard pressed to have to shoot one.
Everett, I seem to see far more Gray Ghosts in the winter than any other time of year. I can’t explain it but that’s my experience.
Nice variety even with the light going to hell on you!
No bounty here on coyotes but no restrictions on hunting them and many do – we’re at the edge of calving time so they can be a “pest” BUT killing them just to kill them offends me. One would think they’d want to preserve the natural order on Antelope Island – guess nowhere is “sacred” any more.
Wind and now cold on our menu for a few days – not bad this morning but!
“One would think they’d want to preserve the natural order on Antelope Island.”
Judy, in regard to coyotes on the island, the ‘mantra’ of State Parks personnel has always been to “let nature take its course”. But when it comes down to it, DWR calls the shots and they’ve actually been killing some of the island’s coyotes recently. Their rationale is that they’re doing it to protect pronghorn fawns. As you can imagine, it’s quite controversial.
$50 for killing a coyote?!! Very happy Arizona does NOT have that policy. Having grown up in Alaska I understand hunting and fishing for food. Doing either for sport boggles my mind. Like the Kestrel
.
I agree with you, Kathleen.
Love watching Northern Harriers. Their active hunting style so relatively close to the ground is something worth stopping to watch. They are very graceful, and good looking birds.
Always appreciate a Kestrel photo.
Pity about the hunting around that area, and the coyote bounty. Here in metro SoCal you can get into considerable trouble for killing a coyote, even if they do take the occasional house pet.
Thanks the morning fix Ron.
“Here in metro SoCal you can get into considerable trouble for killing a coyote.”
Good to know, Michael.