A Curious Coyote, A Reflection And A Compositional Quandary

Two days ago we found this coyote exploring along the Antelope Island causeway. We watched it gnaw on a duck or shorebird carcass (possibly falcon leftovers, based on past experience) and then it continued to look for something, almost anything, to eat. When it reached the end of a rocky spit jutting out into the Great Salt Lake it entertained us with some interesting behavior.

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A Montana Coyote On The Prowl

One afternoon on our latest Montana trip we decided to do a little “sploring” (as we call it) and investigate some country new to us so we spent several hours cruising the back roads on the south side of the Centennial Mountains. We found a beautiful mountain valley very close to the continental divide that provided a variety of habitats but few birds.

But it did give me my best photographic opportunity ever with a Montana coyote.

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Some Interesting Coyote Behaviors

Late last week we encountered two coyotes walking east along the north side of the Antelope Island Causeway. One was a very light-colored adult and the other a slightly darker and smaller youngster. This summer has been a mighty survival struggle for the island’s coyotes – the vole populations crashed and the extreme heat and drought have taken their toll. These two actually seemed forlorn and destitute in both posture and demeanor as they walked the shore of the causeway. But they did show me several interesting behaviors that I was able to photograph.

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Miscellaneous Montana Moments

This post is a potpourri of photos from last week’s Montana trip. I’ll include shots of mammals and scenery so there will be no common theme that runs through all the images other than the trip itself. Travelogues are not my forte and some of these images aren’t of the highest quality but they illustrate some interesting behaviors that I wanted to share.

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Coyotes Like Eggs For Breakfast Too

At 5:30 yesterday morning Mia and I almost decided to stay home rather than make the hour-long drive to Antelope Island because the area up north looked to be socked in with clouds (the “Farmington Curse” I’ve mentioned before) but after we picked up our traditional “shooting breakfast” (chocolate donuts) we chose to take our chances and go anyway – a choice I’m glad we made.

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Some Random Recent Images

I have an appointment early this morning so I don’t have time for a detailed, organized post so I thought I’d present a little potpourri from the last few weeks.  Though none of these images are spectacular, there’s something about each one of them that appealed to me in some way.   Common Ravens are a hugely challenging subject for me because of their uncooperative behavior and the difficulty of getting detail in the blacks.   For some reason, these birds really seem to eat a lot of snow, which this one had been doing just before take-off.  I do wish the head were slightly sharper but I like the remnants of the snow-eating behavior and how cleanly the bird is presented against the background which is the Great Salt Lake with the snow-covered shoreline at bottom right.     Finding water that isn’t ice-covered around here isn’t easy, for me or for the critters, but I think that’s the only reason this Muskrat came as close to me as it did.  I found this one at a pond close to my home.     Ok, not a classic wing position for sure but the aerodynamic profile of this fast flying Prairie Falcon still appealed to me.  I also like the eye contact and crisp detail in flight.     Life is tough for Coyotes right now as they live in a stark white world of deep snow which makes survival difficult.  Many of them wear an almost perpetual snow mask from pushing their faces through the snow as they try to follow…

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