Link to video

Here's a link to the video I took this morning.  Unfortunately, the loud clicking you hear is my auto-focus on my lens.  I've got to remember that this DLSR shoots video and take it off when shooting. You can hear the calls of the grouse in the background if you listen closely.  Please be patient with the video, it's 160MB...

Now to figure out how to get stills from this video, given that they look to be better quality than what I took earlier.

Here's one taken right after the first one landed...no cropping.  He literally landed right next to the car.  The noise is due to the high ISO (max on this camera)

Later after they all went to the field:

A common loon:

The first osprey that I've seen since moving out here:

Grouse

So why is it that the male birds tend to be the showy/flashy sex, yet for humans, it's the women who get all gussied up to get the male????

Considering the light I was working with, these are not too bad....they were pretty close when it was dark, but some cars came and they flushed away a bit.  The lek (breeding ground) is right on the road.

I also got a loon and osprey, but that will have to wait till I get home from work.

Just teasing...

And spring skipped summer & fall, going directly to winter....

A few more

So, did you miss me...I've gotten the photo bug again now that it's spring!

Cherry Blossoms (I fear they are going to die with the cold coming in tonite):

Meadowlark:

Gray Headed Junco (member of the Dark-eyed Junco species):

Maybe Spring...

Went to Antelope Island today for an owl walk (drive...).  Saw a couple of Great Horned (one was being harassed by a raven) and a Barn Owl in nest box.  Never fid find a burrowing owl, but now know where to look for a few of the nests.

Chukar:

Curlew:

Horned Lark:

Supposedly there's a pair of Mountain Plovers in the meadow where near these last two.  They are a rare species in UT, the last sighting reported in 1992. Interestingly enough, these plovers don't hang out near water, but in the meadows.  I may have to go back to see if I can find them.

Sorry

I  apologize upfront for the long absence from posting...life got overwhelming

I went to Bear River today.

I saw this dude run across the road with something in his mouth...it's a long tailed weasel!

Then a bid down the road, this one popped up...