Antelope Island: A Storm Approaching

Generally, life is good. 

Antelope Island as a Storm Approaches - V

 

The beauty of the Island is in its natural contrasts: the vast, barren expanses of the salt desert and waters of the Great Salt Lake.  

When spring will arrive the harshness of the desert is soften by wildflowers,  bison, mule deer and pronghorn antelopes that roam freely across the island.

Generally, life is good.

Notes to Self. Monolog

 

Antelope Island, March 2025

The Antelope island usually "talks" to me in monologue while I am there. 

It always "asks" me to slow down and take my time, be attentive and most importantly to preserve its original beauty in my photos.  

"Be honest about my unique landscape, don't over-edit, keep it pristine", - the Island often reminds me.  I promise, but there are times when I don't keep my promise and then I regret it because I feel that the Island will be disappointed.

I learn, often stumble, but never forget to listen to the Island that holds the eternal wisdom.

Generally, life is good.

Antelope Island as a Storm Approaches - III

 

Generally, life is good.

On the Great Salt Lake

The distant mountains softly fade through the haze.  

A soft, blurry island in the fog.  

A place where earth and heavens meet.

Generally, life is good.

.

On the Great Salt Lake

Northern Shovelers on the Great Salt Lake, like many other waterfowl, typically take off in a coordinated sequence.  At first, a few ducks often take off, prompting others to follow them.

Generally, life is good.

Great Salt Lake in January

 

My first foray to Antelope Island after a two-month break. The island greeted me warmly and delighted me with its modest beauty.

Generally, life is good.

On the Great Salt Lake

 

The Great Salt Lake is the important resting place for migrating shorebirds. 

Thousands of different shorebirds can be seen on Antelope Island in late September and October. This is one the greatest bird phenomena in the West. 

Generally, life is good.

The World is Wide Enough - III. Waiting

 

The shore of the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island.

Generally, life is good.

They are Fun to Watch

To watch how Ring-billed Gulls behave and interact with each is delight.  They yawn when they are bored, showing their red mouth. When Gulls get  angry with each other, they express their displeasure very loudly.

Ring-billed don't care where they land and how others would react to their landing.

and, of course, these birds are very graceful in flight and landing.

Generally, life is good.

Notes to Self. Hiking in Buffalo Point

 In Buffalo Point.

There are places that don’t let go; you want to come back to them again and again. Buffalo Point is one of those places. This place is very generous. If you want to feel free, this is the place for you, if you want to escape from our noisy, hectic world go there.

To say, that Buffalo Point is full of surprises is understatement.  There is a narrow rocky trail that will take you even higher in the mountains.  

The trail is full of promise; there you can see Chukar partridges, rabbits, rodents and bison with whom under no circumstances I would like to cross the path.

 On the Buffalo Point trail 

I met two Chukar Partridges who were hiding in the sage bushes but they immediately flew away as I approached.  So much for the Chukars.

Fortunately, I didn't meet any bison on the trail.  If I met them, it would be probably the end of my earthly adventures and I am not ready for that yet.

At the beginning of the hike I came across a European Starling.  I wonder what brought this bird high into the mountains?

Generally, life is good.

Notes to Self. At Buffalo Point

I thought I knew Antelope Island inside and out. It turned out that I didn’t know the island that well at all and had never even deigned to get to Buffalo Point.

Finding Buffalo Point was not difficult, but driving there along a narrow, winding mountain road to the top of a huge mountain was scary.

I'm afraid of heights. It's not panic, when everything freezes with fear in the chest and it seems that at that moment the heart will jump out of it, but with tension that does not let go for a while. 

I made it to Buffalo Point trying to overcome my fear and was amazed by the beautiful scenic view.  Directly in front of me lay a vast open country in the Great Basin that took my breath away.  What I saw was impossible to comprehend either with the mind or soul.

Generally, life is good.

Northern Shoveler in Flight

In flight, male Northern Shovelers flush blue on the upper wing and green on the secondary. They are so powerful when flying and at the same time so elegant.

Generally, life is good!

 

Notes to Self. Duck Hunting

 

When I spotted a man pulling his airboat along the shore of the Great Salt Lake I had no idea where he is going and what he is going to do. I also didn't know that I had met a duck hunter.

Personally, I think duck hunting is cruel to the ducks, but in my country it is an old tradition and nothing can be done about it.

The hunter found the place to hunt and began setting up decoys to attract ducks.  

 All decoys are in a special order. 

You are probably wondering why, despite my attitude towards hunting all living things, I decided to photograph this duck hunter?  

Curiosity is one of the reasons. The desire to tell a story about something I have never seen before and probably won't see again. 

Generally, life is good.

In November on the Great Salt Lake

 

Seeing a variety of ducks in November on the Great Salt Lake was very exciting  and at the same time challenging adventure.   

I wasn't wrong when I said "challenging", because I don't see ducks often, I know so little about them and having observed these wonderful birds, I knew that identifying them would be quite difficult.

 

In the photo above, an American Wigeon swims past with great dignity.  

I love when birds interact with each other because they are somewhat reminiscent of us, humans. 

Gadwall stopped swimming for a while because watching the avocet march past him was a funny show that couldn't be missed.

A magnificent trio. 

Two avocets and Wigeon seem to be oblivious to each other, but this is very deceptive. 

Generally, life is good. 

American Wigeon at the Great Salt Lake

In a small backwater of the Great Salt Lake, I accidentally spotted a small group of ducks. To my indescribable joy, among them were several American Wigeons 

The American Wigeon is also known as "baldpate" because the white stripe resembles a bald man's head.  Breeding males also have a green eye patch that turned out dark in my photographs - the backwater was in shadow, and the rock reflecting the light made the scenes darker.

Doesn't the male Wigeon look like a leader of this group? 

In the group: a male Northern Shoveler, he is the first duck on the left and a female swimming next to him.

At some point, the male Northern Shoveler left the group, but the females continued to stay close to their leader.  Soon the non-breeding Eared Grebe joined the group and began to watch it from the distance.

Generally, life is good. 

Was That a Willet?

 

For the first time in two months, I finally made it out to Antelope Island and the first birds I spotted on the island were the shore birds as American Avocets along with Ring-billed gulls.  Sometimes the Eared Grebes joined them but not for long.

At some point, I noticed the grayish bird with a pointed sharp beak and began to watch this bird.  This unfamiliar bird constantly followed the Avocet and I got the impression that it for some reason wanted to stay close to it. 

There were several moments when an unfamiliar bird made me smile.  The bird decided to climb onto a rock to be noticed, but all its efforts to attract attention were futile.

Aggression to get attention? Or defend the rock as its own territory?

The bird eventually returned back to the rock and continued to watch the avocet.

I watched the unfamiliar bird for a long time; one might say that I dedicated almost all morning to it. The bird was amazing in its behavior.

Unfortunately, I had a difficult time to identify the interesting bird.  I wrote "Willet" in the tags, but I am not sure if this bird is a Western Willet.

Interestingly, that Willets do often hang around with other birds and are not as skittish as some and importantly they are larger than most sandpipers.  Whether was it Willet or not, I leave the question open.

Generally, life is good!

Who Feeds on Brine Flies on Antelope Island - III

Mostly I photographed Franklin's gulls running through the clouds of brine flies with their open bills to catch as much flies as possible.  In July, I spotted on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake Red-necked Phalaropes, also feeding on flies to fuel up for their long migration.

This Phalarope was passively snatching flies from the air while standing and resting.  

The clouds of brine flies can be so thick that they interfere with with cameras' autofocus, and it can sometimes be tricky to focus clearly on the birds behind the swarm of brine flies.  Practice helps and so does patience.

Generally, life is good.

Ring-billed Gull is Flying Over Salty Desert

 

I often just watch gulls without even trying to photograph them, but when they rise up and fly, I envy and admire them. The gulls are so beautiful in flight. 

Life goes on.

American Avocets Huddle Together in a Strong Icy Wind - II.

 

That day weather changed constantly on the Great Salt Lake.  Sometimes the strong wind calmed down a little and the sun appeared from behind the clouds and then it became cloudy again.  

When the sun shone the avocets perked up, the birds raised their heads and looked around.

and then hid their heads and bills in their feathers patiently waiting for the wind die down.  

Life goes on.