"The Sunflower is Mine, in a Way..."

It's a time for wild sunflowers to bloom and delight.  In evenings in the Wasatch mountains the wild sunflowers change a little bit their colors and always face toward the sun.  

 

In the morning at Bear River they are more gentle and soft but always smiley.

"The sunflower is mine, in a way." Vincent van Gogh.

Generally, life is good!

Spring in the Wasatch Mountains -V. Black-headed Grosbeak

Two days ago just before I reached the canyon on the Bonneville Shoreline trail I noticed an interesting bird perching on a tall shrub with beautiful white flowers.  It's appeared to be a Black-headed Grosbeak.

The Grosbeak was backlit. You can see how his beak is a little bit transparent. From time to time he was singing his song and it was so nice to listen.

Then I saw an almost golden tree.  The sun was rising higher over the Wasatch Mountains and backlit this tree making part of it wonderfully gold. That was a very beautiful effect.

The Grosbeak is enjoying the sun on the Mallow-leaved Ninebark. 

If you bike or hike any canyon trail in the Wasatch you will see some of these large shrubs that have nice white flowers that bloom in the spring.

On my way back I saw beautiful yellow flowers with large shiny green leaves. These flowers prefer open spots in the mountains, usually near sagebrushes. I learned recently their name, Mulesears.

Once upon a time I bought a book "Wasatch Wildflowers by Steve Hegji. I looked through it a few times and the book was forgotten. Who knew that one day I would open it again trying to identify the wildflowers I see during my hikes. 

Spring in the Wasatch Mountains - IV.

Today I hiked almost three hours with many stops for watching birds and photographing them. I almost reached the hiking trail that leads to the small mountain pond but decided to turn back. It was getting close to noon and I was getting thirsty.

On my way back I met a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. He was in the shadow and mostly hiding between leaves.

The wildflowers are beautiful. But sometimes their beauty may not be apparent until you get very close. I believe that I photographed Alfalfa.