Another lousy sunset in Castle Valley...
Now three in the heronry...
The two in the upper right are definitely a nesting pair based on their behavior. It’s been enjoyable to have this opportunity to watch the gathering of these interesting birds.
The male hopped over to an adjacent nest, picked around a bit, and plucked a selection and returned to the other nest.
The twig is delivered to the nest that the female has clearly preferred. This suggests that the last mating pair to arrive inherits the last ratty nest in the heronry.
Early morning at the heron rookery...
that is technically termed a “heronry.” Early morning is the best time to catch waking activity in the roost, now occupied by two. (Click on any of the smaller images to enlarge.)
Full moon rising above Adobe Mesa...
Sunset at Big Bend on the Colorado River...
The first Great Blue Heron has arrived...
at a small rookery in a Gambel oak tree that overhangs the Colorado River between Castle Valley and Moab.
Orion hanging above Professor Valley...
towards the west, as I waited patiently to photograph the Milky Way at Fisher Towers several nights ago. I’ve annotated several celestial objects in the image, and the dim orange glow in the bottom center is the Red Cliffs Lodge on the Colorado River.
This is a 20 sec exposure, hence the airplane trails in the image.
Black-Chinned Hummingbirds...
arriving at my feeder for breakfast.
Both images shot at 1/2500 sec, still not fast enough to freeze their wing beat.
Milky Way over Fisher Towers...
taken around 4 am this morning. The bright glob in the upper part of the galactic core is the planet Jupiter, overexposed due to its brightness.
Recipe: Tripod-mounted Canon 6D with 14mm Rokinon manual lens, 20 sec, f/2.8 at ISO 3200.
PlanIt! Pro is an Android astroimaging planning app and is key to staging images like that seen above, allowing the user to locate themselves via GPS in order capture your envisioned landscape composition involving various celestial objects and/or events. Brilliant.
The Poison Strip and Yellow Cat Flats...
were the targets of exploration this weekend with long-time friends, an area of defunct uranium mines north of Arches National Park, with sedimentary-hosted uranium ore found in the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation.
African mustard is resplendent...
throughout Castle Valley this spring, painting large pink and purple swaths in the greening cheat grass.
Fence-jumping mule deer visitor...
Lengthening shadows on Parriott Mesa...
in Castle Valley as the day draws to an end.
(Click image to enlarge.)
Western Meadowlark
So I've landed at my hacienda in Utah...
for the next little while, stalking the collared lizards with my new big lens and enjoying the spring bloom of desert wildflowers.
Sunset this evening. Magnificent.
Waxing gibbous moon...
this evening with 78% of the surface visible. Full moon is on Thursday.
Canon 5Div with 500 mm EF lens at 1/125 sec, f/5 at ISO 100. This is a cropped jpeg right off the camera with no adjustments or sharpening. I really like this lens.
A morning in the blind...
on Middle Pine Lake in Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge was enjoyable on this bright and sunny day.
Male common goldeneye.
Female ring-necked duck.
Male ring-necked ducks.
Trumpeter Swans at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge...
shot with my big new glass on a gimbal tripod head at approximately 100 meters.
This Northern Flicker...
was perched on a tree trunk no more than four meters away, basking in the sun and all puffed up for maximum insulation in this frigid weather.
Image shot with my new Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens - through an unwashed double-pane window. I’m pretty pleased.
Close-up of breast feathers in image above.