Everybody's gotta eat...

and this sparrow hawk is enjoying a late breakfast. This is the best image I could manage under very difficult lighting conditions, but you get the idea.

American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), also called the sparrow hawk, with prey.

A big gulp...

was taken by this late afternoon visitor to the bird bath. This muley drank down the entire volume in about a minute as I observed from inside the house. I am enjoying this behavior but it makes more work for me, lugging gallons of water each day to replenish the basin.

Thirsty mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) with broken antler.

Unnecessary harassment of mule deer...

by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources at Round Mountain this afternoon, where I witnessed a helicopter chasing herds at low altitudes and shooting nets at individuals. This is ostensibly in the name of science, which a conservation officer wouldn’t discuss with me when I raised questions about the activity. Unbelievable and highly aggravating.

Two mule deer slung below a Hughes 500 helicopter.

Two sedated mule deer on field examination tables, being tended to by DWR staff. Nobody would explain their activities.

Follow up: The DWR conservation officer told me that “no deer are ever injured” by the process. While the injury rate is low, it is certainly not zero: Assessing the Helicopter and Net Gun as a Capture Technique for White-Tailed Deer.

Breaking News on 8 December 2022:

From the Moab Times-Independent on 8 December 2022. Karma.

Here’s the full story in the Moab Times-Independent.

A cloud-free sky on a chilly day...

set the scene for a nice eMTB exploration of the area southeast of Round Mountain in uppermost Castle Valley. Quite the uphill climb (1,945 foot ascent) but the views are stunning, and the downhill run is big fun.

View south-southeast towards the La Sal Mountains, with Willow Basin on the left and Bald Mesa above Porcupine Rim on the right.

View northward, down valley, with Round Mountain on the left.

Portion of GPS track showing the area explored southeast of Round Mountain (lower right in image) on Google Earth.

Occupancy has been exceeded...

in the bird bath this morning by a gang of Starlings working the neighborhood. Many, many dozens of them enjoyed the bath, during several visits throughout the day, requiring repeated refills.

Common Starling or European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris).

The Dewey Bridge area...

north of the Colorado River was explored with my neighbor today on our eMTBs, following a rough jeep track on the edge of the high escarpment. The ~13 mile ride was spectacularly scenic, sunny and comfortably warm. Priceless.

Panorama looking south, with Dewey Bridge on the Colorado River in the center of the image. (Click on image to embiggen.)

Typical southern Utah billboard.

Descending Kokopelli’s Trail above Dewey Bridge near the end of the three hour outing.

Prepping for a star party...

with friends and neighbors during the holiday week ahead. It will be certainly be cold, but the stars shine like bright crystals in the dark skies of southern Utah during the winter months. Jupiter and Saturn are particularly nicely placed for observation now, immediately after dark, so one doesn’t have to stay out late.

Celestron 11-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope on a German equatorial mount.

The tiny northern scorpion...

is not fatal to humans, but you don’t want to get nipped by one and allergic reactions are possible. Surprises come in small packages.

Northern scorpion (Paruroctonus boreus).

All scorpions fluoresce under an ultraviolet (UV) light. Cool and creepy. Toothpick for scale.

Tonight's full Moon...

is known as the Beaver Moon, and it precedes a total lunar eclipse that occurs early tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: A high, thin cloud layer moved in later in the evening obscuring a clear view of the eclipse. Double dang. This is my best image, caught partially eclipsed, at 2:30 am MST.

Dusky panorama...

of Castle Valley, Utah from a high vantage point below Porcupine Rim, with a nearly-full Moon rising above Adobe Mesa in the center of this image.