A Last Day at Antelope Island
I also posted this on my other blog, Baby Aspirin Years. I felt that it should live on both blogs. (Apologies if you subscribe to both.)
It’s the last day of 2012. There have been a lot of wrap up posts floating around and I kept thinking how I would wrap up this year. A year of pictures, showing one per month? A list of things I learned? A list of all the fantastic things I did? Others have written eloquent posts going down memory lane. Me? I kept drafting one and then I felt like I was creating something akin to the ol’ Christmas Letter.
Today Steve and I visited Antelope Island. It’s the last day of the year and the last full day we have together before he heads back to Calgary tomorrow. For me, it’s the perfect wrap up of my year.
- Antelope Island in Winter
It was perfectly white. Perfectly peaceful and perfectly sums up how I feel about this year: A balance of harshness and beauty. Challenges and triumphs. But mostly, it’s where Steve and I go to escape the world and spend quality time together.
View the gallery by clicking on any one of the photos below. They look yummier that way.
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- Surprised this American Kestrel we saw on the causeway allowed us to get this close.
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- One of the many buffalo lays atop a blanket of snow.
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- View of Promontory Point in the distance
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- Mixed flock of Red-winged black birds, Yellow-headed blackbirds, Brewer’s Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds.
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- A covey of Chuckars (there were about 12 in the group)
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- There’s something sweet about this photo.
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- Antelope on Antelope Island
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- We spot a coyote in the distance. He spots us too.
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- At Garr Ranch on the island, Steve spots this sub species of the Red-tailed Hawk. It’s either Harlan’s Hawk or a Krider’s Hawk, we think. Uncommon for this area.
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- Also found at Garr Ranch is this Virginia Rail, which is quite unusual this time of year. Garr Ranch has warm springs that don’t freeze over, which is probably part of the attraction.
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- A covey of California Quail at Garr Ranch on Antelope Island.
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- We spot two porcupines in a tree on our way back to the causeway. Neither seem bothered by the fact that Steve is practically in their faces taking their photos.
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- Yes, the porcupine looks cuddly, but don’t kid yourself.
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- After a morning of snowfall the sun makes an appearance.
I agree, it’s hard – I spent a long time playing with this (and didn’t even attempt a gallery). I like your solution very much. Fabulous Kestral, wow! The buffalo, chukars, antelope & porcupines all look so at home in the snow. Happy New Year and good birding to you (and yours!).
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Happy New Year to you too! That Kestral is one of my favorites. I can’t believe he let us get so close. Must have been an immature who’s not used to humans. They usually fly away when our car gets so close.
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Beautiful photos! Looks like it was a crystal clear day…and cold. But you managed to see quite a lot of wildlife.
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It started out very snowy and gloomy on the way to the island, but once we got there the sun had come out. Yes, it was cold. Most of the photos were shot from our car. Where it was warm.
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Lovely way to spend the last day of 2012! Happy New Year!
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Happy new year to you too! I think I’ll make it a tradition to visit Antelope Island on the last day of the year when I’m here. It always clears the head.
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Yes, makes us appreciate the beauty around us! Right?
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A great set of pictures to end the year. Antelope Island looks like a wild life photographer’s paradise.
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Yes, it’s such a fantastic place. Turns out that one of my favorite bird photographers was there the same time we were. I didn’t realize it until she posted her photos of the Chuckars this morning. You might really enjoy her work. She’s at http://www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/
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It looks good but I am already spending so much of my day reading other people’s posts that I hardly have any life left! (This is a pardonable exaggeration.)
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