Welcome to Las Vegas!
(And Red Rock Canyon + Zion National Park)
Zion National Park Fauna
I hiked the narrows trail! Its was an incredible experience, and making it to Big Springs was thoroughly rewarding. During the entire first leg (up-river to big springs), I saw absolutely no wildlife. Neck-high river crossings had me worried my camera would end up waterlogged for absolutely no payoff. I was about ready to give up and turn around. But my stubbornness (and perhaps a greater calling?) willed me forward. Luckily, once I made it to the end and turned around, I was rewarded by Mother Nature for my persistence. Look upon the fruits of my blistered feet:
Canyon Wren
- The main bird I wanted to see on this trip! Zion national and its “narrows” trail is famous for canyon wrens and I desperately wanted to spot on
- Didn’t stay in any one spot for very long, so forgive the haphazard pictures
Great Blue Heron
Some Swallowtail butterfly - maybe the Western Tiger?
Mule Deer fawn
- Look at those ears!
Golf Course Birdies
(No birdies were made (harmed?) during the taking of these photos)
(But there were lots of bogies)
Throughout the weeklong trip I golfed three times. Despite being an absolutely incredible waste of water, they were gorgeous courses. Its hard to believe that the green grass pictured below was smack-dab in the middle of the barren desert. I have mixed feelings on this - but the beauty and diversity of wildlife I saw were unquestionable. Take a look at some of what I saw:
Brown-headed Cowbirds
Greater Roadrunner
Gambel’s Quail
White Faced Ibis
Neotropic Cormorant
- Generally this is a Central/South American bird
- But given the smaller size and lack of orange chin/lower mandible it couldn’t have been a Double-Crested Cormorant
- https://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/neotropic\_cormorant\_info.htm is noting that they are increasingly heading north, so Neotropic seems likely
- Sidenote - what a cool website that is
Mallard
- note the small little bit of blue we can see under the wing
- Left one is female
- Right one is male
- Note the female-like “eclipse” plumage since this was in early August
