Silver Lake

One of my field trips during the ABA convention included a visit to a place called Silver Lake, located next to the Brighton Ski Resort. It was nestled in the Wasatch Mountains, just east of Salt Lake City. This place was quiet and tranquil and beautiful, but mostly gave me the impression of a ski resort that was patiently waiting for winter to return. Ski resorts in summer are somewhat like beaches in the winter: ghosts of their full vibrant selves.

There were plenty of good bird watching moments on this trip. We had several looks at flycatchers, warblers and sparrows, most of which were species that I was not going to see back home. And when a Northern Goshawk flew right over our group, everyone was pretty darn excited. I was too focused on seeing that bird through my bins to have even considered taking photo.

I did, however, get a few photos from Silver Lake. For me, this was a challenging day for photography. It started with a Mule Deer that we spooked upon first arriving at the lake. I snapped several photos, but all of them were just not quite in focus. Maybe it was still too early, and my brain was just not quite in focus? Then, as we wound around the lake, the light always seemed to be harsh and coming from the wrong direction. Or, the light was shy, and my subject sat in shadows. It seems that me and my camera were not on good terms this day.

Here is that Mule Deer we spooked. Their odd way of running, with all four feet coming down at the same time, is interesting to watch. Apparently the term for this style of running is "stotting". My photo caught the deer in "mid-stot" :-)

Finally, here are two photos of sparrows. The group had been seeing and hearing Lincoln's and White-crowned Sparrows all morning. Towards the end of our walk around the lake, I had opportunities to get photos of each. The Lincoln's Sparrow sat cautiously on the shadowy side of a tree, and the White-crowned Sparrow sat boldly in the full sun.