birding with my mom in Utah
My mom and I went on a girls trip to St. George, Utah. It was my first time visiting and it is a gorgeous place with really nice people! We had a great time and will be back.
During our stay, we went to Zion National Park (south entrance), Snow Canyon, the Red Hills Desert Garden, and Tonaquint Park. I had a great time vacationing with my mom, and she helped me spot several birds that I wouldn't have seen myself. Two sets of eyes are better than one, and she used to work in quality control so she can spot anything.
Here are some of my favorite wildlife photos from the trip!
Greater Roadrunner
We were hanging out in Town Square which is beautiful. Everything is within walking distance and because we were there in the middle of a weekday, it wasn't crowded. Perhaps it's not even crowded on a weekend, I'm not sure. But we visited the public library, the St. George Tabernacle which is now a museum, got great pizza at Hive 435 Taphouse, and walked around the park.
Right between the Woodward School Building and the Historic Sculpture Garden, a huge bird flew down from a small tree above. If you've never seen a roadrunner in person, they're much larger than you might expect.
We watched it walk around for a while, in search of food. The way it moved looked exactly like the way a T-Rex moves in all the documentaries and Jurassic Parks. It's the most dinosaur-looking bird I've ever seen.
It didn't seem bothered by us, but we still kept our distance. We watched it climb up a tree, find a giant caterpillar, come back down, and use its mouth to repeatedly thrash said caterpillar on the rocks below, before enjoying its hard-earned lunch.
Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
This was taken at Zion National Park near a bridge going over the Virgin River. I was looking for birds somewhere else nearby and my mom gestured to me, pointing at a tree. I looked over and saw what she was talking about, a beautiful blue bird. It didn't stick around long, but I captured a couple decent shots.
Red-naped Sapsucker
This looks very similar to the Ladder-backed Woodpeckers we have in my neck of the desert southwest. There were tons of them at Zion, always looking for food in the trees.
Downy Woodpecker
These woodpeckers are much smaller than the Ladder-backed and Red-naped varieties. In the moment, I thought it was an adolescent/young Ladder-backed Woodpecker because they look so similar.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
We were walking along the Santa Clara Trail looking for birds in the brush somewhat unsuccessfully when this warbler came out to sit right in front of us for a few seconds, encouraging us to keep going.
Red-tailed Hawk
We saw a hawk perched atop a light post on the way to the Santa Clara Trail. We didn't see a good place to stop and park, and it was early in the day so I thought maybe I'd see one later on.
On our way back from the trail, about 3 hours later, we drove back the way we came and saw that same hawk perched atop the same light post. I spotted an empty parking lot nearby that I hadn't seen before, and I tried to grab some decent shots.
Northern Flicker
This is the one that got away. We were hiking back to the Zion visitor's center but there was some construction on the trail we were on. There was a chain-linked fence on one side to keep people from the construction area. My mom spotted this bird a ways in the distance, on the other side of the fence. I wasn't really able to get my camera through one of the holes in the fence, and I wasn't tall enough to look over it. So this was the best photo I could get. I guess I'll have to go back to redeem this shot!
Flame Skimmer
At the Red Hills Desert Garden (which was all decked out for Halloween!), I spotted a massive insect. The sun hit it just right for an amazing shot.
If you're able to visit St. George and Zion National Park, I highly recommend it!