Tuesday was a wonderful day for a walk in the country. Winter can be rather unpleasant around here, but not on this day! The sky was so blue. Temperatures weren't too cold. Blue shadows contrasted with warm sunlight, highlighting the sepia, ochre and umber colors of marsh grasses and brush. A narrow first quarter moon shown faintly over the Wasatch Mountains.
There's always a ready-to-go day pack in my car. Among other things that stay in that day pack is a cheap little camera. It's there ready for hikes or even when I go on shorter walks. Usually the camera stays in the pack, but occasionally I get it out. On this walk, the camera came out of the pack as soon as I saw the bald eagle. The eagle landed in a tree close by as I stood looking out over the wintry landscape. Upon landing, the eagle gave a short series of high pitched staccato cries. Quite attention getting!
Admittedly, this eagle photo is not much better than those pictures you see published of bigfoot or UFOs. My attempt to work closer for a better photograph of the eagle only managed to annoy it, and it spread it's impressive wings and departed. I wish I had a better camera with me on these walks and hikes, but unfortunately, after a camera of mine died in a dust storm in Southern Utah a few years ago, I'm leery of taking any of my better cameras with me on these trips. The cheep little $65 Casio worked well enough for the rest of these pictures, I believe.
There were a few smaller hawks around on that bright winter's day. A flock of juncos flitted about through the latticework of winter-bare tree branches and underbrush by the trail. A red-shafted flicker made itself known by it's distinctive "kyeer!" call.
There's still quite a bit of ice on the lake. The ice seems thin, though, and there appears to be open water out to the west.
Here's those same mountains, seen through a filter of cottonwood trees.
In the other direction, seen across open ranch land, are some of my favorite stomping grounds; the canyons and ridges of the Wasatch Mountains.
The day's walk comes to a close as I return to my car. Before driving away I take one more look at a cloud-haloed Mount Timpanogos.
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