I reach the causeway just after 7:30. Tons of gulls on the Great Salt Lake. (A small breeding area I'd bet -- a bit stinky.) The Farmington Bay side is dry; so dry that I don't see water until I'm within probably 1.5 miles of the island. (The causeway is about 14 miles long.)
I don't see any ducks or shorebirds near the causeway - just gulls.
When I arrive on the island, I head directly south towards the Ranch.
I quickly see a lone bison along the shoreline within the 1st 1/2 mile turning. And then another near the road.
I stop at the 1st viewpoint, no animals. I continue down the hill and see 2 bison in the distance on the east side of the road. Just a bit farther down the road, there's another bison grazing right next to the road. Conveniently, there's a pull-off to the left about 30 feet from the bison. I'm thinking he'll cross the road but nope he continues grazing and north. When he's about parallel to my car, he decides to give his head a good scratch in the sagebrush. Head plows through the sagebrush to the left, head plows to the right and repeat several times.
Definitely must feel good!
Feels so good he takes a poop, farts and continues to graze. Wonderful!
On that note, it's time to move on past Frary Peak to the next pull-off. I'm not seeing anything and I'm about to pull away when I spot the big ears of a mule deer in front of me down in the grasses. It's a solo doe. No wait, I seeing something small hopping through the grasses - it's a fawn! Awesome! I take several photos hoping to get lucky.... and I do!!!!!
I continue on noticing that there's a tint of yellow in the landscape probably from the blooming Moth Mullein. It is a weed and considered invasive in many parts of the US but it does brighten things up.
Continuing on and past the Frary Homestead, I see another solo Mule Deer doe to my left. Before continuing on, I look to my right and I get a quick glimpse of a Pronghorn moving the way from the edge of a big hill.
I continue on still looking for the big Mom/baby bison herd but I reach the Ranch without seeing them. Looking down the dirt road towards the Sentry Trail, no bison. Looks like they've moved on to parts unknown.
I turn around at the Ranch and head north.
On my return, in a meadow north of Frary Peak, I see a male Pronghorn.
When I reach the north end of the island, I cross over to the west and down to the White Rock parking. No animals in sight along the way and no animals in view along the trail. (And no cars in the parking lot either.)
It's still in the 50s with a strong north wind and sun - good hiking weather.
Along the trail, I see lots of Mullein and many of those pink flowers that I forgot the name.
(I did stop at the Visitor's Center on the way out and they are Antelope Island Skeletonplants). Native forbs found in Utah, Idaho and Nevada.
Not much happening along the trail this morning - no animals, no beetles, no lizards,.... Just me and the wind.
As I near White Rock meadow, I see two Chukkars.
Then it's up to the bench overlooking White Rock meadow and there's no animals down there. :(
I continue down to the White Rock ridge and find a spot of those biting gnats that ignored the memo saying we've had our string of 90 degree day, go away now! Thankfully, it was only along the ridge but I take some souvenirs on my face.
Along the inside of the trail, there are lots of little grasshoppers hopping around. Also seeing Robber Flies, a predator insect.
And small lizards.
But no mammals.
All the orange Globe Mallows and Sego Lilies from 2 weeks ago are gone.
As I near the end of the inside loop section, I see my first dragonfly of the day. Larger one probably a Darner. He's flying and starting to hovering near some mullein. I'm hoping he lands. But than this Robber Fly flies right at him and whack, the dragonfly immediately drops to the ground. Wow! I see the dragonfly's wings flap and his tail lifts several times before the Robber Fly sucks the life out of him. Amazing nature - predator/prey!!
I continue along. There are many more lizards now and of the larger variety.
Then it's time to turn north and back to my car. I do see a couple more of those large dragonflies as I close in on my car. And amazingly, 2.5 hours later, there's only one other car parked. Plus, a Horned Lark singing by my car.
As I head out to the main road, I stop for 4 Pronghorn that just crossed the road. Oh wait, there's a 5th crossing now. All females and no babies. :(
They move off toward Bison Point.
I see 2 others on the right side of the road - one standing and one laying. I wonder where the young ones are.
I continue up the road and turn right towards the Ranger Station and spot 2 more Pronghorn in the distance.
Then I head up to the viewpoint on the way up to Bison Point; it should give me a good view of all the Pronghorn.
When I arrive, there's 4 more Pronghorn that I hadn't seen. That makes a total of 13 Pronghorn!! But no babies.
I see something on a rock not far from the Pronghorn. It's Burrowing Owl!! (That's different from the one behind the Visitor's Center.)
I decide to watch the Pronghorn for awhile. And that was a great idea because 2 of those Pronghorn stand and they are babies - twins!!! I sit and watch!!! Incredible!!
After 15-20 minutes, I decide to move on and see if that Burrowing Owl I've seen previously is still behind the Visitor's Center. I get there and see 2 bison in the distance. Rolling slowly along the road to the spot I last saw him and .... there he is!
And he has a mate!!
She disappears periodically. I'm hoping it's to check out her chicks.
Awesome day!
