Yesterday Kevin and I decided to take a drive to Antelope Island. Usually there are dreadful biting gnats that love to chew me up, but the stiff breeze must have blew them all away. I have never been there with such beautiful weather and no bugs. We were not the only people with the idea – there were lots and lots of people there.
It was also a good day to see animals. We saw deer, pronghorn, coyotes, and a chukar. Chukars are some of my favorite birds. They were imported for bird hunting, and they are similar to quail but larger. They generally walk through the campground in small groups with an interesting clucking sounds. We saw just this one, but we heard a second nearby.
Oh, and we definitely saw bison. Lots and lots of bison! The nursery herd has broken up into smaller bands of a hundred or so, and the bachelors seem to have coalesced mostly into one big herd. There weren’t very many of the solitary bison bulls that make such good photographs.
This group was on a mission to head to a different spring. While we were watching they just decided to get up and go. You can see the calves are getting big but still have their reddish color.
This group was quite happy at the springs next to the lakeshore. See how green everything is?
Here are just some more beautiful pictures of the Island. This is looking east across Farmington Bay to the Wasatch Range. Not much snow left where you can see it, but there is still a lot in the backcountry.
This is looking northeast across the causeway (the only access to the island) and Promentory Point, site of the Golden Spike National Historic site.
I know I post a lot about Antelope Island, but I really love this place, and it is close to home. The combination is unbeatable.