Readers’ wildlife photos

November 9, 2024 • 8:15 am

I have only two wildlife contributions after this one, so the feature is moribund.  If you have wildlife photos, please send them in.

Today’s photos are a diverse set, but all were taken in Utah by reader Michael Buckner, whose notes are indented below. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Only one of these is a “wildlife photo” in the strictest sense, but our host’s recent trip out there reminded me of what a beautiful place Utah is. I’ve been there several times myself, including in April 2014 and again in October 2019. (I tend to like traveling in spring or fall, sometimes in conjunction with some convention or meeting, and sometimes not.) The cameras I used were Nikon digital cameras; not cell phone cameras, but nothing extremely elaborate or “professional”.

While Utah is most notable for its great natural beauty, the state’s human geography is also quite interesting and photogenic. Salt Lake City is a very appealing city (and sort of the exact opposite of Las Vegas, I suppose). I don’t think Mormonism is worth anything as a system of truth claims, but it has made for some very fine looking buildings, as in this picture of the Salt Lake Temple, taken in April 2014 when I was at the American Atheists national convention in Salt Lake City. (I couldn’t go inside, as you literally have to have a special ID from the Mormon Church to do that):

From that same trip, a classic American state capitol building, the State Capitol Building of Utah, nicely situated on a hill overlooking the city:

The interior of the state capitol building, all gleaming white marble:

Bryce Canyon is absolutely stunning; our host already shared a number of beautiful landscapes, but I’ll include this picture from October, 2019 (the sole time so far I have attended CSICON, as it happens). to emphasize that not only are the shapes delightfully weird, but the colors are stunningly vibrant.

And also this picture from Bryce Canyon National Park, of this quite handsome corvid. Alas, I didn’t think to get a picture of anything to give a good sense of scale (the bird was perched on a sign, quite close to me) so I’m not sure if this is an American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) or the larger common raven (Corvus corax), both of which I believe can be found in the park:

From Arches National Park in April 2014. From the landscapes you find in Utah, you can almost see why the Mormons would come up with theories of lost prehistoric civilizations:

From the same trip to Arches National Park, I think this one looks like the remains of same ancient fort (even though it isn’t of course):

This rock formation in Arches National Park looks like an elephant!:

One of the nice things about traveling in spring is that you can see lovely wildflowers (from Arches National Park). I think these are especially poignant given the backdrop of the harsh red desert soil. [JAC: Can anybody identify these?]

Also from April 2014, the landscape of Canyonlands National Park, seen from the Green River Overlook:

From Grand View Point in Canyonlands; including more “ruins”, in this case what looks like the remains of some impossibly huge wall (presumably to keep out giants):

This is not even a park, just a “view area” (the Spotted Wolf View Area by the side of the Interstate 70), taken on the October 2019 trip:

Finally, this last picture is more Arizona than Utah, from Monument Valley (a Navajo Nation tribal park which straddles the border between those two states). It’s a magnificent landscape, and also iconic—if you’ve ever seen a Western movie, there’s a good chance you’ve seen this place. Taken in April 2014:

18 thoughts on “Readers’ wildlife photos”

  1. I’m immeasurably proud that my son, Michael Buckner, took and had published these fine photos. Thanks to Jerry Coyne for his publishing of these.

  2. Ravens have shaggy throat feathers, which can be seen in Michael Bruckner’s photo. The bill looks also like the bill of the raven, heavier than a crow’s bill. The photo is great for getting the throat feathers!

  3. Thank you for this fantastic tour! The Mormon Temple looks like some of those rock formations.
    The wildflowers appearing out of that desert are just beautiful.
    Great photos. Thank you! I see why you go there.

    2. The Book of Mormon was published in 1830. Other Mormon scriptures were written before the Mormons arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Our landscape had little to do with early Mormon culture. I live in Moab, UT. The Mormons attempted to settle what became Moab in 1855 but were driven off by Utes, probably the Sheberetch band. The earliest settlers in Moab were Texas cattlemen who had relocated to western Colorado. The Mormons did eventually move in early in the 1870s but they didn’t dominate the community in the way they had almost every other town in Utah.

      Utah is an amazing landscape to call home. My ancestors arrived in Salt Lake Valley in 1847. I have lived in Utah most of my life and moved to Moab in 2019. My parents took our family to visit the National Parks and Monuments. I first saw Arches in 1957 or 1958 when I was 11 or 12.

      I am a member of the Board of Directors for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. We are expecting huge legal and Congressional battles in the next four years concerning National Monuments and any type wildlands protection.

  4. Interesting comment on Arches NP, Michael. Yes, they do look purpose-built from afar. Beautiful pics altogether. Thanks.

  5. Utah landscapes. There’s nothing else like them! And, yes, Salt Lake City is quite beautiful—clean and tidy. My wife and I enjoyed a couple of days there a few years ago.

  6. Fantastic photo essay: Mormon architecture, corvid and a gash in the ground.
    Top notch. Thank you.

    D.A.
    NYC

  7. Great pictures! I remember that after leaving Zion to go north to Bryce one has to pass through a long tunnel. Upon reemerging one then drives through some of the most fantastic scenery that belongs to no specific park (AFAIK) – it’s just there!

    There’s also a striking Mormon temple/building in San Diego that’s not quite as serious-looking as the one shown above.

  8. The huge bill and neck feather ruff says ‘Raven’ to me.
    I’d be surprised to see crows out there.

  9. That’s a Raven. I live just outside Zion and this is raven country. Millions of people come every year to marvel at our landscapes, but only a fraction of them care enough to learn about what they are seeing. I hope our visitors will help us defend this country against the evil and greedy corporate interests that seek to destroy these remnants of Earth’s original Eden. That trump thing has already said he will largely dismantle Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. We are going to need your help. I am in tears as I write this.

  10. I am thinking the flowers are Phacelias, perhaps Phacelia crenulata, which lives in the park.

    1. Oh, thank you! “Phacelia crenulata” does indeed seem to be the flower in question. Its common name is apparently “scorpionweed” which is definitely NOT what I would have named it if I had been in charge of the naming of flowers!

  11. The Phacelia’s have the common name “scorpion weed” because of the helicoid flowering stalk, which “may” look like a coiled scorpion tail. Other plants have a “scorpioid” tail, such as in the genera Myosotis, Heliotropium, Oreocarya, and Crythantha, all of which are in the Borage Family.

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