On my way to Montana, I spent an afternoon on Antelope Island in Utah. It is an easy drive from the airport and I’ve always wanted to see what I could photograph there. This was destined to be a quick trip as I needed to be on my way and it was also “drive by” photography (shooting out the car window) as I was quite un-prepared for the voracious no-seeums that had overwhelming numbers.

I was surprised by the lack of shorebirds along the 7.2 mile causeway over to the island, but with the insect problem, I wasn’t getting out anyway. Once on the island I drove the main roads and saw quite a number of species including chuker, meadowlarks, Upland Sandpiper on a boulder (this perch still seems crazy to me), magpies, bison, pronghorn, mule deer, Brewer’s Blackbird, Horned Lark and quite a few more.

It is a place that I would visit again once the temperatures get up in to the 90’s (the boiling point for the no-seeums) and give it another go.

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In case you were curious about Antelope Island:

  • Antelope Island State Park, consists of 28,022 acres
  • It is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake measuring 15 miles long and seven miles wide at its widest point.
  • In 1969, Utah State Parks and Recreation created Antelope Island State Park with the purchase of 2,000 acres on the northern tip of Antelope Island; then in 1981, the rest of the island was purchased for recreational purposes.
  • It is home to some 500 Bison, Pronghorn Antelope, Bighorn Sheep and about 250 species of birds

 

I’ve also attached a map of the locations for the images that I took on my trip to Antelope Island.

 

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