November 6 -- SW Utah's Lytle Ranch Preserve, And Birds In The High Desert

I'm out and on the road at 5:30am to go visit (click on the underlined link for info)  Lytle Ranch Preserve , an oasis in the Joshua Tree-studded landscape of southwest Utah that, as you can imagine, is a bird magnet -- and as far as I've been able to tell is also the only place in Utah where you can reliably find Common Blackhawk; there's a resident bird in the area. I'd visited the Preserve on March  19th with my Canadian birding buddy Norm Parrish -- the discoverer of a Common Crane in the Overton Wildlife Management Area in 2013 -- and was really looking forward to returning and spending the day there with my Canon 500 f/4 lens. (Click this link for my March 19 Lytle Preserve blog entry.) The Preserve is a bit isolated, accessible only by about 11 miles of dirt road, which is why I got the early start. The sun was just starting to come over the Beaver Dam Mountains as I drove along County Road 91 north from Interstate 15 --

Not much traffic, so I was able to crouch down and take the above road perspective, looking north towards the upper end of the Beaver Dam Mountains. Here's more of the mountains, looking northeast -- 

What struck me first was how lush and green everything looked -- and this was November! Apparently the moonsoon/hurricane/flood that hit the Moapa Valley, about 40 miles to the southwest,  in late September also dumped rain on this area, too, and I see evidence of it in deep culverts along the side of the dirt road to the Preserve, along with exposed drainage pipes -- 

But it still came as a surprise to see wildflowers -- in November!! Crazy --

The desert didn't look at all parched, and as I drove along the dirt road to the Preserve the slanting morning sun threw the desert landscape into relief -- 

What a striking change from the mountainscapes of the eastern Sierra Nevada barely a week before, eh? 

After about 11 miles of dirt road, I came to the Preserve, nestled in a valley -- 

There was practically no traffic -- just some ATVers roaring along, passing me by and kicking up dust -- so I was really looking forward to having the Preserve to myself. I pull up to the entrance -- 

"CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC" -- WHAT??? The website said nothing about being closed, in fact gave the opening hours, and even the signs on the left gave the opening hours, too. And Norm and I just went through the open gate back in March. One of the signs reads "Beware Of Dog"; I was greeted by 3 friendly, tail-wagging canines, not ferocious at all. There is a phone # to call the manager of the Preserve, and I'd just driven 70-plus miles to get inside, so I left a message, something to the effect of "My name's Steve Wolfe, and I'm a wildlife photographer, and I'm at the front gate of the preserve -- are you open to the public?" As if the name "Steve Wolfe" would grant me immediate access -- yeah, RIGHT...So I blathered on with the voice message, with plenty of "duhs" and "uhs" -- and of course I never heard back from them. I left, disappointed that I wasn't able to visit -- but of course there's always a Plan B, and C, etc...And I saw birds on both sides of the road going in and coming back out. For instance, these female House Finches, a common-enough bird but in the top of a Joshua Tree, and photographed with the 500 f/4 lens -- 

And a Loggerhead Shrike; I see about 4 of them, scoping their surroundings from the tops of Joshua Trees -- 

This one even captured what looks to be a dragonfly -- 

And a Rock Wren -- 

So I set Plan B into motion by heading up County Road 91 through the Beaver Dam Mountains towards Shivwits; here are the Red Mountains, with the Pine Valley Range behind them --

I turn north towards Veyo and go along the valley of the Santa Clara River, passing Gunlock State Park and the town of Gunlock. The road eventually climbs up to Veyo, during which you get a view of the Santa Clara Valley looking south --- still lots of autumn yellows here -- 

Just before coming in to Veyo, I see a hawk perched off the road; I believe it to be a Red-tail; I stop and put the 500 f/4 out the window; I can tell he's bothered by my attention, and once he defecates I know he's about to take off -- 

Wonderful...I thank him -- I always thank the wildlife I take photos of, for giving me a bit of their time -- then head to Veyo for -- PIE!! 

Only $11.50 for a made-from-scratch pie; I get a pumpkin, and think about ordering a sweet potato pie, but I have to give them 24-hours' notice for that...If you're ever in the St. George area, or any of SW Utah, you HAVE to get a Veyo's pie. It's just the thing to do, and your taste buds will thank you for it...

The gal at the counter gives me a pumpkin pie without a cream topping as I still have a long drive back to Overton, so I secure the box behind my driver's seat and head back the way I came. I saw some burros just before the town of Gunlock...

I'd encountered burros at Gunlock when I last went through here early this year, but at that time they were roaming free, so they met me on the road. Now they're penned-in. When I stop to chat with the burros a woman and her 3 kids were there, too -- and, as it turns out, she and her husband are the owners of the burros. She said they've been in their family for generations, descended from pack mules from way back when. There's a water supply for them in the hills behind so they are well taken care of. I have a nice chat with her -- she's a Gunlock native -- and I tell her about the Aberdeen wild burros -- which, surprisingly, she said she's heard of. I head back down the road, up to Beaver Dam Mountains, then take the dirt-road Joshua Tree Backway that will take me back to County Road 91 where I'd come off Interstate 15 that morning. The road climbs up and the views behind me are gorgeous -- 

The Red Mountains and Pine Valley Mountains behind...

The colors in this section of Utah -- well, in MOST of Utah -- are pure eye-candy -- 

You can see St. George in the center, and off in the distance are the mountains of Zion National Park --

I'm in-between time zones, so it's now about 1:30pm Utah time, and I have my lunch while sitting on Tundra's tailgate -- 

The Joshua Tree Backway slowly winds back down to the Joshua Tree landscape; this is a meeting point of the Colorado and Mojave Deserts. I notice birds perched on the dead Joshuas and flying about -- and realize they're Mountain Bluebirds, which I had seen at the very same location last year in November! I'd been wanting to see them again, but when I had returned in February of this year they were gone. But now at least 3 pairs of Mr and Mrs Mountain Bluebirds were going after insects -- 

Once again, wonderful, and a perfect end to a day that saw potential frustration in the Preserve being closed -- but the spectacular landscapes and birds of SW Utah more than made up for it. For today I'm thinking of a hike in the Lake Mead NRA up Anniversary Narrows... :o)