Week 45 – Juniper Titmouse

 

Juniper Titmouse. Photograph by Neil Paprocki.

Bird species that specialize within the Juniper and Pinyon Pine woodlands of the Great Basin retain a special place for me. Having spent a good deal of time in the Great Basin, I have an appreciation for the harsh, desert like conditions faced by these often little-studied and forgotten birds.

While working in central-Nevada during the summer of 2011, I thought it was inevitable that I would see large numbers of Juniper Titmice. But this was not to be, and I only very rarely caught glimpses of the species.

They have continued to elude me until I paid a visit to southern Utah and Zion National Park this past weekend. While camping outside Cedar City, Utah I was woken by a feisty titmouse calling from the top of a Juniper tree. Later that day I saw several in the dense Pinyon-Juniper woodlands that dominate the Kolob Canyons region of Zion National Park.

This photograph was taken during the early morning in Zion’s main canyon, before the sun had time to crest over the towering red-rock walls so well known to millions of tourists from all across the world. Nevertheless, two individuals decided to closely investigate my presence while I was standing atop a large boulder amidst several Juniper trees and holly bushes.

Stoked to have finally gotten so close to this awesome species!

All of the previous 52-week blog photos can be found at the Wild Lens blog or on Flickr.