In this habitat finding oodles of Lazuli Buntings was a pleasant surprise. Now I know better.
In early June of 2010 I spent several days camping in Utah’s San Rafael Swell, commonly referred to as simply “The Swell”. This photo illustrates the typical habitat of the area pretty well with lots of eroded red rock buttes and spires in almost every direction. Bird photography was a primary goal of the trip so you can see why the backgrounds in most of my bird photos consisted of various shades of out of focus red rocks.
Sometimes I liked those backgrounds well enough but other times they were a little… shocking.
Breeding Lazuli Buntings were common in some riparian areas near the San Rafael River. In some of my photos of them the background colors were closer to brown then they were to various shades of red.
But in others I had homogenous red and pinkish backgrounds that to this day I find a little incongruous. Even knowing the context, those backgrounds seem out of place to me so I can imagine the reaction of others who may not be familiar with where the photos were taken.
Whenever possible I tried to get other colors and textures in the settings of my photos but those opportunities were few and far between. I quite like this shot even though the male bunting’s tail and left leg have out of focus greenery in front of them.
We had our tripods set up in camp but as you can see, even here the various shades of the red rock would dominate the backgrounds of many of our photos. Most of our Lazuli Bunting photos were taken a little closer to the San Rafael river in the middle background.
It may sound like I’m complaining about the red rocks but believe me I’m not – besides birds those spectacular red rock formations were the other primary draw of the trip. This is a view of another part of The Swell with the riparian corridor of the San Rafael River far below.
A view to die for if you ask me.
Ron
Note:
Folks who know me may wonder what the hell I was thinking when I bought the Toyota Tundra in photo #5. I’ve owned 13 full sized pickups in my long life and that Tundra was the only one that wasn’t a Ford.F-150. As far as pickups go the Tundra was OK but anything but a Ford just goes against the grain of this Montana farm boy so my experiment with Toyota was soon abandoned. Permanently.
Beautiful Lazuli images.I don’t mind the red rock colors, it is what it is in the habitat. I have actually notice Lazuli’s with pink tones on the white stomach areas from the reds in the rock and the sand. I think when they sand bathe the fine red sand sticks to their feathers giving the white feathers a pink tone
I often get purple shadow tones in early morning and evening from the red rock canyons.
Yes, I was surprised by the Toyota.
Interesting (and probably accurate) observation about the pink tones in their feathers, April.
Believe me, you weren’t the only one surprised by my purchase of a Tundra.
Love the red rocks in UT! Living in AZ with Sedona and the Grand Canyon have spent many, many hours hiking and enjoying the red rock beauty. Hope to get to Zion one day – it’s hard for me to imagine leaving the north rim of the Grand Canyon to get there LOL! Have never seen a Lazuli Bunting – that gorgeous color is amazingly bold!
Kathleen, the red rocks of The Swell aren’t quite as vivid as they are further south but the isolation and lack of crowds more than makes up for it for me.
They are glorious birds but that country side blows me away. How I wish my father could have seen it – think a man who was happy to camp beside slag heaps on family holidays so he could fossick through old mining discards and was happy to lick stones he picked up to bring up their colour… He would have run out of spit in that venue.
“He would have run out of spit in that venue.”
Most likely, EC.
“Fossick” – you sent me to the online dictionary with yet another word, EC. I think I’ve run into it before but so long ago I couldn’t remember what it meant.
Only the painted Bunting in Florida comes close….
Probably true.
Gorgeous birds (even the one in that garish background)! I’m sorry to say I haven’t yet seen a Lazuli Bunting in person but I’m hopeful this may be my year as I’m planning a Western states road trip in late July. (One of my favorite drives is along I-70 through the San Rafael Swell—such incredible beauty to be enjoyed even from inside a car.)
Chris, The Swell is bigger than most folks think it is. It’s dimensions are about 75 miles x 40 miles and I-70 divides it into northern and southern sections. I hope you enjoy your trip.
I will admit to being thrown by the red truck. 😂 The red background in the 2nd shot is much better! I really like the contrast of the bunting against that background.
What a gorgeous, gorgeous place to camp. I’m so glad that you included all the landscape shots, especially the last one. Breathtaking! Weirdo that I am, I’d probably be taking more pictures of all the rocks and strata than of animals or plants. (Why yes, many years ago I took four 36-shot rolls of film at Kilauea — 2 at the caldera alone.)
Ahh, film days. I don’t miss them in the least. At least some types of “progress” are really progress. Thanks, Marty.
There was something exciting about having to wait to see how — or if — your pictures came out. I’m kind of sorry that “kids these days” won’t ever know the thrill of serendipity when opening that envelope, especially if it had taken a while to finish the roll of film. 🙂
Me either. Slow, expensive and frequently disappointing. At least now I can fire of lots of shots knowing that I will have to junk most of them and not care.
“Oodles of Lazuli Buntings”. Right now I’m looking at a crowd of starlings at my feeder. You win.
Those are some beautiful scenes of desolate beauty.
Lyle, I’ll take the win even though the buntings aren’t at my feeder. Truth be told I’ve never seen a Lazuli Bunting in my yard. Starlings are another story.
Lovely birds, lovely photos. I especially like your colors appear true in both the birds and the rocks. Although some red rocks are brighter than the ones around you in The Swell, I’ve yet to see any the garish colors I sometimes see in calendars and the photo clubs I attend.
Nancy, it sounds like you and I have the same preference for colors that are truly natural. In my opinion more potentially strong nature photos are ruined by oversaturation during processing than by any other factor. Which is why I almost never use the saturation tool.
Your report and photos bring me back to memories of my first sighting of a Lazuli Bunting, in a wooded floodplain of the rugged Chama River Canyon in northern New Mexico. I heard its melodious song first and found it singing just overhead as my wife and I lounged in the shade of a cottonwood tree. I was not into photography back then, but your images retrieved those stored deep into my consciousness.
I’m always happy to bring back fond memories for my viewers, Kenneth.
My VERY FAVORITE BIRD ! One year, a group of ( probably migrating )
males appeared on my patio in Prescott, AZ–I was blown away by their
beauty. Within a few hours, they’d taken wing and vanished into a sky which wasn’t even their equal in turquoise glory–they left me with an all-time
burst of brilliance in my memory…..and you triggered it again…..thanks !
One doesn’t forget the first sighting of a male Lazuli Bunting in breeding plumage, that’s for sure.
Beautiful country up there in Utah. Been to your Capitol Reef, Bryce, and Zion and really enjoyed being there. The 3rd Bunting shot is so sharp and colorful that my eye just ignored the out of focus greenery. Might not have even thought of it had you not mentioned it. Nice series.
Thanks, Everett. For me the big attraction of The Swell over the National Parks you mention is the isolation and lack of crowds.
Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing Ron!
Charlotte Norton
Thanks, Charlotte.
It IS a beautiful area even if a bit desolate – don’t think I’d want to be there in July and August tho! 😉 Luv the Lazuli Buntings. 🙂 Background in the 3rd photo was anything but neutral but a beautiful shot of the bird. 😉 🙂 Laughing on the Tundra – they seem to be another one of those luv ’em or hate ’em things along with the endless Ford/Chev debates that go on around here with an occasional Dodge thrown into the mix for good measure……😇
Judy, I know those “endless Ford/Chev debates” all too well. On the Montana farm we were diehard Ford folks – everything that could be a Ford was a Ford. Back in those days Ford gave you a 25% discount on parts if you owned 5 Fords (they called it a “fleet discount”) and we always qualified.
But we had a neighbor farmer who was absolutely obnoxious about his preference for Chevy. He ridiculed Fords every chance he got. I think I still buy Fords in part just to aggravate Marv, even though he’s been dead for years.
😄 Some DO get pretty “rabid” about it all…….the parts discount would be a BIG deal. Have both around here depending on what was available economically tho Joe prefers Fords. Older Chevs seem to have been built with “vertically challenged” folks like myself in mind…….😉
Judy, one of our farm Fords was the ’49 pickup I learned to drive in when I was ridiculously young. If you can drive a vehicle like that (especially in soft dirt) with a standard transmission and no synchromesh you can drive just about anything.
But the learning process is a guarantee of “shiny gears”…
If you can’t find it — grind it! 😉
That second shot was absolutely stunning but all were fabulous.
Thank you, Pat.
Gorgeous Country!
I think the Lazuli Bunting was my favorite bird seen when I went out West.
Dick, I’d never seen a Lazuli Bunting until I moved to Utah as a college student. I remember being blown away by the males.