Ken Goering
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kengoering.bsky.social
Ken Goering
@kengoering.bsky.social
570 followers 840 following 270 posts
We live in a fifth-wheel trailer to see the sights and sites of the United States, and currently find ourselves in Las Vegas, Nevada. https://talesofthegoddard.com/
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kengoering.bsky.social
This lovely little verdin was making its way through the green branches of the Botanical Garden at Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, Nevada, last weekend. Very pretty little desert birds – I've seen only a very few of them in the last several years of being in the southwest. #birds #lasvegas #nevada
A mostly gray bird, perhaps a little smaller than a house finch, with a dark-yellow face and a sharply point and short beak is perched on green tree limbs. It is pictured in side profile.
November 17, 2025 at 10:07 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
Here's my contribution to today's #birdoftheday theme, #CootsAndMoorhens: an American coot I photographed last year in the Las Vegas Wash. Dig those crazy feet! #birds #lasvegas
A larger gray-black bird is standing on a rock near the shore of a waterway; one of its feet is submerged and the other is dry on top of the rock. The bird has a red eye and a white beak, with a black ring near the tip. Its wings are tucked in.
November 15, 2025 at 8:02 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A Woodhouse's scrub-jay perches on a bare branch along the Kayenta Trail in Zion National Park last weekend. The steep walls of Zion Canyon would prevent the sun from reaching this tree for at least another hour. #birds #nationalparks #utah
A mostly blue bird, about the size of an American robin, with a gray chest and belly is perched on a bare tree branch. The bird is perched in side profile with its head turned slightly toward the camera.
November 3, 2025 at 4:58 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
This Anna's hummingbird had a steady perch just outside the dog park in our Las Vegas campground all winter last year. We arrived at the same campground for the winter yesterday, and I was really happy to see the little guy on the same treetop again this morning. #birds #lasvegas #nevada
A tiny bird, about the size of a ping-pong ball, with a very long and slender beak is perched at the top of a bare tree branch. The bird has iridescent green feathers on its wings, tail, and along its back. It is perched in side profile. The sky in the background is clear blue.
November 2, 2025 at 3:27 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A mountain bluebird monitors the goings-on at our campground's dog run in Parowan, Utah, last week. #birds #utah
A small pale-blue bird is perched on a wooden railing. It is perched with its body forward and is looking to its left. Its wings are folded inward.
October 23, 2025 at 12:28 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A lovely mountain bluebird enjoys the last moments of the late-afternoon golden hour. Photo taken last week in Parowan, Utah. These birds added a lot of pretty color to our stay in Parowan. #birds #utah
A small bird is perched at the top of a brown metal structure. The bird is very pale blue and white, and the late-afternoon sun is darkening both colors. The bird is perched facing toward the camera and looking to its right.
October 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
When I saw this bird before photographing it, I thought it was a female house finch. However, it's a pine siskin, and it's a lifer! Photographed in Parowan, Utah, last week. #birds #utah
A small bird, mostly light brown and gray, is perched on the top of a bare tree limb. Its black beak is very sharply pointed. The bird is in side profile, and the Utah sky in the background is bright blue.
October 21, 2025 at 3:02 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A lesser goldfinch surveys the greater Fillmore, Utah, region earlier this week. Fillmore was intended to be the capital of the Utah Territory and construction started on a capitol building (still standing) in 1852. The legislature decided in 1856 to move the capital to Salt Lake City. #birds #utah
A small bright-yellow bird is perched on a bare tree branch against a brilliant blue Utah sky. The bird has some darker brown feathers on its head. It is in three-quarter profile. Fillmore's current population is about 2,600; the population of Salt Lake City is about 200,000 and 1.3 million people live in the SLC metropolitan area.
October 10, 2025 at 4:41 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A small flock of wild turkeys at our campground in central Utah earlier this week. They weren't particularly interested in having their pictures taken. These are large birds: adult toms weigh an average of 17 pounds (7.6 kg) and adult hens average 9.4 pounds (4.6 kg). #birds #utah
Several large birds are walking away from the camera. They have a wide variety of brown-colored feathers, with longer dark-brown tail feathers, and their heads are bare.
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
I was afraid things were going to get a little chippy between these ring-billed gulls and American white pelican, but they worked out a solution to whatever was going on. Photo taken late last month on the Snake River at Massacre Rocks State Park near American Falls, Idaho. #birds #stateparks #idaho
A large white bird with its huge beak open is floating on water, with a much smaller white and gray bird seemingly within its grasp (it's not). Another white and gray bird is flying over the large white bird.
October 8, 2025 at 4:03 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A lark sparrow on one of the hiking trails at Golden Spike National Historical Park in northern Utah. The park commemorates the site where, on May 10, 1869, the first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed. #birds #nationalparks #utah
A small bird, mostly different shades of brown, is hopping across a gravel hiking trail. The bird has a couple of swaths of russet-brown feathers in its head. It is in side profile and facing the right side of the image.
September 29, 2025 at 4:25 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
In southeastern Idaho, a double-crested cormorant and an American white pelican trade fishing tips and tricks on the Snake River as it flows through Massacre Rocks State Park. #birds #stateparks #idaho
Two birds are in the middle of a river. The one on the left is swimming. It is black, with a long neck and a long dark-orange bill. The one on the right is much larger than the other, standing on a submerged rock. It is white with black wingtips, with a long neck and a long pale-orange bill.
September 24, 2025 at 4:28 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A couple of house finches greet the morning at Ririe Reservoir in southeastern Idaho last week. A lot of the birds we saw were already in muted fall colors. #birds #idaho
Two small birds are perched close together on nearly leafless tree limbs. They are both mostly gray-brown with reddish-brown feathers on their chests and heads. Their beaks are gray and robust for the birds’ size.
September 23, 2025 at 3:52 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
It was rewarding to watch ospreys hunt over Ririe Reservoir in southeastern Idaho last week. This one was enjoying an early morning breakfast. (Don’t enlarge the photo if you’re squeamish about early osprey breakfasts; there’s a trout under its talons). #birds #Idaho
A large raptor is perched at the top of a wooden utility pole. It is standing forward and is looking to its left. The bird’s body is mostly white, and it has dark-brown feathers on its wings, the back of its head, and in a mask across its face. Its beak, which is partially open, is black and its eyes are yellow.
September 22, 2025 at 2:26 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
An American goldfinch and a housefinch share a laugh in the Juniper Campground at Ririe Reservoir in southeastern Idaho. They’re probably still at Site B-11 if you want to get in on the jokes. #birds #Idaho
Two small birds of different species are perched on a gray wooden post. The bird on the left is mostly pale yellow-brown, and the one on the right is mostly pale red.
September 19, 2025 at 3:55 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A female American goldfinch, munching on sunflower seeds yesterday at Ririe Reservoir in southeastern Idaho. #birds
A mostly yellowish-brown small bird, with darker brown wing feathers, is perched in side view on a sunflower stem. Its mouth is open; I believe it was calling at the time I took the photo.
September 18, 2025 at 3:06 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
American bison bull grazing in Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley last week. Male bison like this one can weigh up to 2,800 pounds – a little less than the curb weight of a Toyota Corolla. He was in a herd of about 20 other bison very near the road. #yellowstone #nationalparks
A large bovine, mostly dark brown with a lighter brown furry coat on its shoulders and neck, is eating grass. Its head is also covered in dark woolly fur. It is in side profile, and one of its curved horns can be seen.
September 15, 2025 at 6:06 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
While waiting for Daisy Geyser to erupt in #Yellowstone National Park yesterday, we saw Grand Geyser (L) start up. It's an impressive sight, even from 3/8 of a mile away. For scale, people on the geyser's benches can be seen in lower right. Daisy (R) erupted a few minutes later. #nationalparks
A very large spout of water and steam is erupting from the earth. Grand Geyser is the world's tallest predictable geyser, sometimes reaching 200 feet. Pine trees are in the foreground. A large spout of steam and water is erupting from the earth. Daisy Geyser erupts about every 55-70 minutes and reaches a height of 75 feet for 3-5 minutes. Water from the eruption is running to the lower right of the image.
September 8, 2025 at 3:59 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A common merganser scoots upstream on the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park's Hayden Valley. I took this picture last weekend; we also saw Canada geese, northern shovelers, and mallards on the river. #birds #yellowstone #nationalparks
A waterbird is swimming in a river, in side profile and facing to the right side of the image. The bird's body is gray; its head is brownish-red and it has a fairly bright red beak. Its reflection can be seen beneath it. Short green grasses and reeds are in the background.
September 3, 2025 at 5:10 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
I saw this song sparrow every morning of the two weeks we were camping in Custer, South Dakota, earlier this month. I kinda miss seeing (and hearing) the little guy. #birds #blackhills
A mostly brown bird is perched on the long green needles of a ponderosa pine tree. The bird is in side profile and looking at the photographer.
August 19, 2025 at 4:50 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
We saw plenty of American robins on our visit to Devils Tower National Monument in northeastern Wyoming last Saturday. This one, with plenty of American robin company, was munching on chokecherries. We also glimpsed the tower itself (at right). #birds #nationalparks #wyoming
A large rock formation is rising out of the northern Wyoming prairie. Long vertical columns can be seen all around the towering rock formation. The formation is surrounded at its base by a forest of tall ponderosa pine trees. It is igneous rock, formed by a magma intrusion into softer sedimentary rock about 60 million years ago; the sedimentary rock has eroded away in the tens of millions of years since, leaving this 867-foot-tall formation. Devils Tower was the first national monument in the United States, established by President Theodore Roosevelt on September 24, 1906. Inexplicably, the woman in the foreground was on her cellphone.
August 19, 2025 at 3:32 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
I don't think I've ever seen a bee as heavily laden with pollen as this one in Buffalo, Wyoming, this morning. I hope it's leaving some for the other #pollinators. #bloomscrolling #wyoming #sunflowers
A bright-yellow sunflower is being visited by a bee that is nearly covered with yellow pollen. The bee is at the bottom of the blossom.
August 18, 2025 at 10:55 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
I'm pretty sure this is the same mountain bluebird I photographed earlier last week, but he's chosen to perch upon a campground's water hydrant instead of an electrical box. This appears to not be the first time he's been there. #birds #redwhiteandblue
A mostly white and gray bird with iridescent blue feathers on its head, neck, and wings is perched on the red handle of a water hydrant. It is in three-quarter profile and looking to the right side of the image. The same bird, still perched on the water hydrant in three-quarter profile, but looking to the left side of the image.
August 18, 2025 at 10:26 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
Here's one from a week or so ago -- always fun to inadvertently capture an image of a tall and long-necked bird looking straight at you. This is a great blue heron on the shore of Stockade Lake in Custer State Park, in South Dakota's Black Hills. #birds #lottavertebrae
A tall grayish bird with a long neck and beak is standing amongst cattails and other reeds on the shore of a body of water. It is looking at the camera, and its body, neck, head, and beak are all lined up vertically.
August 12, 2025 at 5:38 PM
kengoering.bsky.social
A mountain bluebird checking out the scene at our campground this morning in northeastern Wyoming. #birds #iridescence #wyoming
A grayish bird with swaths of brilliant sky-blue feathers, especially on its wings and the back of its head. Its eye and beak are black. It is standing on a metal box in three-quarter profile, and facing forward.
August 12, 2025 at 3:38 PM