November 2024 Wildlife Photography Contest Advanced Winner

The setting sun cast an intoxicating orange glow on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. An American Avocet, one of the millions of birds that visit the salt flats during spring migration, continued to feed as the sun dipped below the horizon. The salt flats provide vital nutrients and respite to these migrants and a true connection to nature for human visitors.

This photo was taken on the last night of my six-day visit to Utah. The sunsets and sunrises I had experienced to this point had been pretty but not extraordinary. On this particular evening, I lay on a mat at the edge of the salt flats for a long time, waiting for a single bird to walk between me and the setting sun. I hoped the color would intensify as the sun went down. The sunset exceeded my expectations; it became a vivid, glowing orange, and I captured a series of shots of this foraging avocet as it walked directly across the path of the setting sun.

My first photo journey to Utah could not have had a more perfect ending!