May 2007 Archives

With training here at Bryce Canyon finally completed I was able to do a little photography on my day off and, with calm winds and flowers beginning to show all around, decided shooting some of them would be a good idea. At right is a Scarlet Gilia (aka Skyrocket), among some of the others in bloom were Yellow Evening Primrose, Cut-leaved (or Crownleaf) Evening Primrose, and Blue Flax. This next image isn't a flower but a seed pod for a flower/plant called Great Bladdery Milkvetch. The patterns were too cool not to shoot; there are several around the base of each plant, each about 1-1/2 - 2 inches long and maybe 3/4 inch wide.

This year's crop of young Utah Prairie Dogs are now out and about near their burrows, already about 8 weeks old and ranging from 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the adults. They sometimes were running around and playing or just nibbling on plants. As much as I'd like to just hang out and look for birds today, I think I'll have to go back to the dog town(s) while the getting is good. And search a little more for Pronghorn babies . . .

After hearing this bird at least 8 times since I arrived at Bryce 6 weeks ago, I finally got the binoculars on a Plumbeous Vireo today while out on a "working" hike along the Rim Trail. It was a brief look but good enough that I could easily see the heavy vireo-style bill, white spectacles, and wing bars. Getting photos will be the next big challenge . . .

Congratulations to those who answered Cassin's Finch to last week's quiz. I think we have to go all the way back to the first quiz since we had a member of this family represented. Good luck and have fun!

(I noticed last night that I had skipped Quiz #39 so if you think you have seen a quiz #49 before - you have. I renumbered them all so this week is also #49 . . . when did I learn to count?)

Saturday night I was driving out to the bosses house for a BBQ and I caught glimpse of a Pronghorn doe with a pair of very young fawns in the pines near the northern park boundary. Naturally I didn't have a camera and it wouldn't have made any difference because it was way too dark where they were for anything worthwhile, photographically speaking. I searched in the area both in the morning and early evening for them yesterday but without any luck. I did find this one and will just keep looking for the mom. I suspect there will be more soon enough, anyway.

The bird in last week's quiz was a female Black-chinned Hummingbird. Members of the species in this week's round have become regular visitors to the dripper lately. Have at it!

Things have been pretty busy around here the last several days. The program I did on Int'l Migratory Bird Day was well received and, based upon the feedback, I will most likely do it a couple of more times during the summer with a few tweaks. Though I arrived and began working a month ago already, the rest of the volunteers along with a few seasonal employees just arrived so I have joined them for formal training.

With all that going on today I actually got a break to do a little shooting for myself and this male Western Bluebird was my favorite of the morning. The one that got away was the female Western Tanager - she is incredibly shy. The one time she came down to the water she was behind the dripper and the flow rate was such that there was no way for a shot without a drop of water in front of her. Maybe another day.

Tomorrow I resume training and so there'll be no more shooting until my days off next week but I'll keep looking out for new birds. Seems like there should be more diversity based upon the species lists; it is still chilly at night so maybe they're just staying away for now.

Today is International Migratory Bird Day and this year's theme is Birds in a Changing Climate. Events are being held at wildlife refuges, zoos, community parks, and at least one U.S. National Park that I know about; visit the IMBD website for more. If I were back in Florida I'm pretty certain that I would be assisting in today's Spring Migratory Bird Count with my friends at Halifax River Audubon (hope you find lots of good birds David and crew!).

If you happen to be in the neighborhood of Southern Utah, stop by Bryce Canyon National Park for tonight's ranger talk Wings on the Wind - Travels with Migratory Birds. It is at the lodge at 8:30 - give you 3 guesses who the presenter might be . . .

The answer to last week's quiz is Western Scrub-jay. This week's bird may prove to be a challenge, so good luck and have fun!

Texas Wildlife Refuges Fast-Tracked for Border "Fence" is a diary well worth reading over at DailyKos. This idea is another glaring example of the complete ineptitude of the current administration.

Personally, I agree with one of the commenters in the subsequent discussion: If you want to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into this country you won't accomplish anything with this "fence". The answer (though it is unlikely it would ever get past the corporate controlled politicians - and even if it did the pretend cowboy would just veto it) would be to impose serious jail time (5 years minimum in max security prisons - no "country club" jails - with no possibility of parole) for private business owners or corporate CEO's who hire illegals. Eliminate the market and the problem will go away. Just wild speculation but an added bonus just might be that the annual cost of enforcement could potentially be less than the annual cost of trying to maintain well over a thousand miles of fence.

My 4 work days this week were downright yucky: cold, wind, and snow. But Spring has returned and with the new (real) dripper installed birds are coming to visit. It took a while to get things going this morning because it was still cold (25F) but among the first - and most frequent - visitors were the Townsend's Solitaires. American Robins visit a lot also and are still the only bathers to date, all the are others just stopping by for a drink. With the weather expected to remain nice for the next few days hopefully we'll see more.

A male Western Tanager popped in for a drink a couple of times during the day, too, and I saw at least 3 males plus a female in the campground this morning. With the addition of 4 new birds my list has reached 50 species observed in and around the park in the first 3-1/2 weeks: Ring-necked Duck, Tree Swallow, Brown Creeper, and Grace's Warbler (what a beautiful bird!).

Last week's migrant was a female American Redstart and for this week we are back to Utah for a species that I am seeing more and more of around the park. Enjoy!

Greg Laden hosts the current I and the (#48),A Field Guide to the Bird Posts. Greg's presentation is outstanding and full of great links to this week's submissions to the "Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers" - have a look!

In addition to hearing a few more songs (that I don't recognize) I had a welcome new visitor to the birdbath yesterday. Actually, all the visitors were welcome since I hadn't seen any birds at all before Monday afternoon when a robin showed up. Might have something to do with opening the hole a little to increase the flow rate (until the dripper I ordered arrives I am using an old fashioned "milk bottle dripper"). Yesterday the robins came back along with Townsend's Solitaires, a Chipping Sparrow, and a pair of Western Tanagers. All I could manage was this snapshot of the male - they are both very wary and I'll probably have to wait them out in my blind (which will probably be next week since the next 4 days have snow in the forecast). I did see the male back today while also catching a fleeting glimpse of what I think was a Cassin's Finch.

Poor Roxie hadn't really had a chance to do any swimming since we left Florida in early February so I took her to the reservoir west of the park yesterday morning. She was one happy puppy. I was too because, after she was finished, I actually made a quality image of a bird for a change (seems like I go through these dry spells every once in a while). This Chipping Sparrow was flitting around in the woods near the lake and broke the drought. While we were out and about I added 6 species to the list of wildlife I have seen in the area (including a Snowy Egret and a pair of Ospreys).

This is one of the neighbors in the title: a Unita Chipmunk. I see a couple of them scurrying around on a regular basis along with a pair of Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels. They're hard to get close to and I find that to be somewhat surprising since they have taken up residence in a place where, for several months a year, there are quite a few humans around. At least they aren't as bad as that rabbit I surprised today - probably a Nuttall's Cottontail at this altitude. All I really saw was a bright white tail attached to a brown body disappearing at great speed.

And, just for fun, here's a male "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler: