Last week's bird was an Eastern Kingbird; for this week we'll come back to the western part of the country to test your skills. Have fun!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last week's bird was a member of the Nightjar family: Common Nighthawk. For this week we have another bird noted for the number of insects that it eats. While you work on that it's back to the grindstone for me preparing another evening ranger program (I have to be ready Tuesday) about something totally unrelated to birds - the Moon.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now this is way too cool!!!

I subscribe to the Shorebirds listserve and an email came today about a project in Alaska involving the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center, the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, and other collaborators where they are satellite tracking the migration of Bristle-thighed Curlews, Bar-tailed Godwits, and Long-billed Curlews. Complete with maps (link to Bristle-thighed Curlew) showing the bird's locations! This is simply great stuff!

(And a bonus for me because tonight is a Wings on the Wind Ranger Talk and I have some awesome new maps to add to my sections on the Bristle-thigheds and Bar-taileds - two species whose migrations are totally amazing and have been a part of the presentation from the beginning. Time for some last minute updates to the talk . . .)

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had hoped to get in some quality time for photography (or is it time for quality photography?) but it was not to be this week. Yesterday I had to go to the big city to get more of that special dietary dog food for you know who and that pretty much killed the day. One cool thing was I stopped by the Duck Creek Visitor Center (Dixie National Forest) to chat up some folks over there who I'd learned were big birders. Charlie and Linda are volunteers there (and had been at Bryce previously), he took me back to their RV and I got to see their feeder setup - along with a female Evening Grosbeak - a life bird for me. I so wish the park would allow us to put up feeders; they also had oodles of hummers coming around. I also saw a big ol' Yellow-bellied Marmot sunning on a rock right next to where the RV's were parked. Yes, I will be going back.

Plans for today changed when the fan motor for the heater in my trailer arrived yesterday. I had to cast aside any plans for going to Inspiration Point to shoot the sunrise since laundry chores would need to happen in the a.m so that I could devote the afternoon to working on the heater (this morning's low was 44 - the 30's won't be far away). Midday found me taking you-know-who over to Tropic Reservoir for her swim before I settled in with screwdrivers, wire cutters, and other assorted tools. I picked the right time to go because shortly after we arrived - in fact, while Roxy was just coming back with the ball the first time - I saw the first Peregrine Falcon. That's right, I said "first". There would three in all in a span of about 15 minutes - two of them making mock attacks on each other with short dives and some very impressive aerial maneuvers. I'm still shaking my head over a 3'fer of PEFA's.

And I did get the heater working - even with the fact that this trailer was designed and engineered by complete morons*.

*(The heater manufacturer designed the heater a bit weird, I think, but it still would have been relatively easy to service had the trailer manufacturer spent an extra 2 or 3 freakin' $ on a plug so I wouldn't have had to cut the electrical connections and put that all back together again. Maybe that also gives them a way to hose people later on with high labor charges as well as pinch a few pennies in the manufacturing process. Twits.)

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week's quiz was a little tough, I admit. The problem with white geese is they are all so similar and with this one you had to look very closely at the image to detect the lack of a "grin patch" to identify it as a Ross's Goose. The other major differences are a more rounded head and smaller, both tough to see from that angle. This week we have a species I have only heard since arriving here but last week a couple on the bird walk mentioned seeing them the previous day just outside Bryce.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I haven't been posting much primarily because there hasn't been much photography or exploring going on of late. Things have been a bit topsy-turvy with one major change taking place in my life: As of last Friday I am no longer a volunteer here in the park. Not to worry, I'm still here, it is just that I am now a Park Ranger - they're paying me for my work! While it is only a temporary position (as a replacement for another ranger who left for a job with the BLM), it is a great opportunity that also brings with it more working hours and added responsibilities. And I get to wear the "Ranger Hat" (my uniforms should arrive today; maybe we'll post a pic sometime in the future of me all decked out).

One of my new tasks is leading "Rim Walks" on some afternoons where I take park visitors on a hike along the Rim Trail (from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point) and talk about the park's geology as well as the flora and fauna. Friday will be my first two 1/2-hour "Geology Talks" (which I am cramming for now - I'm a bird guy not a rock guy!) and I am also reworking my program "Beautiful Nature" for an additional evening program to add to my repertoire. Once I am finished with all of that I will probably move on to putting together an evening program about the Moon (astronomy being a side interest of mine).

Things should begin to settle down a little next week and I'll be able to once again start squeezing in some shooting on my days off. One can hope anyway.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Our mystery bird last week was a resident of the Southwestern Deserts: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. For this week we have another interesting challenge - have fun and good luck!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 02:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday was Field Trip Day for the Interpretation staff here at Bryce and we went on a paddling adventure on Lake Powell. Thanks to a last minute change in one staff member's plans I ended up being the only one solo in a kayak and boy were my arms tired when we were finished. The total trip was something like 5 miles paddling and a couple of miles walking and it was, thankfully, not too hot for that area (95 degrees instead of 105).

Antelope Canyon is certainly the world's most famous and most photographed slot canyon and we paddled into the area where the waters that carve it flow into Lake Powell (or, formerly, the Colorado River). It was at this point where we stopped for lunch and a hike deeper into the gorge (though not all the way to the famous portion of the canyon). As you can see, the canyon walls are quite imposing and this wasn't even one of the narrow portions. Still, it was a lot of fun and seeing some of the patterns in the sandstone walls sculpted by flowing water was good stuff. And we ended the day eating Mexican food at a restaurant in Kanab, UT - nothing wrong with that!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The bird in last week's quiz was a bit of a toughie: Lesser Goldfinch. Difficult to tell from the American Goldfinch, the biggest difference to look for is the paler (or fainter) wing bars on the Lesser. For this week we have another species of the American Southwest (wish they were here at Bryce). Good luck!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Okay, not really.

We all know it's really a fawn and, though I've been seeing them for the past couple of weeks, this is the first time one has been out in nice light. Every other time they have either been in heavy shadows, overcast ,or on the wrong side of the road to the direction of the light. I say "they" because this is one of a pair of twins that have been hanging around with mom in the same general area.

Soapbox Time: I know that in most (all?) areas of the country people speed on a regular basis - 5 to 10 MPH over the speed limit (or more). Now, it is bad enough that people litter in our protected places (a gripe for another day), but earlier this week I flagged down one NASCAR wannabe and probably saved a deer's life - then tonight waved and yelled at another after I'd just seen this family preparing to cross the park road. The idiot tonight was really flying and barely stopped in time - from my vantage point he looked to be within 10 or 15 feet of hitting the doe. He waved to thank me and I have a feeling he knew what was going to happen if I hadn't let him know (not that I gave a rat's a$$ about him - my concern was for the doe and/or her 2 fawns). The park's already lost one Mule Deer to a speeder this week and I know the L.E.'s are doling out tickets but, with limited resources, there's only so many of them to patrol the whole park (and some are away helping with fires out of the area - which makes things that much tougher). People visiting the park(s) just need to chill out, show nature a little respect for a freeakin' change, and leave their stinking "mad rush lifestyle" back in the big city.

(I'm done now. Enjoy the fawn.)

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Today I retraced the route we took on the Moon Hike Monday night - plus a little extra. I suppose if we want to get technical the hike I took today is known as the Tower Bridge Hike though it shares the trail - outside of a short spur to view Tower Bridge - with the southern portion of the 8-mile Fairyland Loop. The total distance today was a hair under 4 miles (6.4 km), with the lowest point about 770 feet (235 m) below the highest point. The trail elevation profile has a pretty distinctive "V" shape. From Tower Bridge back to the Rim Trail is a long, steady climb with very little relief. I can also overlay the GPS track on a Goggle Earth map but sometimes their quality control is a little suspect and, even though it is now mid-summer, the satellite photo they currently have was imaged during winter on a overcast day so it doesn't show much of the terrain (and I didn't encounter any snow out there today, either).

I've created a Flash slideshow with 14 images (click) from today's trek as I did last week with the Peekaboo Trail. Highlights along the way include the twisted and gnarled Ponderosa Pine I mentioned from the Moon Hike (5th in the image sequence), a formation called "China Wall" (6th), Tower Bridge (10th), and a Bristlecone Pine (14th or last).

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 07:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)