September 2008 Archives

On Wednesday I went out exploring for the first time in it seems like forever (what with fuel prices being what they've been) and visited a somewhat remote section of Capitol Reef National Park. I'd planned to put something up that day but decided to hold off, let post #499 be the Friday quiz and do something special for the 500th entry since I started this blog.

So here it is.

When you click on the thumbnail you'll get a little slideshow of 8 of the photos I took on that adventure (requires Flash). Click on the arrows to advance to the next photo and roll over the info symbol to learn a little about the photo. Something different for you and, for me, a chance to practice my Flash programming skills.

It's been just shy of 3 years to reach this milestone (the 3 year "blogoversary" - or "blogiversary", I've seen it spelled both ways - is coming up soon, October 9, I think). I don't post as often as I once did, so it may take a bit longer to reach 1,000 but I hope you hang with me!

Last week our bird was an American Pipit. In the Rocky Mountains portion of their range, this species tends to be more pale than in other areas (this one was in Wyoming's Bighorn Mtns.). For this week we go back to the shoreline for another tricky group, a member of the Laridae family. Good luck and great birding!

Those "dabbling duck" hens can be quite a challenge sometimes and last week's was a Northern Pintail. For this week, another species that can be a little confusing - good luck!

I noticed this morning that we're approaching a milestone for this little blog of mine as this is entry #498, just two away from 500. Sometime in the next month or so I'll also be hitting my 3rd "blogiversary" - I'll have to look up the exact date of my first post and maybe we can have a big party (or not).

Lot's of birds on the move, they say, so here's hoping you have a great week birding!

It continues to act like fall 'round here with lows consistently in the mid to high 30's and it won't be long until we'll be through swimming until Spring. So why not another video of the ol' girl having a little fun at the reservoir. As you can see, she's great at fetching, but always puts up a fight over who gets possession of the ball. I think she expends as much energy doing that as she does swimming. Have fun (we do)!

The Greater White-fronted Geese have apparently left the area, which is really not surprising given that they are "rare" for the state, and probably went somewhere warmer (it has been hovering around freezing temps for the last several mornings). One disappointing aspect of my find is that, considering that they are a first county record based upon all available data, I not only posted info about them (along with links to both the video and stills) to "Utah Birds" - the "official site" to report bird sightings - and also sent an email to the records committee, I have heard nothing. Soooo unlike Florida's record committee who, based upon prior experience, would have been all over it. Oh well, I guess it is just not that important to them.

In other news, a project I am cobbling together for work is a podcast on prescribed fire. I've been shooting both video and stills of the fire that is being conducted here in the park. It is in an area that is long overdue for a fire, which you can probably see by looking at how dense the forest is in the accompanying photo. Besides being out near the fire, I have also attended several briefings - both for the firefighters involved as well as informational briefings for park staff. I've learned a lot about the whole process, from the standpoint of the preparation and care the goes into the whole project as well as more than I ever knew about fire ecology and how it relates to forests and woodlands. Hopefully I'll be able to convey as much as I possible in a 6 or 7 minute video podcast because it is very interesting stuff.

Back to birds for a minute, I did manage some interesting observations while waiting around at the fire last Monday: New birds for the year included Townsend's Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets and - oh, this was fun - I also heard quite a screeching noise which I thought was a raptor I knew and, once it popped over the rim, saw a Peregrine Falcon. Not a new sighting for the park but the behavior was definitely - the falcon was chasing (aka "mobbing") a Golden Eagle! I wish I had video of that to share!

One of my favorite yard birds from my Florida days (and what a big voice for such a little bird!), last week's quiz bird was Carolina Wren. This week we'll take to the water and a bird that may soon be found on a lake or pond near you as southbound migration continues - good luck and great birding!

Those who know me well know how much I like Pythons. No, not the slithery ground hugging kind, the funny ones from Britain that I saw, not once, but twice at the Hollywood Bowl and own just about everything they ever did on DVD.

So why not? Michael Palin makes a lot more sense; I don't think he would condone the wholesale slaughter of wolves (among her many other sins - and you'd know she's got quite a few if you're paying attention).

(H/T to Pharyngula)

Well, here it is, Friday already, and time for another weekly quiz! Last week our little group of nesting birds were Brandt's Cormorants photographed near Monterey, California. For this week we have one of my favorite yard birds from my Florida days. Good luck and I hope your birding week has been as good as mine!

With a free morning I went back to the reservoir armed with a still camera in hopes that the Greater White-fronted Geese were still around - and they were. All of the field marks are correct, though I am a bit troubled by the fact that the "white front" at the base of the bill doesn't exactly jump out at you. Having said that, the fact that they are feeding in some pretty mucky water and even the white patches on the Canada Geese's heads that are in the area aren't exactly clean, either. And, while the field guides tend to show this feature to be very white, the images at Cornell's Birds of North America Online do not.

The pic, when you click on the thumbnail, is a montage that pretty clearly shows the major field marks. The wing pattern in the image at lower right is a near perfect match for that shown in the Sibley guide and also shows the tail's white tip with a black band above. Interesting, too, that the belly banding - said to be highly variable in this species - is very different on the two birds (upper right and lower left). In the lower left image it also appears to me that there's blobs of mud on the bird's face; it had just come up from a dunk.

I haven't had a lot to say about birds here of late but, while it isn't quite Fall yet (though this morning's low was 28), birds are on the move around here. A new species for me about 10 days ago, paying a visit to the bird bath, was a couple of female Evening Grosbeaks. Oddly enough they appear on the 2000 species checklist for the park, but are absent from the 2006 revision. Hmmm, guess I'll have to fix that. Yesterday I found a pair of Orange-crowned Warblers near my place, and over the past several days quite a few Yellow-rumped Warblers moving through in basic (non-breeding) plumage.

Today was interesting finding 4 different raptors on the way to and at the reservoir: Golden Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Osprey, and Peregrine Falcon. But the real surprise was the pair of Greater White-fronted Geese mixed in among the hordes of Canada Geese. The Greater White-fronted is considered rare for the state and not listed on the Bryce Canyon checklist at all. I didn't have a still camera with me, but did get them on video. They were way out there, too, so the video ain't great but it is possible to see their orange feet and bills and other field marks.