At mid morning yesterday I stepped outside for a breath of fresh air and heard a very faint series of toots from the Northern Pygmy-owl. Grabbing my bins, I started walking around slowly, trying to zero in on the direction from which the calls were coming. I picked up the trail, each step bringing a slight increase in volume, and I knew I had him. I've heard the bird twice and was convinced that this third time would be the charm and I would finally get to see it.
Then along came a car and that was that; the owl stopped calling, and I'll have to wait for another day.
Then along came a car and that was that; the owl stopped calling, and I'll have to wait for another day.
Yeah, it is tough to bird in an area with car traffic. Do you know if Bryce Canyon is going to change to a green bus system like Zion? I think it would work well!
The sad part is I've been around here long enough to know when someone driving through the campground has made a wrong turn and is actually looking for access to one the viewpoints. Their mistake cost me a chance at getting a much sought after bird . . . oh, well, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
As far the green bus thing goes, it is probably as much a budgetary thing as anything. The park only runs a shuttle (optional) for 4 months as it is (and diesel, unfortunately), so having them sit around 8 months of the year would be a bit expensive. The rest of the year Bryce just doesn't have the need that they do at Zion, where they are mandatory for Zion Canyon 6 months of the year and available for those who opt to ride them part of the rest of the year - only on weekends and holidays during the winter, I think. The other downside here is how the park is laid out and it would be tricky to manage/restrict access to some of the viewpoints. Sunrise Point parking, for example, is right there with the general store and it would be pretty much impossible to shut that down unless the access to the store would only be via the shuttle - and that might make some visitors unhappy. Not an area of expertise for me, but my guess is our system will remain optional for the foreseeable future, though in my "I'm just a lowly worker" opinion, it would be nice if they could require the contractor to use "clean" vehicles . . .