I took a back road to take Roxy over to the reservoir for a swim this morning and, along the way, photographed a new butterfly and a few wildflowers. Pretty certain that this is a Great Basin Wood-nymph and there were a lot of them about. In addition I shot a Checkered White - another species that is abundant right now - and also saw 3 or 4 other species while I was wandering the meadows. Don't know what it is, but it sure seems like the butterflies around here are harder to get close enough to in order to get a shot than I have experienced elsewhere. Might have to work on it some more tomorrow if the weather cooperates since the season here is bound to be short.

While chasing butterflies I happened upon this pair of mating grasshoppers (?). I have no idea what they are and spent a fair amount of time looking on an online field guide trying to figure it out.

With good light I also shot some video of the Western Bluebirds again this morning, too - this time working from a different angle than the video I posted a few days ago. In the first clip the female brings some food, then disappears into the nest before coming out with a fecal sac. The second clip has the female first, followed almost immediately by the male. There's also a pair of short clips: the first is a Pronghorn buck lying down and chewing his cud, as well as a Raven perched in a tree not far from the bluebird nest. Whit the volume up on the second clip (if you don't mind hearing the motor noise from the camera) you can hear just hear a calling Plumbeous Vireo in the background.

I also shot some video late in the day of a couple of Mule Deer fawns, but the camera was set in the 4:3 aspect ratio and couldn't include it here. Maybe tomorrow.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sorry about the dearth of posts lately, I worked a heavy schedule during the park's astronomy festival and was kind of burnt out without much to say. Spent a fair amount of time in the mornings - once I finally had some days off - hanging around the birdbath, mostly hoping to get shots of the really bright male Western Tanager who shows up every once in a while. That hasn't happened yet, unfortunately. The most frequent visitors are the Cassin's Finches and is getting to the point that there is no need to shoot them anymore. This male Yellow-rumped Warbler did pose for me briefly - wish he would bring the Plumbeous Vireo who has been tormenting me daily with his incessant calling from high in the Ponderosa Pines down to water some time (you would think a vireo would need a drink every now and then . . .).

I have also been trying to photograph some of the local wildflowers when the wind lays down enough that I can do something with them. This one was growing just outside my trailer and the book on local wildflowers didn't have it listed, so I had to do a little legwork to figure out what it was. One of the best resources on the web is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, though it helps to have a name (preferably the scientific name) to search their extensive database of North American wildflowers. The method I used to find this one was by starting down the list of evening-primroses - I have a complete list of the vascular plants for the park - and searching. Thankfully this one was near top and the fun part is that this plant, Crownleaf Evening-primrose (Oenothera coronopifolia) was listed as "historical". What that apparently means is that it had been recorded as occurring in the park some time ago, but had not been reported recently. So I get to chalk up a "rediscovery" of this species to go along with my recent documentation of Red Foxes breeding in the park.

On the other hand, this flower is actually rather common around the park, Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana). I'd missed getting shots of them last summer for some unknown reason so made up for it this time around. What struck me is how much they smelled like the roses that were grown around my childhood home (at least to my sense of smell). Another plant blooming now in the park is Sego Lily, but the flower isn't fully open until a time during the day that has been windy, making them impossible to photograph. They are widespread but, just as an example of how elevation makes a huge difference, I'd photographed them a month ago down in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (about 760 meters or 2500 feet lower).

In other news, I saw a pair of fresh fawns (Mule Deer) a couple of nights ago so will have to keep on the look out for them in decent light. I've also been alerted to a major bat roost in one of the park buildings - tried to shoot a little video last night but it started to rain just as they began to emerge. Photos would be nice and I may try that one day, too, though the fact that they don't start coming out until sunset will make things tricky to say the least. My best guess, since I didn't bother to try and count, is there are over 200 in this location.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 06:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I managed several photos of the foxes this afternoon, but they aren't what I thought they were. In my entry on Tuesday I raved about the fact that I saw some Gray Fox kits but it turns out I was wrong. I made the assumption that they were "Gray" because they master list of park mammals shows Vulpes vulpes as being "Unconfirmed" and Urocyon cinereoargenteus as being "Present in Park". I suppose it is time to update that list, since I now have the necessary photographic confirmation to show that Red Foxes are also "present". The dark legs are one clue, but the real clincher is the Red Fox has a white-tipped tail and a Gray Fox would be sporting a black-tipped tail.

I believe there are three of them living in the culvert along with their parents, though I would most likely have to return at either dusk or dawn to catch a glimpse of the adults as V. Vulpes is mostly crepuscular (active at twilight). Though it may ultimately be to its detriment, this one was rather tame while the other two seemed a bit shy. The fact that the culvert where the den is located is a very busy intersection can't be a good thing, either. Over the next couple of days I'll probably see what else I can come up with, though I should be looking for Pronghorn fawns about that same time of day, also.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Every once in a while I see something that makes me nuts and I just feel the need to spout off about it. Yesterday over at the reservoir was one of those days and there were two separate but similar incidents that I witnessed that made my blood boil. I've written in the past about OHV's (Off Highway Vehicles, a group which includes ATV's/4-wheelers and off-road motorcycles/"dirt bikes") and I don't have much love for them - or at least the percentage of users who are irresponsible. Truth be told, I wouldn't mind having a "4-wheeler" for some of my backcountry adventures. I was hanging around the trailer yesterday morning (see below), and would really prefer to get out to the reservoir earlier with Roxy since there are many more families on summer vacation infesting the area. There are some pit toilets near one the spots I take her to swim and that is where I saw the first object of my ire. A woman, presumably the mother, was parked outside the toilets with 2 children - a girl, aged 11 or 12, and a boy about 8 or 9. There were two 4-wheelers, which meant the mother must have been the driver of 1 and one of those kids would have to have been driving the other. Despite the fact there is a helmet law in this state for minors under 18, there was not a helmet in sight. To me this is just the height of stupidity, especially considering that they had to travel a road with blind corners that is also used by cars and trucks.

But it gets worse.

The second incident involved a guy, probably in his early thirties on a dirt bike that I saw just as we were leaving the "swimming hole". This idiot was riding around with his 3 or 4 year old daughter, also sans helmet, straddled across the fuel tank in front of him. The road they were traveling on is used frequently by pick-ups towing cattle trailers that I know for a fact fling rocks along this gravel road and have the chips in my windshield to prove it. We won't even get in to the possibilities of what might happen if he should lose control and her head were to hit the ground just "right". I simply do not understand the mindset that would put children in such a high risk situation and it makes me just a little crazy.

On a more positive note, in the past few days the Northern Flickers, who've been in the area since I moved over in April, have begun frequenting the bird bath. This is the male just before he dropped down for a little refreshment. Don't know where they've been getting water up to now, but it seems like the pattern was similar last summer, too. While I was waiting around for photo ops, the Williamson's Sapsuckers showed up as well, though they are exceedingly shy and very difficult to photograph. In fact, the female stayed on the backside of the dish, drinking from the overflow and only occasionally showing herself.

THEN I SAW THE GRAY FOX KITS!

Sorry for shouting, but I've never seen a Gray Fox before today and these two "babies" were my first. It was around dusk and photos, even if they would have been out where I could get a good views, would have been near impossible. Their "den" is a culvert under one of the park roads, which makes it kind of scary since it is a pretty busy intersection near one of the main viewpoints. They're also near a prairie dog colony though, being mostly nocturnal, the adults are probably preying on other rodents or rabbits. Pretty cool stuff, sure hope some pics are in my future!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 06:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

. . . of Utah Prairie Dogs have emerged from their burrows within the past several days. This is - I guess it goes without saying - one of them that posed for a few shots for me. I didn't have much time to hang around since I have to work shortly, but it looks like it has been a pretty good year for them. I know the folks in Resources dusted for fleas yesterday in the colonies to hopefully reduce the chances of plague - a disease introduced by westward expansion of us 2-leggeds - from spreading and potentially wiping out a colony.

In other news, I need to update my Utah "year bird" list soon as I have added a couple of species (Mourning Dove and Lesser Goldfinch); tomorrow's quiz will feature a bird I've seen frequently but photographed for the first time a couple of days ago. See you then.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Around here, when the "locals" (do I qualify yet?) say "The Monument", they are referring to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. That is where Roxy and I spent the morning, taking a ride down the very bumpy Cottonwood Road, where our quest was to see if we could find a few wildflowers. This one remains unidentified and hopefully I'll be able to corner someone who knows this stuff. So far I haven't found much in the way of resources for the monument's flora. Whatever it is, there was no shortage of them along the first part of our route. They seemed to be just about the most numerous flowers for a pretty long stretch.

I'd heard about this flower being in bloom and it was one of my targets to look for on this trip. Sego Lillies (Calochortus nuttallii) can be found throughout the west - primarily in forests, so I was a little surprised when someone told me last week that they were in bloom down in the monument. The bulbs are edible and were used by many indigenous peoples - as well as Mormon settlers in Utah (it is also the state flower). Should be some blooming up here on the plateau over the next few weeks.

Cacti in bloom was another part of the quest. I need to find a botany expert who knows something about when these flowers open up. Almost everything I saw initially was closed or, at least, seemed to be closing, making me think that I'd arrived too late in the morning, but these - Engelmann's Hedgehog (Echinocereus engelmannii) - were relatively abundant and seemed to be opening up more as I was on the return trip. There were also a few Prickly Pear with yellow flowers that I hadn't even noticed on the way down. Guess I'll have to find about cactus flower timing for future reference . . .

I was also hoping to find some "herps" along the way and this Great Basin Collared Lizard turned out to be very cooperative. I also saw a huge (20-25 cm./8-10 in.) Western Fence Lizard and a Nightsnake.

I hadn't gone with the intention of doing any birding, but still managed to add to my state list with 4 species: Northern Mockingbird, Bewick's Wren, Black-throated Sparrow, and Bullock's Oriole.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This morning I stopped off at the storage area where the park's brochures are kept to do an inventory and was greeted with a call as I unlocked the warehouse door. While it seemed familiar, it wasn't anything that I'd heard recently, I played it back in my mind while the door opened and I walked back to my truck to grab my binoculars. Hearing another "round" of the call, I remembered the mnemonic:

"Quick, three beers!"

"Quick three beers!"

"Okay, it's a flycatcher", I decided.

Then it hit me:

"Yes! That's it! An Olive-sided Flycatcher!"

I never did find the bird up in the pines, but recognizable calls count. However, despite the persistent request, I haven't had a beer in many years, and it has been a really long time since I had one at 8 in the morning . . .

That was the second new species for the week after what seemed like a bit of a dry spell for new "year birds". The first was on Tuesday while I was lounging around trying to recover from my nasty cold: a female Red Crossbill stopped by my birdbath that afternoon. Earlier in the day, before the wind started to kick up, and while feeling much better thanthe day before, I did shoot a few wildflowers. At this elevation this early in the year there aren't but a few, one early bloomer is the Common Starlily (Leucocrinum montanum). I think it may be a good year for wildflowers based upon some of the stuff I see growing in the vicinity of my trailer. Very little flowering yet, but, as last week showed, winter hasn't quite given way to spring completely.

This photo is also from Tuesday morning, an Acmon Blue that I encountered while searching for flowers. A tiny butterfly whose total wingspan is an inch or less, it is the first butterfly I've photographed since arriving here more than a year ago. I guess I really need to work on that statistic a bit more. . .

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been a while since I had any images of birds to post, but a little time hanging around the dripper (and some decent weather) solved that problem. One thing I can count on is the robins coming around trying to keep themselves clean. Get a couple of them in a row and it'll be a while before the dripper can catch up and replace all of the water they manage to splash out! In this shot the robin is giving it a good shake after wrapping up an extended preening session.

While I have yet to see them bathe, Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird at least come around for a drink now and then. The male frequently uses the dish for my satellite internet for a perch to launch himself from when foraging for insects - before long I'll need to clean off the tell-tale signs ("whitewash") he leaves behind, lest it should have a negative effect on reception. Can't help but wonder if it is the same pair from last summer; they're using the same cavity that produced a few young.

There's at least a couple of male Western Tanagers coming around; this is the less brightly colored of the two, the other one hasn't been around when I'm in the blind, unfortunately. There's at least one female tanager visiting, too, as well some other species.

I've padded the year list over the past couple of days as well as getting some photos. Over at Tropic Reservoir I picked up a couple of rarities for Bryce with a lone Great Egret and several Forster's Terns. The Utah year list now stands at 117 and the Bryce list has topped 100 (now at 103). Even though we are well into the second half of May, if the forecasts are correct we are headed back to winter for the next several days - that'll slow things up a bit.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was a little worried when I first arrived at the lek (before sunrise . . . ) that there wouldn't be a lot happening on this day. Just as I crested the little hill and got my first view of the area I didn't see any grouse - only a Golden Eagle soaring over the lek and a few Pronghorn milling about. Besides the eagle, I was afraid no Greater Sage-grouse would show because my contact at the Forest Service had said that sometimes they won't show up if it is overcast. But show up they did, just a little late. For the most part they were too far away to do anything with, it didn't matter, though, because the light was horribly flat due to the cloud cover. At one point I made an attempt to move in closer using my blind, but that wasn't fooling either the grouse or the Pronghorn. So I went back to my truck and hoped for a little sunshine and for the birds to come a little closer.

I got my wish.

I had a small group fly not far away and was able to get a few shots of these two engaged in a Wing Fight. The bird on the right won, I guess, since the other left the area, but it didn't matter in the end because the hen they were fighting over left, too. And not with the bird who lost. Actually, with all that strutting going on (there were 18 males and 10 females), I never witnessed a copulation. Probably be out there again tomorrow.

The video (about 12 MB and 2 minutes long) has a long section sandwiched between a pair of shorter clips. The first clip has a brief Wing Fight; I was hoping they would carry on a little longer but ended up with a couple of minutes of non-violent posturing. The second clip has a male strutting for some (disinterested) females. The final short clip I stuck in there because of the Pronghorn walking in the frame. Unfortunately the microphone in my video cam does a lousy job picking up their sounds - I was really disappointed how it picked up so little from the male who was very close by. The obviously does much better with high frequencies - the song bird in first segment come in clearly. And yes, the area is strewn with cow pies (yuck!).

Oh and, by the way, species number 71 stopped by for a few moments during my brief attempt at trying to sneak in with the blind. I heard the call first and knew it was a sandpiper: Long-billed Curlew. I shot a couple of frames just for i.d. purposes - it was way out and I cropped this picture a lot (complete with a Pronghorn in the background, also . . .).

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

At the first lekking ground I went to this morning I came up empty - no birds to be found - while the second had a few, but I also arrived on the scene a little too late. I was somewhat concerned about getting there late for fear I might scare them away, but, as it turned out, some Pronghorn had moved on to the lek and the crowd of grouse had already begun to disperse. Two of the males weren't ready to give up and kept at it, strutting and "plopping" (listen here - requires RealPlayer), this guy was closest but I still had to crop a little more than I would have liked. I'll be heading out before dawn tomorrow, weather permitting, and hope to get some video in addition to stills.

Picked up a couple of new species for the year list today while roaming around and the "Airport Lek" where I shot the grouse is within 5 miles from the park boundary, so the Greater Sage-grouse can now be added to my Bryce year list. The first new one (out of the "zone") was Brewer's Sparrow (#69), the second I saw in flight in the park just north of the Visitor Center and is always a good great bird when you see it: Falco perigrinus. Hopefully this summer I'll be able to zero in on the Peregrine Falcons; there's a possible nest site somewhere around the Farview Point overlook here at Bryce.

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

Strange coincidence.

Went out looking for birds on this the 4th month & 1st day and what do I do: notch 41 bird species on the day (a new personal high around these parts, though a far cry from the 98 I had on a bird-a-thon in Florida). I suppose the April Fool's Day joke on me was that I didn't manage to get a single bird photo, just a couple of more rodents to add to the collection. The chipmunk was the first I'd seen up and around since last fall, though some visitors mentioned seeing one a few days ago. For what it's worth, the total number of vertebrate species I tallied was 47 (birds+mammals). Included in the avian total was 5 new "year birds" and that total also includes 1 "lifer" (wigeon). It may be possible to break 50 birds in one day covering the same ground I did today, though once more songbirds arrive later this month the ducks will, for the most part, be long gone.

Here's the list: Common Raven, Greater Sage-grouse, American Kestrel, European Starling, Horned Lark, Steller's Jay, Western Meadowlark, Mountain Bluebird, Red-tailed Hawk, Eurasian Collared-dove, American Robin, Juniper Titmouse, Western Scrub-jay, House Sparrow, Killdeer, Canada Goose, American Coot, Bufflehead, Ring-necked Duck, Mallard, Pie-billed Grebe, American Wigeon, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Black-billed Magpie, White-crowned Sparrow, Rock Pigeon, Golden Eagle (6!), Northern Flicker, Western Bluebird, Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon & Gray-headed), Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Harrier, Spotted Towhee, Turkey Vulture, Say' Phoebe, Wild Turkey, White-breasted Nuthatch, Clark's Nutcracker, Pygmy Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee.

(year birds, lifer)

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today was my Best Birding Day So Far This Year; I was hopeful that I would hit 30, but came up 3 short in the end. On a positive note, I added 4 new species to the year list, bringing that total to 45; all were within the range of the Bryce checklist area, too. The additions are Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe (a big surprise I found hanging around the edges of a pond where I was checking out the ducks), Vesper Sparrow, and Savannah Sparrow. The only (bird) species I managed to photograph was this male Greater Sage-grouse. They should be lekking soon, if not already, and the spot where I shot this one seems to be a major hangout for them. This was the third time I found them there and, who knows, it just may be one of the leks . . .

Birds weren't the only thing happening today, either. Since it was quite a bit warmer and the winds were a little calmer than yesterday, the Utah Prairie Dogs were up surveying the scene again. I am kind of surprised that I have not seen any chipmunks yet and, to date, only one Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel. Maybe later in the week if the weather holds (though the weather has already proven that it can be schizophrenic this time of year 'round these parts).

(Today's birds: American Robin, Common Raven, Horned Lark, Mountain Bluebird, Greater Sage-grouse, Ferruginous Hawk, Western Meadowlark, Townsend's Solitaire, American Kestrel, European Starling, House Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon & Gray-headed), Red-tailed Hawk, Western Scrub-jay, Killdeer, Savannah Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Canada Goose, Wilson's Snipe, Western Bluebird, Steller's Jay, Bald Eagle, Turkey Vulture, Mallard, Golden Eagle, Pygmy Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Three weeks ago it was the prairie dogs stirring and, during that period, more and more of the colonies have become active. Then it was the Say's Phoebe singing at the Visitor Center (though it promptly disappeared for several days when a cold front came through but has since come back). The robins, though present all winter, have begun returning to the plateau in greater numbers along with a few other species. Three days ago I saw a Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel seeking out some food around Sunset Point - another first for the season. Now the Mule Deer have made their way from the park's lower elevations and are browsing up here (watch out for the cat you guys!).

Of course if the forecast for the next couple of days is correct, we're going to be thrust right back into winter with a foot or so of new snow. Yikes. But I don't mind too much because I learned this week that I've been hired on for another 6 month stint through the summer!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday I was on my way home from a little adventure (which I'll get to in a minute) and, as I passed by one of the meadows in the park, I cast a skeptical eye in that direction and wondered when "they" would be making an appearance. It took all of about 500 feet to get my answer. The Utah Prairie Dogs had gone below ground to hibernate in late October, so it was right at 4 months since I had last seen one. I've since checked out 3 colonies in the park and there is activity at all of them, and I saw activity at another colony outside the park. The snow is still pretty deep so finding food must be a little tough. Even with that, this one looks pretty plump and must have had a lot of food stored away.

The tree at left was the object of my adventure yesterday. I happened upon it about 10 days ago while leading a snowshoe hike out near Bryce Point and it is one of the more mature examples I've seen here. The others I've seen are, for the most part, rather spindly, while this one had some bulk (trunk about 10 to 12 inches in diameter) . With the rate of erosion here as high as it is, Bristlecone Pines (Pinus longaeva) don't live as long as they do in the White Mountains of Eastern California, where a tree called "Methuselah" is about 4,800 years old, they can still live longer here than everything else around. The oldest one known at Bryce Canyon, now unfortunately dead, lived about 1,600 years. Bristlecone Pines are the oldest living single organisms on the planet.

Far from being an expert, I'm guessing this one is maybe 1,000 years old based upon size and what I have read about their rate of growth. If I'm right, it means this tree would have been a sapling during the time of the Fremont Culture (Ancestral Puebloans who inhabited portions of Utah concurrent with the more famous Puebloans - formerly called Anasazi - who inhabited the Four Corners region) and Europe would have been mired in the Dark Ages. Kind of cool when you think about it. Of course that's nothing when you realize Methuselah would have been a sapling during the time of the pharaohs . . .

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seems like I get out birding whenever there's a holiday; Presidents Day today, Darwin Day last week (I know, not an official holiday but the man deserves it far more than Columbus), and on New Year's Day when I photographed a female Greater Sage-grouse. Today I got this male out in the same general vicinity, about 10 or 12 miles north of the park. I also added a couple of new species to my year list: Horned Lark (a nice addition) and Eurasian Collared-dove (not so nice - wish they would go away). That puts me at 32 species so far and looking forward to birds starting to arrive from the south next month so I can start increasing the numbers.

Here's Roxy trotting along in the snow (she's on a groomed x-country ski trail) for all of her fans out there. I know she is looking forward to warmer weather, too.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We finally got something of a break in the weather - at least in terms of the constant barrage of snow, but then it has been cold. There are drifts around the trailer at around 3 feet in depth and I'm guessing there's at least 18" on the flats. I stayed close to home on Monday to work on a couple of projects I have going and to dig a path around the trailer. I took this shot yesterday morning while the laundry was going; it is from Inspiration Point looking out over the Silent City with Boat Mesa in the background. Since it was so cold (in the teens) I stayed in most of the rest of the day but took a ride outside the park in the afternoon to see what I could see. Didn't see much but added Wild Turkey to the year list when 4 crossed the highway in front of me. There's more snow on the way tonight and tomorrow, but then it looks like we'll get a short warming trend (hooray!)

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After a week in Florida followed almost immediately thereafter by a trip down to Death Valley National Park to assist with their Astronomy Week, it is nice to be back home sleeping in my own bed again. Except for the nasty cold I caught on the Florida trip. Death Valley was kind of cool though I had little time to explore since I was there to work. This picture was taken maybe 10 or 15 miles north of Furnace Creek while I was returning from Scotty's Castle where I'd gone to help with the solar telescope. It is a desolate, yet interesting, place that I had only passed through once many years ago and needs to be on the list for a return trip.

They've had some rain and in some areas these - Desert Gold - were blooming rather profusely. In addition there were some purple flowers called Phacelia but, by the time I found them, the wind was blowing hard and I couldn't get any photos. Birds were few and far between though I saw some Say's Phoebes, lots of Common Ravens, a flock of Mallards flying around, House Sparrows, and European Starlings. I saw a male goldfinch perched on a Desert Gold, too, but couldn't settle on a species as I zipped by at 60 miles per hour. Hope spring comes here soon (he says knowing there's another foot of snow coming in the next 36 hours or so).

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have certainly been bad about posting anything here except the quizzes this month. I have spent a lot of time writing both at work and at home and that may be why I haven't had anything creative to talk about here. I spent last week in Florida visiting with old friends/family and four days working at the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival. It was, as usual, a great time though the weather wasn't the best so I didn't much photography in while I was there. The hardest part of that trip was leaving Roxy behind with a sitter. My field workshops weren't as well attended as last year but my 3 Image Editing classes were. I took the photo of the Roseate Spoonbill on the morning of my first field class which began with a driving rain.

I was supposed to leave yesterday to assist with an astronomy festival at Death Valley National Park. I'd hit rain and snow on my way home from the airport Sunday afternoon and what I had encountered was the beginning of the "Blizzard of '08". By the time my truck was loaded and ready to roll we got word that Utah 12, the main east-west route just outside the park was being closed. So much for that; we'll try again today though as of 5:30 this morning the road had been closed again. My schedule at Death Valley is packed with things to do but I hope to get little time for some photography there, too.

In my travels around Utah for shopping and such this month I have added 6 species to my year list for the state, most of them raptors: Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, American Kestrel, Prairie Falcon, and White-breasted Nuthatch. It's a pretty weak start to the year but, hopefully, I will be able to find more time for such endeavors (and blog entries) in February.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Since I had the day off and it was sunny, why not go out and look for some birds? Even if it was 10 below (-23C) when I started out. The first species I saw for the year would turn out to be the most plentiful on the day with over 100 individuals: Common Raven. The first bird I photographed for the year (and first in a few months) was the female Greater Sage-grouse you see here. The grouse should be good for entertainment and photography come spring - the chief fire ranger in the park has told me he knows where some leks are located. Always nice to start out the year with a new species for the image catalog, too! The bird of the day, perched on a fence post too far away to shoot but still great to see, was a Ferruginous Hawk. Seeing 12 Bald Eagles roosting in the same tree was a nice treat, too.

The total for the morning - which probably is pretty good considering the bone-chilling cold - was 20 species (unless I can tick the junco subspecies separately, then it's 21): Common Raven, Golden Eagle, Greater Sage-grouse, Bald Eagle, Mountain Chickadee, American Robin, Western Scrub-jay, Western Meadowlark, Ferruginous Hawk, House Sparrow, European Starling, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon and Gray-headed), Mountain Bluebird, Rock Pigeon, American Crow, Black-billed Magpie, Western Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, Pygmy Nuthatch.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

. . . those days off. Didn't even pick up my camera this week. Blew most of yesterday on a shopping excursion to Cedar City, then the rest of the day plus most of today installing foam insulation board completely around the base of my trailer. Hopefully it will help keep some of the cold air from getting inside and maybe save a little money on heating expenses.

One nice aspect of the trip to Cedar was seeing 6 Bald Eagles and 3 Golden Eagle along the way. Seems like every time I drive on U.S. 89 these days I see lots of eagles - last week I saw 12 Balds in two days on a couple of short shopping trips. I have been told that the Bald Eagles that winter here are from British Columbia and feed mostly on carrion, though lakes with open water (none are close to here) can be a source for a meal of fresh waterfowl.

Tomorrow is the Bryce Canyon Christmas Bird Count and I guess it goes without saying that I will be participating in that endeavor. This will be my first ever CBC outside of the Daytona area, first in the snow, and the first where it is unlikely that I'll be counting hoards of gulls. It won't be the first where I'll have to dress in layers to keep warm - seems like every previous CBC I've done has been cold and windy or cold and rainy. The snow will be the big change. Hopefully we'll find some good stuff - maybe Rough-legged Hawks, Ferruginous Hawks, or maybe even Bohemian Waxwings. I'll let you know if I see something really good.

The photo is of the Tiptoe Tree at Sunrise Point taken from the backlit side. It's one of the shots I have from the morning last week when everything was covered in hoarfrost.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The most recent "storm" didn't leave behind as much snow as predicted but it did leave some bitter cold in its wake. This morning the "official" park low was 0°F (-18°C) and, with a lot of moisture in the air, left behind some pretty scenery in the form of hoarfrost on everything. The day started out foggy and fog is, of course, water vapor. The frost forms when the vapor "sublimates" into ice, essentially bypassing the 'liquid" state and changing directly from vapor into solid in the form of ice crystals.

The frost stuck to a lot of things including pine trees like this Ponderosa. As things began to warm up the ice crystals would separate and, with a little wind, fall from the trees like snow was falling from clear blue skies. When I left Inspiration Point there was an area just out of the parking lot that was white as if there had just been a light snow. While I'm not looking forward to the bitter cold, it would be okay to able to shoot it again - never saw it much in Florida . . .

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I suppose I will have to come up with some more creative titles since there's certain to be many more days of snow over the next few months. It has been a few years since I've lived in a place where snow was common and we got another 3 inches or so yesterday. The view in this photo is looking toward Sunrise Point (far left) and Queen's Garden from the Rim Trail. Even though the temps today were barely above freezing, a lot of the snow on the slope (which faces south and gets a lot of sun) was gone by mid-afternoon.

This Limber Pine is one of the most photographed trees in the park. Located at Sunrise Point, erosion from the plateau's edge has exposed the roots and it is known as the "Tip-Toe Tree". In a sort of twisted sense it almost looks like it is too cold and is trying to get up out of the snow. Actually, I think it would be interesting to know the extent of the root system; it looks pretty healthy so it obviously it gets the moisture it needs though it isn't a particularly tall and robust tree as Limber Pines go . . .

Finally, for all you lagomorph fans, I saw lots of these tracks (click to view) in the snow this morning. The "wabbits" in question are probably Mountain Cottontails having fun in the freshly fallen snow after all the "two-leggeds" leave for the evening. I also saw some tracks that appeared to be canid but not very distinct - probably too small for Coyote; might have been the elusive Gray Fox. Out rabbit hunting maybe?

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of my 2 days off this week I spent a good part of the first playing with my website's code and it looks like it actually works the say I intended. At least on "Windows: machines as I've tested it on 3 different browsers and everything appears as it was intended.

Tuesday I got out to Inspiration Point in the morning and shot several different images from there, including this photo looking toward the Aquarius Plateau (also known as the Table Cliffs or Escalante Mountain around here). It was amazing how much snow melted off in a couple of days but then it was quite warm - with a high of 61 - on Tuesday. It'll be back though because they're forecasting more over the next couple of days and there is a "Heavy Snow Warning" in effect for the area.

I took this one Tuesday afternoon at Swamp Canyon after the park road was reopened toward the southern end of the park - it had been closed for about 3-1/2 days. The crews here work on getting the major viewpoints open for visitors first, then work on the southern portion.

And just in case you haven't heard about it yet, check out The Daily Coyote. It is great fun with lots of too cute photos. Start at the beginning by going to the archives (left side of the page), beginning with August and work your way up to the current stuff.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We had only had a dusting of the white stuff prior to yesterday and it all started about mid-afternoon on Friday. By mid-day today (Saturday) 10 inches had fallen and it has started up again tonight. I was fortunate enough to be out near Sunset Point on one of the rare occasions that there was a break in the clouds to get this shot looking northeast toward Sunrise Point and Queen's Garden (with Boat Mesa in the background). As you can probably tell, this place is "awful purdy" with some fresh snow on the ground.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)