Checked on the Western Bluebirds this morning, though at the time it wasn't really my intention to shoot any more video of them . . .

Except I couldn't help myself when I noticed the occasional little head peeking out of the nest cavity. This short sequence begins with the adult male coming in to grab the fecal sac, then you see one of the youngsters having a look at the big old world outside the only home it's known so far. You can hear 'em chirping, too, once you get past the road noise and somebody tossing glass bottles into the recycling bin.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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)

We're currently going through a kind of intense period of "monsoonal flow" and today turned gray shortly after sunrise. Though there turned out to be only a little precipitation, at least around home, it was hard to get motivated to go out exploring for fear of a downpour. In ways it was a good thing, giving me a little time to do some needed chores. In the afternoon, however, I stationed myself near the bird bath for a short time and shot a some video just for fun (actually, the video stuff is getting a little addictive, in case you haven't noticed). This one runs about 2-1/2 minutes (about 16 megs) and the cast (in order of appearance) are: a male Yellow-rumped Warbler (only about 10 seconds worth); the longest clip is of a Say's Phoebe first bathing and then preening; a Golden-mantled Ground-squirrel sneaking a drink; finally, a female Cassin's Finch stops by for a brief visit (notice the sound of the wind and the motion of the trees in the backgound - it had gotten a bit windy, too).

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So one of the major projects (did I mention this before?) going on here at the park is developing a series of podcasts about different aspects of the park which will ultimately be available on the park's website as well as the NPS section of ITunes. My current (first of many, probably) is about Utah Prairie Dogs and, in the introduction, there will be a brief mention of park wildlife including birds, naturally. Yesterday morning I shot a little video of the Western Bluebirds coming to their nest to feed the young (who I had guessed hatched weeks ago based upon adult behaviors, but boy was I totally wrong). It's less than a minute and I cut about 25 seconds between appearance by them. The first to pop into view is the female followed by the male. Unfortunately my camera really produces a lot of background noise, plus there is traffic noise in there as well, but you can hear the chicks if you listen closely. Someday I really should look into getting an external microphone that would eliminate the motor noise coming from the camera. One thing that is a little different from previous videos is the 16:9 widescreen format which we'll be using on the park's podcasts.

Not much to it really; they fly in, feed, then depart for more tasty bugs, all rather quickly. Enjoy . . .

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Okay, so I've been messing around with the bats a little. The photo here is anything but high quality but is still kind of cool for a first attempt. Facts are, great bat photography is done with electronic triggers and, usually, multiple high speed flashes - equipment I don't have and won't be investing in anytime soon (though I'd like to). I pushed the envelope a little here and could probably improve my results just by changing some camera settings (higher ISO) for increased shutter speed. Though things look nice and bright, don't be fooled. It was dark in that little corner of the building and I was trying to prefocus (autofocus was useless) and hope that I could react quick enough to fire just as the bats exited the crevice. Another few hundred shots and maybe I'll actually get something worth keeping (smile). Not sure but I think these are Big Brown Bats - can't say with any degree of certainty. I know someone I can check with, but will probably need a better photo.

Last night I shot some video of them coming out of a vent. Being just past sunset, there just isn't any light to work with so it's kind of crappy - and even if I had lighting for video the bright light shining might just keep them inside. The first couple of clips are there to give you an idea of numbers -though there are gaps when not many are flying out, this still goes on for at least 20-25 minutes. The last segment is of a bat coming out that I've slowed way down for your viewing pleasure - enjoy!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I decided at the last minute this evening to go try and shoot a little video. While I didn't have a lot of battery life in the camera, I did have enough to at least grab a couple of minutes worth. The file is kind of large - about 14 +/- megabytes - but I hope you enjoy it anyway. This is not the same kit that I photographed yesterday - notice that this one has some white on its paws.

And please don't overload on cute.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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)

Don't want this to get too out of hand since the files are kind of large but, after spending some time shooting a lot of stills (look for a couple or three to be posted tomorrow sometime . . .), here's about 1:30 worth of Utah Prairie Dogs. There weren't doing much except hunkering down in the wind - you can hear it in the soundtrack, but you get to hear them barking, too.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 12:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)