Is There An Ugly View In Utah?

So, I challenged myself to try to find an ugly view in Utah.

Hmmm, wasn't ugly outside my hotel.

It wasn't ugly at Antelope Island. The visit was so beautiful and worth every penny of the $9 entrance fee. I didn't just give up with one glance, I check other places on the island.

It wasn't ugly here either.

Looking out on Salt Lake was beautiful.

I tried taking a photo with dumpsters and semis in (perhaps that was cheating) but it was still pretty. Utah: 4, Birdchick: 0.

Even a road to nowhere was beautiful. How long can Utah keep this up?

Even with a storm coming in, the landscape was still breathtaking. This was outsde of Golden Spike National Historic Site. My eyes were getting exhausted at this point. I don't know why I went to the historic site. I think because my father used to really be interested in trains, and he specifically talked about the Jupitor and the Union Pacific. The Jupitor being his favorite, so I figured since I was so close I should see the site that symbolized connecting the west and east. Here is a view of the site right before the final railroad tie was put in place:

Here is a photo of the same area today:

Sometimes I think it's easy to get caught up in all the things going wrong with the environment and conservation. Driving around Utah reminded me that we do occasionally get things right.

Here is the spot where they drove in the final and historic golden spike that linked the transcontinental railroad.

Utah Art

I was busy tying up some loose ends and visiting a really cool Wild Bird Center today. I have to pack and catch a plane, I promise more entries about the lovely state of Utah very soon. In the meantime, I give you some art that is available for sale at the Antelope Island Visitor's Center:

Title and Price:

Item Number 2:

Title and Price:

Cool Brown Birds

I dedicate this entry to Non Birding Bill who claims I'm not interested in a bird unless it's brown.
I'm so excited by all the cinnamon teal out here--they are everywhere. We just don't get that many in Minnesota and they are one of the prettiest ducks on the planet. When they take off, they have a gorgeous patch of sky blue on the wings.

Hey, check out this cloud of midges:

Actually, that was smoke from a distant controlled burn going on near the refuge. This was my view for most of the day today. It's was perfect for customers to test out binoculars and spotting scopes, the flames from the fire were particularly exciting.

Western meadowlarks can be heard throughout the day. I love the calls of both the eastern and the the western meadowlarks, but out here the western call just suits the area. The town is so quiet (you can hardly hear traffic) so in the afternoon all you hear is that call and it sounds so solitary, combine that with the mountains and it makes for a beautiful setting. I also really enjoy the calls of the red-winged blackbirds out west. It's not the konk-kor-reeeee that you hear in the east. In the west it's a konkor-reeeeeee-o. The first time I heard it was along the Snake River in Idaho, gives me chills just thinking of that sound echoing up the canyon walls. Western birds are some of the best singers.

This bird kind of threw me for a loop. We can see them in Minnesota, but it's usually a bird I hear more than see. It looks like a sparrow, but the bill looks like a thrush. Any idea what it is? It's an American pipit--cute and brown.

Man o man, the day is catching up to me and I am tired. This entry is starting to lose cohesion. I started work this morning at 7:30am at the booth and didn't close down until 5:30pm. I have the same schedule tomorrow. I need to not think about diopters for awhile.

I had dinner with the coolest people tonight. Turns out one of them was a rocket scientist (and award winning at that). I have never met a rocket scientist before, but he was pretty darn cool--and I thought I had an exciting job.

So, I leave you with a view of the Brigham City mountains at sunset.

Well, NBB, if the birds aren't colorful, the landscape sure is.

Extra Extra! Kenn Kaufman Wears A NON Blue Shirt

For as long as I've known him, Kenn Kaufman has always worn some form of blue shirt. Don't believe me? Grab the latest WildBird magazine and check out the Nikon ad with Kaufman in it. Take a look at his photo on the back of one of his field guides or Lives of North American Birds. You can also see the blue shirt evidence here, here, here, here and even here.

Betsy Beneke and I were pointing this out the first night he was here in Utah and what do you suppose happens today--he's wearing a greenish plaid shirt. I almost didn't recognize him in a color other than blue. It looked incredibly fresh, I can't help but wonder if he ran out last night and bought one. I'll be curious to see how long this non blue shirt trend continues.

In other news, Non Birding Bill sent me this link to a blog called An American Werewolf in Japan about gulls. It's a cute entry--although hard core birders be warned, he calls them seagulls and not gulls. He probably doesn't know any better so go easy on him.

Fun At Bear River NWR

I am totally over stimulated, the birding at Bear River is just spectacular. Yellow-headed blackbirds (not a bad digiscope with my binoculars) and marsh wrens are just throwing themselves at you begging to be noticed. I never get tired of yellow-heads! The marsh wrens are throwing me for a loop. I have the Eastern version of the birdPod and the wrens here have a western accent. What's weird is that as I was playing both calls with my windows down and calls playing, the marsh wrens responded to the sound of the eastern sedge wren. Visual observation confirmed that they were in fact marsh wrens and not sedge wrens.

I about peed my pants at all the avocets and stilts running around. I couldn't believe that they just would scurry right in front of my car. The water level is a bit high and I did have to drive through some minor flooding to continue the auto tour.

On Friday I am for sure going to be at the Refuge Headquarters but on Saturday the festivities are moving into the refuge itself. I'm torn: do I tear down the booth, repack and reload at the festivities on the refuge or stay at the headquarters on Saturday? I'm concerned about he flooding. I took the above photo in the morning. When we went over the same patch in the evening the water was a little higher. I don't think my compact rental car can take higher levels of water. I'll just have to decide Friday afternoon.

White-faced ibis are thick in the refuge and would flush just as your car goes by. Betsy Beneke (a legend among bird festival organizers) took all the volunteers at the refuge out for a tram ride on the refuge this evening and it looked as though more ibis had moved in throughout the day. Kenn Kaufman and his wife Kim are here. Kenn is a guest speaker and it was good to see him again. But I feel compelled to warn people that he and Kim are still in that "newlywed phase" and are quite mushy. A piece of advice: if you find them on a trip stealing a quick smooch, saying things like, "You guys aren't going to get gross and mushy are you?" makes them get more mushy with each other. The best defense is to turn away and pish the nearest bird. Those crazy kids!

Speaking of gross and mushy, midges are EVERYWHERE!

I hesitate to bring this up because I don't want it to prevent people from coming, but I feel it must be noted that the midges are quite thick at the refuge. I know some people would be just icked out, but with a few precautions you can enjoy the birds here, relatively midge free or at least midge lite. When I was driving around this morning they weren't bad at all. By around 10:30am, I noticed what looked like dark clouds low to the ground in the distance, it almost looked like smoke. On the first look with my binoculars, I worried they were clouds of mosquitoes but it's been a little to cold for those dudes. The upside is that the midges don't bite and are a fantastic source of food for the birds. The down side is that they are everywhere. Taking an auto tour with your windows up solves the problem and makes for a pleasant day of birding. Besides, the birds don't mind your car and you can get closer to them staying inside, than by walking to them.

I was very excited to see both western grebes and Clark's grebes. I couldn't believe it when a pair from each species swam close enough for me to digiscope a photo with my binoculars! Can you tell the difference? Which one is the Clark's grebe and which one is the western? The western is the grebe on the left that looks like he's sporting a Moe (of the 3 Stooges) haircut.

As if I didn't love pelicans enough already, today I got to appreciate them on a whole new level: thermalizing in front of a mountain range! Absolutely gorgeous. I was going out of my mind when I took the above photo, I couldn't figure out what cool thing to focus on. I had pelicans flying overhead, mule deer frolicking to my right and a Virginia rail clapping to the left--not to mention all the great waterfowl like cinnamon teal, shovelers, ruddy ducks and nightherons. This place is so awesome.

To round out the day, I even got to see a couple of long-billed curlews. This pair started out on the road in front of me, then flushed and I got a photo with my binoculars. Kenn says that you can't tell male and female based on plumage, but based on bill size. Females have longer bills. Okay, Non Birding Bill, I know these are brown birds, but aren't they cool with that massive bill? Even you would be excited to see one of those.

Holy cow, I can't believe how many photos I've posted and I still have a few more that I didn't include. I'll save those for tomorrow. I have to get to bed, tomorrow is a big day. Hope birding is as much fun where you are as it is here. It is spring after all, so it is hard to find a bad bird spot this time of year.

Quick Utah Entry

Okay, if you have never been to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Utah for birding you need to figure out how to get your butt out here next spring. This place is awesome!!! I'm hard pressed to find an ugly view anywher in the fair town of Brigham City.

And just to give you and idea, you know the birding is going to be fabulous when American avocets and black-necked stilts are blocking your car from going forward:

I was totally on sensory overload this morning. There will be more reports soon, now I have to go back to setting up the Eagle Optics booth.

Kingwood Center

One place I do enjoy visiting when I'm in Mansfield is the Kingwood Center. It's a former estate garden that is free and open to the public. There are fun plants and landscaping as well as black swans, peacocks and guinea fowl running about. There are little dispensers that you can get duck chow and feed that, but there are signs all over requesting that you must not feed the Canada geese.

One strange thing that happened with Non Birding Bill on our trip--he started pointing out birds. Some relatives told us about a nearby bald eagle nest. We drove around with NBB's mom trying to find it and he pointed it first--before me. While we were walking around and enjoying the daffodils at Kingwood, NBB found a hawk--very low and not far away. It was a young red-tailed hawk looking for something small and furry. NBB's mom was impressed. She said, "Bill, I know you say you're not a bird watcher, but you're pointing them out faster than her. I think you are a bird watcher now." I told her not to take it too seriously. NBB has learned from going out with me that the faster we find the bird or nest the faster we can go home. He's learned to spot stuff in self defence.

We enjoyed the red-tail and as we were walking away from it, I heard the familiar kek kek kek kek kek kek kek kek and in flew an adult Cooper's hawk! It bounced from branch to branch getting closer to the red-tail. Even though the Coop's was half the size, it still managed to drive off the red-tail, I think it's erratic dashing from perch to perch and maniacal red eyes just freaked out the larger buteo. It was so cool to see an accipiter and buteo momentarily perched close together. As soon as the young red-tail flew out of the territory the Coop's returned to its origional position on the other side of the woods. Guess I know where it is going to build its nest this year.

The raptors didn't end there. On our way out of the parking lot, we heard a red-shouldered hawk and watched it fly around on the other side of the parking lot. Adult red-shoulders are such beautiful and colorful hawks, it really blended well with the blooming flowers. Not bad--getting three raptors in a small park in Ohio.

I did enjoy all the exotics running around on the estate grounds. The black swan was pretty cool and I loved to watch the Canada geese give it a wide berth as it waddled along. Not long after I took the photo on the left, it made a bee line for me, but I got out if the way in time.

It was fun to witness the change in migration. While down in southern Ohio the first part of our trip, we saw and heard white-throated sparrows all over the yard. When we got to Mansfield, I didn't see or hear any at the in-law's house. But on Monday morning I woke up in the guest room to hear one singing outside our window. I wondered if this bird had been down in southern Ohio on Friday like we were?

Okay, now I totally have to finish packing for Utah. NBB tells me that it snowed but will get warmer. The hotel that I'm staying in has internet access so I should be able to talk about the wacky antics that happen at the Bear River NWR Grand Opening.

Frightening Folk Art Of Northern Ohio

WARNING!! This blog entry is not for those with clown phobias!!

Let me preface this entry by saying that I love my husband's family. I'm quite sure that for every one thing I find perplexing about them, they find at least 20 items perplexing about me. Some of the art work that I find in their homes baffles me. But then again, they may think my 8X10 framed glossy of a turkey vulture head on my wall or my pelican pelvic bone are a little bizaar. I should have seen it coming.

This is Plaster Man, a life size plaster cast of Non Birding Bill. He did this for a show he was in during his under grad years. When I first knew him he kept it on a chair in his apartment. It scared the pants off of me everytime I walked in not expecting someone to be sitting there. For the time being, Plaster Man resides with NBB's parents. If we ever get a house, he'll come live with us.

This was actually at a neighbor's house. They had more than one. I don't quite get the sleeping children theme. One is kind of cute. Several looks like you have a collection of children who died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Now, this I don't get at all. Children sleeping on toys, that I could kind of see as being cute. But the dolls standing the corner? This is the Cleveland Indians version of the doll and I like how the doll is standing in a corner like a naughty kid, but still keeps the catchers mit handy just in case a fast ball should come his way. This was in the guest room and was about three feet high. It looked even scarier at night. I take that back, it looked scary all the time. When you walked by the room you would think, "Who is that kid in there? And why is it being so quiet and still?"

Here's another corner doll. This was at another relative's house and they had several stashed in various corners. Doesn't it remind you of the Blair Witch Project? Gives me the heebie jeebies.

I'm sure this looks a lot cuter when the flowers are in bloom. I could never grow cut offs up here in Minnesota, we just aren't zoned for it.

This was also in the guest room. Maybe I've watched too many Twilight Zone episodes, but I just can't sleep with that thing smiling at the end of the bed. You know it's just going to come to life at 2am and stuff that little baseball down your throat.

My mother inlaw is a clown collector. Must be the reason why she welcomed me with open arms into the Stiteler clan. The clowns are everywhere; tucked in cabinets and stacked on shelves. There's a glass case full of them at the top of the staircase that stare at you with that blank colorful look. Some are smiling, some look depressed as all get out.

I want my mommy...

Certification Continued

Mark Alt, the president of the MOU is dubbing this "Birdification". I wonder if this phrase will sweep the nation like the term "clister" did in reference to county listers.

I have learned that certification of bird watchers is in other states as well. Roy Harvey sent me a link to a birding certificate program in Florida. Check out the list of certification levels. This seems like a kinder gentler version. (Jeez, did I actually just type "kinder gentler"? I think I lost a little of my edge in Ohio.) Actually, it looks like your level is based on the size of your life list. At least this certification program doesn't threaten to release your information to your employers if you suck like they do in Wisconsin.

Are YOU A Certified Birder?

Now, I have seen almost everything. Kelly Larson found a group called the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative that is offering "birder certification" for birders in Wisconsin. Mike McDowell made fun of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union because of the listing supplement they put out--"That's going too far, how many lists do we need? Is a life list of birds in your backyard bird bath really necessary?" I say, if you get you kicks from it, go for it. Mike thought it made us MOUers look dorky. Well, now we have Wisconsin trying to certify birders. I was thinking of taking the test for fun when I noticed this on the instruction page:

There is a penalty for failing a test. Although the total number of failed tests taken will not be recorded on this site, this information may be made available to employers, agencies, etc., upon request.

Man, that is one hard core certification. What worries me is that I have seen other "certification" programs, one even advertised in some well known bird related magazines. We looked into taking one of them at the bird store and after reading some of the questions, were dismayed to learn that they were clueless about backyard bird feeding. I will need to learn more about this group before I take their test.