Brit Birder back home, says Thanks.

[David Allan <dave dot allan at ukonline dot co dot uk>]

Hi,

I just want to say a big Thanks to the many of you Utah birders who so
kindly helped me with my trip. My wife and I have made a few previous
visits to the States, all of them memorable for different reasons, but
Utah is something else!

Let me quote from the opening paragraph of ' Lonely Planet's' book from
the Utah section:-

''Every story in Utah begins and ends with the land, much of which remains
just as wild and untamed as it was when humans first stumbled across it
about 7000 years ago. For millenia, Indians adapted to the harsh desert
terrain, leaving behind mysterious paintings on the rock. When the Mormon
pioneers reached this country, they too felt a spiritual response and
claimed it as their new home, (their Zion). And it is impossible today to
gaze for any length of time at the sometimes heartbreakingly desolate
canyons and cliffs, the wildly eroded buttes and spires and pinnacles,
without a sense of awe stealing over you. At times, Utah provides an
experience of nature so elemental and overwhelming it takes you breath
away.''

I think you will agree that those words pretty much say it all and I'm not
going to add a thing, except to say what an absolute pleasure it was to
drive and walk in those places.

Our trip started and ended in the homely little town of Las Vegas, but to
be fair, I did enjoy the water fountains outside the Bellagio, then the
San Francisco Mountains north of Flagstaff; Grand Canyon; Monument valley;
4 Corners; Cortez in Co; Blanding..including part of Elk Ridge;
Hanksville.... the book says that the Henry Mountains were the last range
of mountains to be named in the lower 48 due to their remote location, and
I can believe it; Tropic; Bryce and Zion Canyons; Brian Head.....snow
falling, snow on the road, road a bit slippy, wife scared!; Cedar Breaks;
Snow Canyon. 1,500 miles at an easy 250 miles per day.

But it doesn't leave a whole lot of birding time. Like most birders, I
guess, I'm always hoping for a lifer when I visit new places, but in this
particular game the birds nearly scored a shut-out. I managed to bunt
Pinyon Jay, but only flight views a couple of times, and it was only in
the bottom of the ninth that I scored a home run, ...a nice friendly
family of Red-naped Suckers at the camp ground in Snow Canyon, kindly
pitched up softball style by Rick Fridell and Kristen. I hope I don't
offend any of you if I give them a special thanks.

I try not to be driven by my list, so I prefer to try to be a better
birder, which in my case isn't hard!.... For instance, at one of the
overlooks in Bryce Canyon, I heard a House Finch, unseen, which I quickly
re-assigned to Cassin's Finch being as how we were at 8,000 ft. Eventually
I found the bird, and sure enough............. it was a Townsends
Solitaire! Now a Townsend's Solitaire can surely never disappoint, and I
managed to find a few more in and around Bryce, some singing what I took
to be a prolonged but subdued sub-song.  Very nice indeed.

Well I think that I've taken up enough of your time, so Good Birding,
Many Thanks once again, and Best Regards,

    Dave Allan
Lancashire, England

dave.allan@ukonline.co.uk

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