Re: Ovenbird

["Kristin Purdy" <kristinpurdy at comcast dot net>]

Jim,

Thanks for the kind words, but Mort and Carolyn Somer deserve just as much
credit.  We really tag-teamed the Ovenbird with good preparation (Mort and
Carolyn) and buffoonery (me) and the combined effort is what has made the
sighting possible for others.

Yes, I initially heard/saw/ID'd the bird, but Mort and Carolyn verified the
ID.  They're both more familiar with Ovenbirds from their experience birding
back east and thank goodness for that.  Mort was well-prepared with his
camera along and photographed the bird so y'all would know we weren't
joshin'.  When it came time to mark the location I took a GPS reading, but
that wasn't enough.  I didn't have my pink flagging tape with me because I
was hiking light with only binocs and the GPS.  Carolyn was ready and pulled
out a piece of pink string specifically for the sake of marking bird
locations.  We tied the string to a scrub oak and I ran back to the
trailhead and my truck for the gaudy pink ribbon.

So much for having a GPS with me.  I missed the turn-off down to the parking
lot and got lost once on the way down and twice on the way back up.  I
finally had to take my "lost" route back up to the shoreline trail because
none of the signs seemed to direct me to the place I wanted to go.  I got
back to the Ovenbird site about 30-45 minutes later.  Remember how short the
distance was between the trailhead and the bird's location?!?!?  It took me
30-45 minutes to do the round trip!

Now you know the reason why I gave such specific directions.  No one else
needed to be floundering on unmarked footpaths without being able to get to
where they wanted to go--like a certain buffoon I know who did that very
thing on Saturday.

And that, as they say on the radio, is the rest of the story!

Kris
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Bailey" <jim@bailey.aros.net>
To: "Birdtalk" <birdtalk@utahbirds.org>
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2005 3:02 PM
Subject: Ovenbird


I also was in pursuit of the elusive Ovenbird this morning between 9:30
and 12 (must've just missed you, Kris).  I thought I would be able to
get a photo of it. Foolish me!  I was lucky enough only to get an
extremely brief look at him through my binocs enough to see the eye ring
and breast markings before he was off again high up on the hill above
the trail where he stayed the rest of the morning while I stood around
hopefully, camera in hand.  I was later joined by Brooke Snarr (hope I
got his name right). We both had a turn or two bushwhacking above the
trail. Brooke was able to catch a glimpse of his back as he flew off
from where he was singing. Apparently, this bird likes to stay low to
the ground. For the most part, he seems to prefer staying about 30-40
feet or so above the trail in impenetrable scrub oak.  Fortunately, he
was singing off and on most of the morning, so we always knew
approximately where he was.

That was an amazing find, Kris.  I don't know how you do it. Your
directions were right on and the location is clearly marked.

Although I've seen this bird twice before in Upstate New York, it was
fun to be able to check off a new Utah Lifer!

Thanks, Kris!

Jim Bailey
2032 Ribbon Lane
Holladay, UT 84117
(801) 274-8034

A  hobby must be in a large degree useless, inefficient, laborious or
irrelevant -Aldo Leopold

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