FEBRUARY MEETING:
Wednesday, February 18th.
Meet at 7:00 PM in the Bean Museum Auditorium on the BYU Campus.
Our speaker will be Jackee Alston, Sensitive
Species Specialist. She will be discussing new listings and other related
information.
FIELD TRIPS:
Saturday, February 14th
Farmington Bay
Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Orem Center Street Park and Ride.
Saturday, March 13th
Delta - Snow Goose Festival
Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Payson Exit #254 Park and Ride
Reed’s Ramblings
by Reed Stone
It’s exciting to see the interest and excite-ment of a new year with new
challenges. There are also feelings of birding being a bit dull and slow in the
winter. We all experience those feelings. One of the things that brightens
things up is to share birding with friends. That just about makes any day.
There are the unusual sightings such as the Eurasian Wigeon at Carol Jean’s back
yard. Many of us were able to see it, for some it was a lifer. The Harris’s
Sparrow at the silage pit and also at Tuula’s back yard. The Sandhill Crane
below the dam from Mona reservoir, Pelicans at Mt. Timpanogos Sewage Treatment
Ponds. There are always some migratory deviants to surprise and delight us. I
have even seen Magpies carry-ing nesting materials for this year’s nests.
We are in the depths of winter, and by the time this is in your hands, the Great
Horned Owl will be incubating eggs. These large predators start early. Soon the
Horned Lark will follow suit. The Snow and Ross’s Geese will settle down in and
around Delta on their way to their nesting grounds. Shortly after that it will
be the Sage Grouse making preparations for this year’s crop. After that the main
migration starts full swing.
As the pendulum swings toward summer watch for the color changes from the drab
winter plumage to the brilliant spring courting "suits." Instead of flocking up
birds begin to pair up. Ducks start exploring for nesting locations near water.
Things to keep in mind to get the most productive use of birding time are: know
the habitat, the environment most likely to attract the species you want to see;
know the food requirements.
Seed eaters have a broad span of time in which to feed, starting at dawn. Insect
eaters like Creepers, Nuthatches and most Woodpeckers can start early because
their feast is basically stationary. These insects are available throughout all
seasons. Members of the Warbler families glean leaves and crevices for dormant
insects and insect eggs. Later in the year, when leaves develop, larva become
part of the diet. Flycatchers will not arrive till larva have fledged. They also
have to wait till they are warmed by the morning sun to begin moving around and
become available. Water foul and shore birds are able to feed almost any time of
the day. So viewing time is generally extended. Goatsuckers and Owls feeding
times start late evening and continue through the darkness of night.
Generally early morning is the most productive birding time followed by evening.
Keep in mind when birds wake up after a nights sleep they are hungry. Before
they go to roost they like to do it with a full stomach. Courtship time is when
most birds are visible. Nesting time about half of them are on the nest. I
realize this is quite brief. My hope is that we will all make a real effort to
understand the lives of our feathered friends.
By understanding the various needs of avian life, feeding, courtship and
environment, we can all make our birding time more rewarding and interesting. Go
for it, have a great birding year!
Woodpeckers
Challenge Installment #2:
by Merrill Webb
As I mentioned in a previous newsletter my purpose in writing these installments
is to assist birders in their search for specific groups of birds in order to
satisfy the requirements of challenge #3, Target Birding, in this years birding
contest.
As I reflect on the good old days when there were quality cartoons at the movie
theaters I wonder how much characters like Daffy Duck, the Roadrunner, and Woody
Woodpecker influenced my interest in birds. I imagine my interest was piqued
because they were so entertaining. It was a long time before I realized that
roadrunners didn’t go, “Beep, Beep”, and that woodpeckers didn’t sound like
Woody.
As a group, woodpeckers are ecologically important and anatomically interesting.
They are forest excavators; drilling holes for nests and vacating them for new
ones every year. But the holes they leave behind are essential for many
cavity-nesting birds such as mountain bluebirds, tree swallows and saw-whet
owls, to name a few. The majority of cavity-nesting birds are insectivorous.
Because they make up a large proportion of the forest-dwelling bird population,
they play an important role in the control of forest insect pests. Woodpeckers
are especially important predators of many species of tree-killing bark beetles.
Structurally the long, barbed tongue of woodpeckers wraps around the skull and
is anchored at the base of the bill. This, along with a coating of sticky
saliva, helps in extracting insects from holes. They have padded skulls to
reduce brain damage from drumming against hard surfaces, and their tail feathers
are stiffened to help support upright position on tree trunks.
At any rate, there are nine woodpeckers that are seeable in Utah so I will list
some of the places where they can be found.
1. Lewis’s Woodpecker. This species, which I think is one of the most
beautiful birds in Utah, is listed as an uncommon permanent resident on the
state checklist. Unlike most woodpeckers, it flies steadily and straight like a
crow, and can often be observed flycatching from exposed branches. It is usually
associated with open woodlands and riparian forests where there are many dead
trees. However, in Utah County this woodpecker is usually found where there is
abundant, mature Gambel’s Oak that supplies them with acorns. One of the most
reliable places to observe this species in Utah County is east of the town of
Salem and north of Woodland Hills where there is a band of Gambel’s Oak that
lines the south part of the valley. Be sure to check out the telephone poles in
this area, and also in the area of the Salem Cemetery because they seem to like
“perching” on these exposed poles. Two other consistent localities has been
Harker Canyon in the Sheeprock Mountains southwest of the small town of Vernon
in Tooele County and Milburn, a small farming community, just north of Fairview
in Sanpete County. In eastern Utah one of the most dependable localities has
been Ouray National Wildlife Refuge. When visiting these sites be sure to check
the large, dead, or dying, cottonwood trees.
2. Acorn Woodpecker. This colorful, clown-faced species is listed as a
rare permanent resident on the state checklist. It is not easy to find, even
when birding the right habitat, but look for it in large, dead or dying
ponderosa pines. I have observed this bird in four different places—all in
southern Utah. Devil’s Canyon along Utah State Highway 191 between Monticello
and Blanding in southeastern Utah has many big ponderosa pine trees with an oak
understory which provides suitable habitat. One or two birds have been seen on
the south slope of the Boulder Mountain in Garfield County between Grover and
Boulder. There have been sightings (although not recently) in the ponderosa-oak
community of Zion National Park between the town of Virgin and Kolob Reservoir.
One of my first southern Utah sightings of this species more than twenty years
ago was in the tall ponderosa pines in the area of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State
Park in Kane County. Subsequent visits to that area failed in locating it.
3. Williamson’s Sapsucker. This is another beautiful woodpecker,
especially the male, and it’s not easy to locate either. Listed as uncommon
summer and rare winter on the state checklist one of the most consistent
locations recently has been near Provo Falls on the Provo River just off State
Highway 150 (Mirror Lake Highway) east of Kamas in the Wasatch National Forest.
Other sightings this year have been at Lytle Ranch and Pine Valley campground in
southwestern Utah, Main Canyon west of Strawberry Reservoir in central Utah and
in the Brighton area in the mountains east of Salt Lake City. This is a high
elevation bird and seems to prefer a mixture of aspen and conifer trees,
especially fir. Unlike all other woodpeckers in the U.S., this species shows a
strong difference between male and female plumages.
4. Red-naped Sapsucker. This woodpecker is listed as common summer and
rare winter on the state checklist. Quoting Sibley, “Nests in mixed coniferous
woodlands. Winters in any woodlands. Drills rows of small shallow holes in tree
bark, feeding on sap and on insects attracted to sap.” Sapsucker tongues are
somewhat shorter than the other woodpecker’s tongues. They have fine, hairlike
process on their tips for obtaining sap by capillary action. In my experience I
have found this species in Utah County most consistently on the Alpine and Nebo
Loops where there is a mix of aspen-conifer. While conducting breeding bird
surveys during nesting season I have found them in Soapstone Basin, Diamond Fork
Canyon, Strawberry Valley, and Sheep Creek Canyon along small streams where
there are abundant willows adjacent to thick stands of aspen. During winter bird
surveys in Washington County I have observed them in orchards at Lytle Ranch,
Rockville, and Grafton.
5. Ladder-backed Woodpecker. This species is a fairly common permanent
resident of desert plant communities in Washington County. This is another of
the unique birds found in Utah’s Dixie. Generally this bird can be found in
riparian woods (Beaver Dam Wash and Santa Clara Creek, i.e., Mathis Park and
Tonaquint Park), but it also gets out into the Joshua tree forests on the Beaver
Dam slope. During the winter I have found this woodpecker in orchards in Grafton
and Rockville as well as in the cottonwood trees at a couple of the St. George
golf courses. Lytle Ranch is one of the most consistent sites to find this
species.
6. Downy Woodpecker. Listed as a common permanent residence this species
is one of the woodpeckers that can be attracted to suet feeders during the
winter. Nesting in deciduous and mixed deciduous-coniferous woodlands it can
usually be observed in Utah County on the Alpine and Nebo scenic loops. During
the winter look for it in the deciduous trees that border Hobble Creek, and the
Spanish Fork and Provo Rivers.
7. Hairy Woodpecker. Listed as a fairly common permanent resident this
species is usually associated with mature forests. Can be found locally along
the Alpine and Nebo scenic loops as well as in the Uintah Mountains. I have
observed it consistently at Aspen Grove up the road from Sundance Resort and at
Big Springs (if you don’t mind a one mile hike) in the south fork of Provo
Canyon.
8. Three-toed Woodpecker. This rare permanent species is classified as a
“sensitive species” in the Intermountain Region of the U.S. Forest Service, and
as a “species of concern” by the Utah State Division of Wildlife Resources. This
means that the population viability is of concern for whatever reason and is to
receive special consideration when projects may impact its numbers. The
Three-toed is a challenging bird to locate due to its rather retiring nature. It
prefers burned tracts of forests or conifers (especially spruce) sick or dead
from insect infestation. One of the best indicators of its presence in a
particular area is to look for large patches of bare tree trunks where the bark
has been flaked off. One of the most consistent localities for finding this
woodpecker has been the Uintahs, especially in the Trial Lake and Mirror Lake
areas. Other sites have been the Silver Lake area at Brighton up Big Cottonwood
Canyon, Main Canyon east of Strawberry Reservoir and, in appropriate habitat,
headwaters of the White River northeast of Soldier Summit up Spanish Fork
Canyon. When searching for this species please resist the urge to use taped
calls.
9. Northern Flicker. In my experience this is the most common woodpecker
in Utah, and is probably the one that is best known even by non-birders. It is
widespread in many different habitats and is one of the few woodpeckers that
actively forages on the ground. One study found more than 200 ants in the
stomach of a single flicker.
Hopefully this information has added to your appreciation for this group of Utah
birds and will also be helpful in locating the woodpeckers I have indicated
above. Three other species of woodpeckers have been observed in Utah, but since
these are so rare they are not required on the challenge list
and I have not described them.
The group to be addressed in the next newsletter will be the thrushes.
GPS; the unfulfilled promise.
by Robin Tuck
By the way some of us talk, you would believe that all you needed to do to never
be lost and to always know where you were going is to buy a GPS unit.
Ummmmm, No!
That would be wrong. Well, perhaps not entirely wrong, but certainly not
absolutely right. The truth is that using a GPS can tell you where you are and
can tell you where you are going if, and this is a big if, you understand what
it is telling you and how to interpret the information using ordinary maps. This
is non-trivial (read 'Hard!').
The basis of the information provided by a GPS is latitude and longitude
coordinates, although you can set the device to give you coordinates using other
systems, such a UTM. Going back to latitude and longitude coordinates, it is
possible to locate any point on the earth's surface using longitude and
latitude. In fact, longitude and latitude are used all the time for navigation
purposes. I get a mental picture of some old sea captain on a square rigger
sighting through his sextant determining his position using the stars. This
image is old fashioned, but the principle is modern since recently, just prior
to the GPS era navigators on ships and planes all used stellar navigation to
chart their course.
Back in the far past, someone divided a circle into 360 degrees, and each degree
into 60 minutes, and each minute into 60 seconds. I don't know which came first,
dividing a circle or dividing the earth, but interestingly, applied to the
earth, the sun moves (actually the earth does the moving) 15 degrees per hour
across the sky. So we divide hours into minutes and seconds, but I digress.
Longitude lines run north and south, all intersecting at the poles, therefore
longitude tells you how far east or west you are. Latitude lines, called
parallels, go around the earth telling you how far north or south you are. I
remember the difference by thinking of the rungs of a ladder being like latitude
lines, remembering the near rhyme between latitude and ladder.
Aside from remembering crossing the 45th parallel and seeing a sign along the
road when driving I-84 just north of Farewell Bend in Oregon, I cannot remember
any reference to latitude or longitude that an ordinary person would run into.
Real people do not use latitude and longitude. If you pick up a state road map,
there are no references to latitude and longitude, and you cannot find latitude
and longitude markings on the map anywhere.
So, there you are, GPS in hand. How do you get the latitude and longitude
coordinates from the GPS onto the map? If you are lucky, you purchased a GPS
unit with maps built in, and the unit shows you where you are at on a teeny-tiny
map. Admittedly, some maps are 'GPS enabled' meaning they have minute markings
on the edges of the maps. The big Gazetteer maps are a good example.
All is not consistent in the world of latitude-longitude coordinates though.
There are many ways of writing the coordinates that look similar but are enough
different to cause confusion. Remember that there are 360 degrees around the
earth. It is easy enough to remember that longitude lines are numbered from
-180° to +180° with zero being over Greenwich, England. Utah covers -114° to
-109° longitude although we most always leave off the minus sign. Latitude lines
start at zero on the equator and go to 90 at the poles. Utah covers 37° to 42°
latitude. Problems begin to arise when we get to the minutes and seconds. Often
a latitude is written 40° 20' 15", which happens to be where the Bonneville
Shoreline trail takes off near Bridal Veil Falls. This is easy to understand
when you remember there are 60 minutes (') in a degree and 60 seconds (") in a
minute. But wait. Sometimes people like to leave off the seconds and give the
coordinate using decimal minutes, which would yield 40° 20.260'. This is OK
because you can set up your GPS to give you the coordinates either way. But wait
again. Some people like to leave off the minutes and express the coordinate in
decimal degrees, which would yield 40.3377°.
We can live with these inconsistencies if we can set all our maps and programs
and devices to use the same coordinate representation, but we cannot. I just
purchased Microsoft Streets & Trips and found it uses decimal degrees. All my
Delorme Gazetteer maps have minute hash marks on each page at the edge of the
maps which means that decimal degrees don’t work for it. The National Geographic
Maps CDs I use on my computer will not take decimal degrees either.
My GPS can be set to whatever format I want but what is right for one program is
wrong for another. I wish there was a good answer, one that worked for the
common man.
There was a story out of the war in Afghanistan several years ago where the
navigator in an Air Force jet was calling coordinates to an Army artillery unit
for an important target. When the first round landed way off target, the
navigator remembered the Army used a different coordinate system than the Air
Force, so he whipped out a calculator (while flying around in the jet) and did
the conversion and radioed the corrected values to the Army unit. The next round
was right on. The problem was decimal degrees versus decimal minutes. Even the
experts have problems with coordinate systems.
I wish there was an easy, consistent solution. Get ready to whip out your
calculator. Note that I am still in favor of birders purchasing and using GPS
devices and learning how to use them. There are times when being able to report
a location with the accuracy of a GPS is quite important. Spend a little more
and get one with the built in map. It’s worth it.
Membership List
It has been requested that we publish a list of members in the newsletter soon.
However, this is difficult to determine because our policy is that anyone may
attend meetings and field trips for free. Membership dues support the
newsletter, gifts, expenses, and worthy projects. Anyone who has paid dues this
year will automatically be on the list unless you contact Eric Huish. If you
have not paid dues but wish to be on the list, please feel free to contact Eric
so that active birders can interact. Call Eric at 360-8777 or write to
newsletter@utahbirds.org.
Hotline Telephone Tree
Some members do not have the internet, so a telephone tree is still important.
Who would like to be included? Call Julia Tuck to report exciting bird sightings
or to be a part of the phone tree. Her home phone number is 377-8084. After
April 5th, she will be working part-time at the Utah State University
Cooperative Extension Service: 851-8460, press 0, then ask for Julia Tuck.