JANUARY MEETING:
Wednesday, January 19th.
The Birds of Southern California presented
by Aaron Smith.
Meet at 7:00 PM in the Bean Museum Auditorium on the BYU Campus.
Note: After this month meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of each
month.
FIELD TRIPS:
J
anuary 15th (Sat): Local Cemeteries Tour - 8:00 am - Noon/1:00 pm. Meet at Provo Temple.January 21st (Fri): Salem Pond, Spring Lake - Meet at 8:00 AM at the Sam’s Club East Bay (Provo) parking lot.
January 22nd (Sat): Salt Lake Cemetery, City Creek Canyon, Alta - 7:00 am -Mid afternoon. Meet at Orem Center Street Park & Ride.
February 12th (Sat): Farmington Bay, Antelope Island Causeway, (maybe Bountiful Landfill) - 7:00 am - Mid afternoon. Meet at Orem Center Street Park & Ride.
February 26th (Sat): Heber, Francis, Kamas - 7:00 am - 1:00/2:00 pm. Meet at Orem 800 North Park & Ride at the mouth of Provo Canyon.
March 12th (Sat): Destination to be announced.
March 19th - 26th (Sat - Sat):
- Southern California Birding Trip -
Bird San Diego, Santa Cruz Island, Salton Sea, etc.
See the Yellow-Billed Magpie, Island Scrub Jay, California Gnatcatcher and more!
For information come to January’s meeting or call Aaron Smith at (801) 373-5153.
March 26th (Sat): Utah Lake Front Tour - (Am. Fork Boat Harbor, Timpanogos Treatment Plant, Lindon Boat Harbor, Powell Slough, Provo Boat Harbor) - 7:00 am - Noon. Meet at Orem Center Street Park & Ride.
Alton’s Feather Talk -- January 2005
By Alton Thygerson
Utah County Birders (UCB) is among Utah’s 10 birding organizations listed at
http://www.utahbirds.org. It’s also included in the several thousand birding
organizations in the United States. Most birding organizations consist of
birders who get together occasionally for field trips and social events. The
focus is upon enjoyment.
Every birding organization has a variety of needs. Someone to organize the field
trips, set up the programs, and fill in the offices of president, treasurer,
editor of the newsletter, and on and on.
If you really want to feel loved and needed, show up at a meeting and ask: “Is
there anything I can do to help?”
The U.S. News and World Report, January 3, 2005 issue featured “50 Ways to Fix
Your Life.” The article focuses upon self-improvement for the new year. The
article says that self-help is not just a way of life—it’s practically a
personal obsession. There are 7,500 books on the topic. Making a concerted
effort to improve your lifestyle can have lasting benefits. The article devotes
one to two pages for each of the 50 ways of changing. Most of the ways are the
ones we have all heard over the years such as learn to meditate, read more
books, fix your finances, make an emergency plan, and exercise. However, the
article’s recommendation which may surprise readers is to BECOME A BIRDER. We
all knew that birding helps us, now from a reputable source, we have support for
our obsession.
Birding can impact one’s lifestyle. I have been fortunate of seeing parts of
this beautiful world as few have—the remote spots where birds are found and
where nature nourishes them. Birding is not merely a walk in the woods, but a
quest with a definite objective—to locate and identify birds. My wife jokingly
says that she’s seen the best (mountains, lakes, forests, oceans, deserts) and
the worst (sewage treatment ponds and landfills) while patiently accompanying me
in my pursuit of finding birds.
Christmas and birthday gifts often include birding paraphernalia (e.g., books,
optics, field guides, CDs). Of course, I’m the one selecting and buying the
gifts for myself in the name of my wife or family and they are the surprised
ones when the packages are opened.
Trips to visit the three of my five sons living outside of Utah include birding
as an appendix. Trips elsewhere have largely become birding trips with an
organized group led by a guide.
When you share a hobby and time together for a common cause, you get to know
people well. Some of the finest people I know include UCB members and other
birders—all from close associations while on field trips.
You can go birding on your own, and you should. However, going with others is
cost-effective—car pooling, sharing a scope, knowing where to go, more eyes and
ears provide a greater likelihood for more birds, and help with identification.
The UCB has some of the best birders in Utah if not the country, and you can
learn a lot by going out with them.
The UCB provides birding opportunities for birders of all abilities. We would
like you to believe that if you miss a monthly meeting or field trip that you’ll
regret it. We will continue with our traditional activities: participating in
the Christmas Count, having an annual pot-luck dinner, having a monthly meeting
and field trips, and providing a birding “challenge” every two years.
Some may say that they don’t have time to do everything the UCB offers.
Nevertheless, the opportunities will be there from which you may choose. To
enjoy these birding opportunities, pull out your new 2005 calendar and mark in
the UCB activities. These will be announced through the newsletter and at our
meetings.
The January meeting features Aaron Smith presenting on one of the best birding
hot spots in the United States – Southern California. This presentation should
produce enthusiasm for a trip to California planned for March. Lifers for those
going are promised and may even be guaranteed.
For 2005 the UCB changes its leadership. On behalf of all UCB members we express
thanks to those who have served us for the past two years and especially Reed
Stone as President. Reed is a very good birder filled with the two essential
ingredients that successful birders have: a healthy dose of enthusiasm and a
natural curiosity about the world. He willingly shares his expertise with
others. His natural cheerfulness and positive attitude is contagious. Reed will
still advise us from the Past-President’s position. Again, thanks Reed for your
leadership.
As your new president, I look forward to maintaining old friendships and
developing new ones. Your support is kindly appreciated. Suggestions are always
appreciated.
2004 Provo Christmas Bird Count Results
Compiled by Merrill Webb
Ninety-five species were seen by 41 field observers, two owling parties and four
feeder watchers on the Provo CBC, December 18, 2004. This compares with 93
species on last year’s Provo count. Official temperatures for the day were 38
for a high and 21 for a low. For the first time no new species were observed on
our count although Sandhill Crane, American Avocet, and Wild Turkey with high
numbers of 82, 156 and 14 respectively, made their second appearance in 33
years.
Utah Lake had frozen solid eight to nine days before the count date, but then
when the temperatures warmed up to above freezing a couple of days prior to the
18th the ice broke up, open water occurred far out on the lake and waterfowl
were numerous, scattered and difficult to I.D. Even so, observers were able to
count 1696 Canada Geese, 3731 Mallards, 1909 Pintails, and 561 Green-winged Teal
plus approximately 5,000 ducks that were too far out to correctly identify.
Altogether there were 13 species of waterfowl accounted for, most of them
dabbling ducks. The diving duck species and numbers were way down due mostly to
the inactivity of Geneva Steel and the resultant drying up of deep cooling ponds
west of the plant.
As usual Starlings dominated the count with observers estimating their number at
9462. Rock Pigeons were higher than usual with an estimated 1131 followed by
Ring-billed Gulls with 879 plus another estimated 200 gulls that were too far
out on the ice to correctly differentiate into species.
There were 10 species of diurnal raptors counted with the American Kestrel
topping out at 70, Red-tailed Hawk with 43, Northern Harrier, 41 and Bald Eagle,
38. Corvid species were well represented on the count with the American Crow at
841, Black-billed Magpie 520, and Western Scrub Jay at 113. Even Steller’s Jay
numbers were higher than usual at 76.
Other species that may be of interest to the reader were: Wood Duck (6), Chukar
(7), Greater yellowlegs (10), No. Saw-whet Owl (1), Eurasian Collared-Dove (28),
Yellow-headed Blackbird (4), Brown-headed Cowbird (11), Red Crossbill (16) and
Evening Grosbeak (3).
It was a fairly pleasant day to be out without any rain, snow or wind to dampen
the enthusiasm of the observers. Many thanks to those who assisted.
Please mark Saturday, December 17 on your calendars for this year’s Provo CBC.
Random Observations
By Tuula Rose
Long before I was a birder, when the children were small, we used to take them
to Canyon Glenn Park in Provo Canyon. While the girls were swinging and the boys
running along the river throwing rocks in the water I would find a comfortable
boulder by the water to sit and watch the stream flow by and listen to the
sounds in the park.
On one of those outings I remember observing a couple of young men with fishing
poles trying their best to catch a fish, with no luck. Then I noticed a little
brown bird hopping from rock to rock. Suddenly it plunged head first right into
the stream and emerged a moment later with a tiny silvery fish in its beak. I
thought: “Aren’t you a clever little bird, putting those fishermen to shame.” I
did not know the name of that bird then, but I have watched the dipper many
times since in its element.
One very cold early morning last winter I was watching the house finches come to
feed outside my kitchen window. The first rays of the sun were coming over the
mountains behind the birds leaving them in dark silhouettes. Straining to see
details, I noticed one little finch on a branch emitting tiny puffs of frozen
breath from its nostrils. The temperature and the light were just right to
illuminate it for my disbelieving eyes. I’ve heard about dog breath, but how
many of you have seen bird breath?
Just a couple days ago I got off work early and decided to check the Provo boat
harbor for anything good or unusual. I soon had to give up on good and unusual
to substitute for any bird at all, only to be disappointed. So I headed home
grumbling about the winter doldrums starting early this year, when I had to slam
on my brakes to avoid hitting a bird slowly and deliberately crossing Center
Street. Turned out to be a lucky chukar! Five minutes later on 5th West in
Provo, approaching a stop light, I had to slow down and swerve again in front of
a flapping mass of wings and feathers in the middle of the center lane. This
time a lucky merlin had just caught a not so lucky house sparrow who was
fiercely resisting. The merlin lifted off the road with the sparrow in its
talons, both flapping their wings in unison. What a sight! How many of you have
seen a sparrow flying upside down?
These are just random observations that stay in my memory. I know you all have
similar things that are certainly worth sharing, so I’m challenging you to write
them down and send them to Eric to put in our newsletter for all of us to enjoy.
Happy New Year!
Tuula has a good idea. We would like to try to have a monthly
‘Random Observations’ column in the newsletter. If you have a random observation
you would like to share please send it to newsletter@utahbirds.org or 850 E 100
N Pleasant Grove UT 84062.
Backyard Bird of the Month
December 2004
KC Childs - Orem Utah
Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Lois Clark - Provo
Yellow-rumped Warbler - Comes in every day.
Eric Huish - Pleasant Grove
Mountain Chickadee - Caching peanut butter in aspen buds.
Milton Moody - Provo
Pine Siskin - Had to shoo it away to fill the bag.
Cheryl Peterson - Provo
Brown Creeper - 3 at the same time.
Bruce Robinson - West Jordan
Red Tail Hawk - In the neighbors trees.
Tuula Rose - Provo
Merlin - New for my yard.
Dennis Shirley - Elk Ridge
Steller's Jay - They own the place!
Reed Stone - Provo
Brown Creeper - Crawling up the trees like mice.
Bonnie Williams - Mapleton
Hairy Woodpecker - New bird for yard.
Backyard Bird of the Month is a new monthly column. We would like
you to share you favorite backyard bird each month. Please send your favorite
bird at the end of the month to newsletter@utahbirds.org or call 360-8777. If
you would like a reminder at the end of the month e-mail the above address and
I’ll add you to the list.
New Officers
For those of you who weren’t at our December meeting, the UCB has new officers.
As you know from Alton’s article on page one, Alton Thygerson is our new
President and Reed Stone becomes the Past President. We would like to express
thanks to Reed for his excellent leadership as our president. Not only did Reed
act as president, he also set up the programs for our meetings. Both these jobs
take a lot of work and are integral to the smooth functioning of our
organization. Thanks again Reed!
The rest of the officers are as follows: Sylvia Cundick will remain as our
Secretary/Treasurer, Tuula Rose is our new Field Trip Coordinator, KC Childs is
still in charge of Local Field Trips, Ned Hill remains as Big Trip Planner,
Dennis Shirley will find Programs for our meetings, Larry Draper is in charge of
Publicity, Bonnie Williams will run the Phone Hotline, Weldon Whipple remains
our Web Host, Milton Moody remains our Web Master, Eric Huish remains as
Newsletter Editor and in a new office Kay Stone will oversee the Bird of the
Month presentations at our meetings. We would like to thank the past officers
for jobs well done and thank the new officers for accepting their new roles in
our organization.
Phone Hotline
If you see a good bird others would be interested in seeing call Bonnie Williams
at 489-5762 to start the phone-tree. If you were not at the December meeting and
would like to be called for a good bird, call me to add your name to the
phone-tree list. I will be calling to let you know who you are to call.
- Bonnie Williams