Utah County Birders Newsletter
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Contents
May Meeting
Upcoming Field Trips
Ned's Notes
Field Trip Report - Fish Springs
Bird of the Month
Backyard Bird of the Month
April Hotline Highlights
MAY MEETING:
Thursday, May 14th.
“Birding by Ear: How
Recognizing Bird Sounds Can Enrich Your Birding Experience”
Ned Hill will demonstrate how to improve your birding by learning to listen to
bird sounds. Through many resources available on CD’s, tapes, and the Internet,
one can learn to recognize birds by their calls and songs. Some birds (such as
flycatchers) can only reliably be identified by sound.
Meet at 7:00 PM in the Bean Museum Auditorium on the BYU Campus.
May 14-18 2009: Great Salt Lake Bird Festival
- make your own arrangements. Registration begins March 4th. Register
early to get the field trips you want!!!!! See website also:
www.greatsaltlakebirdfest.com
June 2009: TBA
July 2009: Pineview Reservoir, Snowbasin, and Powder Mountain. Details TBA
We are actively recruiting people to lead local half-day field
trips, any time, any place. If you would like to lead a field trip or if you
have any ideas for this year’s field trips, please contact Lu Giddings at -
seldom74@xmission.com.
Ned’s Notes
By Ned Hill – President, Utah County Birders
“Expect the Unexpected”
One thing that intrigues us all about birds is that they can show up anywhere
and everywhere—even in locations where we least expect them. If we watch for
them and are prepared, these surprises can spice up any humdrum day. Just this
morning, for example, I was driving on I-15 towards Salt Lake. At the Point of
the Mountain the traffic slowed to a near standstill because of a multiple-car
fender bender. “Oh no”, I thought, “I’m going to be late for an appointment.”
Just then my eyes caught something flying south towards me just above the median
of the freeway. As the flyer approached, the bright morning sunlight suddenly
caught the outrageously colored plumage of a male Ring-necked Pheasant as
it hurtled by like a bullet—red, blue, chestnut, golden. Who knows where he was
headed with heavy traffic on both sides of him. But that traffic jam became a
much more pleasant experience.
A few years ago, I was addressing a group of city managers in a large hotel in
downtown Cincinnati. It was a warm summer evening and someone had opened a pair
of large windows to create a breeze through the room. As I started to speak, I
heard above the traffic outside, a distant nasal “Bzzzt…bzzzt…bzzzt.” An unseen
Common Nighthawk was searching for insects above the city. I asked if
anyone of 200 or so members of the audience could hear the bird. Initially no
one could, but as they strained, they could finally pick it up. This totally
unexpected encounter with a Nighthawk became the focal point of my remarks to
the group.
After teaching a seminar in San Antonio, Texas, I decided to spend a day birding
around the area. A call to the area “hotline” contained a very surprising
report: a Blue-footed Booby was seen flying around Lake LBJ. I found
where that was on the map and drove there. The directions were sketchy so, by
the time I found the location indicated, it was after the sun had set and I
would not likely be able to locate the bird. Nevertheless, I saw quite a few
cars parked in front of a home located near the lake. As I walked up the
driveway, someone said, “Are you here to see the Booby?” “Yes,” I said, “is it
still here.” “Oh yes,” the man said. “Sign in here on the register and I’ll take
you around back.” There was a large notebook with hundreds of names in it. I
signed in and followed the man, evidently the owner of the home, around back
where several dozen people were looking out on a diving board that jutted out
over the lake. On the end of the diving board with a light shining on it
was in immature Blue-footed Booby! It just sat there and looked around at all of
us. They reported that it hunts all around the lake during the day and then
comes to the diving board to roost in the evening! I don’t think I’ve ever had
such an easy time finding a Code 5 bird—if you don’t count the trouble I had
finding the house in the first place.
I have made frequent professional trips to New York City. When I have the
chance, I like to walk around in Central Park where there are always lots of
birders—especially during migration. The park is such a migrant trap. One day,
between meetings, I walked through the park and located a Red-tailed Hawk
perched in a large tree. It took off and flew up onto a ledge on one of the tall
apartment buildings surrounding the park. I noticed a group of people huddled
around a scope that was trained on that ledge. They let me take a look and I got
to see the nest of the hawk and also see its partner. The people there were some
of the very friendly regulars in Central Park and had been studying this pair
for several years. Up to that time, it was the first known instance of Red-tails
building a nest on a man-made structure. One of the group members even wrote a
book about the experience (Red Tails in Love). However, a few months later I was
in Dallas, Texas. My host there, knowing my interest in birds, drove
me excitedly over to his office. Right next to his desk is a window and on the
ledge only a few feet from where he sits was the nest of—you guessed it—a
Red-tailed Hawk! That is now the second known time Red-tails have nested on a
building.
Yes, birds are as fascinating as they are unpredictable. They turn up in
surprising places. If we are always on the lookout, we will frequently be
surprised and delighted by our feathered friends.
Field Trip Report
Fish Springs - 25 April 2009
By Lu Giddings
Let’s be honest: today was one of the coldest and wettest trips to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge I’ve ever made. I will simply say that the weather left something to be desired. But, the worst day at Fish Springs is better by far than a day at work, and especially in April. Even with limited visibility, numerous species were seen in our four hours on the refuge. We then drove back through Delta and checked irrigated fields and Gunnison Bend Reservoir for birds. Highlights include, in no particular order:
- a stilt sandpiper feeding with long-billed dowitchers, greater and lesser
yellowlegs, and many other smaller peeps in an irrigated field about five miles
north of Delta
- a greater sage-grouse was seen near the road as we drove through the Thomas
Range, about 15 miles east of Fish Springs.
- a horned grebe in Mallard Pool at Fish Springs.
- several greater scaup, also in Mallard Pool at Fish Springs.
- while much of the Tour Loop was already closed for breeding season, Avocet
Pool was mostly mud flats and provided great, close looks at numerous peeps.
- personal first of season (FOS) birds included cattle egret (Delta), greater
and lesser yellowlegs (Delta), western sandpiper (Fish Springs & Delta), least
sandpiper (Fish Springs & Delta), long-billed dowitcher (Fish Springs & Delta),
Wilson’s and red-necked phalarope (Fish Springs & Delta), Forster’s tern (Fish
Springs), northern rough-winged swallow (Delta), cliff swallow (Fish Springs),
and barn swallow (Delta).
My thanks to Ned Bixler and Pat Jividen for braving a long drive and unpleasant
weather for a great day!
A partial list of species
seen: 68
Canada Goose, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon
Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback,
Redhead, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Greater Sage-Grouse, Horned
Grebe, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, American White Pelican, Double-crested
Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret,
Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Northern Harrier, Swainson's
Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Snowy
Plover, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs,
Lesser Yellowlegs, Willet, Long-billed Curlew, Western Sandpiper, Least
Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Wilson's
Phalarope, Red-necked Phalarope, Ring-billed Gull, Californian Gull, Forster's
Tern, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Western Kingbird, Black-billed
Magpie, Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Cliff
Swallow, Barn Swallow, American Robin, European Starling, Savannah Sparrow,
White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Yellow-headed
Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird and House Sparrow .
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photo by Cheryl Peterson |
Bird of the Month
Greater Roadrunner
Geococcyx californicaus
By Reed Stone
The Roadrunner is a resident of the arid desert, open chaparral to grasslands.
It is 23 inches long with a wingspread of 22 inches. Behind its eye there is
skin patch of blue followed by a patch of red. It has a scruffy crest, a large
beak and a long tail. It prefers running to flying. Its foot print shows two
toes pointing forward and two rearward. Its food consists of lizards, snakes,
small birds, bugs beetles and some berries.
The following commentary will illustrate my personal experience with the GREATER
ROADRUNNER in the high desert of Southern California.
A Roadrunner Called Tommy
In 1964 I moved my family to the Mojave Desert just outside of Barstow
California. We had built a house in a sparsely settled area outside the city
limits. As our trees matured, a garden growing and a decorative pond, it really
attracted wild life.
I had noticed a roadrunner from time to time and decided I would try to attract
it tome. We had a refrigerator in the garage with easy access from the back
yard. I stocked it with some marble sized balls of hamburger. One day when the
roadrunner appeared I quickly got some “burger” balls and flipped one toward the
roadrunner. It caught his attention and was far enough from me he decided to
examine it. Cocking his head curiously he pecked at it and upon finding it
“safe”, picked it up and ate it. I flipped more “burger “ balls and he readily
picked them up and ate them.
As time went on he became a regular visitor. Gradually I reduced the distance
that I would cast the meat balls until, at last, he would eat from my hand. Our
relationship grew over time. He acquired a mate and built a nest in one of our
trees. I taped a mirror to a long pole and while Tommy (my wife named him) was
away from the nest I was able to see five white eggs. The coarse twig nest was
about 10' above ground.
I closely observed the activity around the nest as well as the general life of
the adults. They would regularly bring in insects, worms, grasshoppers, beetles,
and other small food when the chicks were small. As they grew the size of the
food would also increase in size.
I found that they are omnivorous, preferring flesh in the form of small birds,
rodents, snakes and lizards. They would eat pomegranate fruit, insects worms and
beetles.
All the food was always swallowed head first and eaten whole as they have no
means of tearing it apart. If it was a bird they would hold it either by the
primary wing feathers or the tail feathers then give it a flick and yank the
feathers out. They would start with the longer feathers then the smaller ones.
The body feathers did not seem to be a big problem. They would remove some of
them and swallow it whole, head first of course. If it was a worm or a rodent it
would be firmly held in the beak and then soundly whacked on a rock till it was
ready to swallow.
My relationship with Tommy progressed to a point that he would hop upon the
window sill of our enclosed patio and tap on the window with his beak to get our
attention. I would usually go out and give him a burger ball. Other times when I
was away, my wife informed me, Tommy would fly into the screen door for
attention. I am aware that he was more interested in a burger ball than he was
with me, however, he would follow me around the yard like a puppy dog and
respond to my talking to him. It even progressed to the point that I could call
him much as one would call a dog and he would appear with a hungry look in his
eye.
It was Christmas time and our oldest son was visiting with his family. Their two
pre-teen aged daughters had never seen a roadrunner. I told them I might be able
to call one in. It was a frosty morning. I looked around in the brushy
surroundings and at last I saw what looked like Tommy. I had some meat balls in
my hand. The girls were at the window, inside, as Tommy was shy of “strangers”.
I called out Tommy, “come on Tommy”, I got his attention. He was not inclined to
come as he was sunning himself. I tossed a burger ball up and caught it a few
times while I continued calling. He was about a block away, he turned and came
running and sailing across the washes till he arrived on my driveway. I crouched
down and now quietly called him in till he took several burger balls from my
hand. It positively enchanted every one.
In the spring when the June bugs arrived they would come to the light over my
garage door, during the night, and eventually fall exhausted on the driveway
where I would find them in the cool mornings. I would sweep them up and put them
into a large jar. When Tommy arrived I would take a live beetle, about 5/8" long
and 3/8" inches in diameter, in my hand and toss it to Tommy. After he had eaten
a few I noticed he would latch on to the nape of the neck, give it a crunch, and
swallow it. Eighteen were his limit in one sitting.
As my garden matured and the tomato vines were large enough the tomato worms
appeared. Tommy would patrol the garden. When he saw a tomato worm or a
grasshopper he would pounce upon it, grab it by the nape of the neck, tenderize
it on a convenient rock, and swallow it. This would go on for the full season.
With Tommy I had no worries about tomato worms or grasshoppers.
When the eggs hatched I observed the feeding. When they left the nest they would
negotiate the branches by walking and balance by flapping with their wings. They
would follow their parents around the yard, peck at things and beg by opening
their beak and flap their wings. I could always tell when the eggs had hatched.
Before the hatching the parents would immediately swallow the meat balls. When
the eggs hatched, instead of eating them, they would hold the balls in their
beak and take them to the young.
When road0.0.runners go to roost for the night, they would never fly up into the
tree. They jump with an assisting flap of their wings to a low branch, then they
would continue by the same method, branch to branch, till they arrived to a
location that suited them, usually 20' to 30' up in the tree. When they left the
tree in the morning they would open their wings, give a little hop, and sail
down to the ground.
Road runners are well designed to deal with the elements. Earlier I mentioned
Tommy sunning himself. Roadrunners have a solar heating panel on their back. It
is a large black patch. When it is cold, and they need to warm up, they turn
their back to the sun, lift their feathers open, and let the sun shine in. Their
long tail is a good rudder in high speed turns when pursuing prey. It is also
used as a detractor to the prey while stalking. They wag their tail back and
forth keeping the attention of the victim while training their sights on their
next meal. Another adaptation, or technique, is, they “shift into four wheel
drive” when conditions call for lightning starts or tight high speed turns. For
example, one day I was leaving for work and saw what I thought was a small dust
devil. It seemed somewhat unusual so I stopped to observe what was happening.
When the dust began to settle I could see it was Tommy. I could see he had
something in his beak and it appeared to be a lizard. Lizards are capable of
making swift tight turns. Without the assistance of their wings a roadrunner
would be unable to make the tight turns it takes to catch one.
Now back to the rearing of the young. I would try to feed the young as I would
feed the adults, without success. I would toss them a burger ball and they would
not touch it. Then the adults would come in and pick the morsel up and offer it
to the young which readily accepted and swallow it. What a great protection for
the young.
When the young had matured enough to make it on their own the adults would
fiercely attack them and drive them off. Then one of the adults would leave.
Only one would remain in the vicinity of our yard until the next spring. When
the love bug strikes. At that time he would sit on top of our evaporator cooler
and start cooing, much like a mourning dove. With in a day or two a mate would
appear. Roadrunners are solitary except for the times of mating and rearing
their offspring.
The Roadrunner is indeed my most interesting bird.
April 2009
Alan and Selena Keller – Orem
We saw a White-Winged Dove in our yard a few times for a couple of weeks.
Each visit was brief and it was with some Eurasian-Collared Doves (6).
Milt Moody – Provo
Red Crossbills - had them coming for a couple of weeks
Steve Carr - Holladay
Red Crossbills - First time in almost 40 years in my yard.
Bruce Robinson - West Jordan
California Quail - 3rd year in a row they've been here!!
Merrill Webb – Orem
Saturday, April 25 I had a female Red Crossbill at one of my feeders (a
first for me). Two hours later the same day had three male Lazuli Buntings
stop by at my feeders.
Kay Stone – Lehi
I had a White-Winged Dove under my feeders April 27.
Eric Huish – Pleasant Grove
Red Crossbill and Tree Swallows – Yard lifers #93 and 94.
Lynn Garner – Provo
Can't decide between the Red Crossbills feasting on my platform feeder
and the young Sharp-Shinned Hawk also looking for a meal!
Bonnie Williams – Mapleton
A Rooster Pheasant, 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove and California
Quail all having lunch together.
Reed Stone – Provo
Hermit Thrush
Yvonne Carter – Highland
5 Lazuli Buntings and 2 White-crowned Sparrows still hanging
around.
We would like you to share your favorite backyard bird each
month. Please send your favorite bird at the end of the month to
newsletter@utahbirds.org or call
Cheryl Peterson at 375-1914 (home) or 787-6492 (cell).
The North American Bird Phenology Program
In March, Bernie Sloan passed along the following bit of information.
“Thought some of you might be interested in this Wired article... The North American Bird Phenology Program is asking for volunteers to help transcribe over 90 years worth of paper records of bird migration patterns. The goal is to have a broadly accessible database that can support research activities. As the article notes: "The only complete dataset of bird migration patterns in North America is trapped in a basement — and it's going to take the power of crowdsourcing to free it. " More details at: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/birddata.html “
I followed his link and read the article. I signed up to do transcribing and have enjoyed doing it. I try to do a few cards every day. After you get used to doing them, you can do 5 or 10 cards very quickly. In case some of you missed the email or were too busy at the the time to look into it, here is the link that tells you more about the program and where you can sign up to help. http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bpp/
--Cheryl Peterson
We are accepting
2009 dues for membership in Utah County Birders throughout the 2009 season. If
you would like to be an official member of our group and receive a handheld copy
of the newsletter, do the following:
Make a check out to Utah County Birders for $15.00.
Put it in an envelope addressed to:
Carol Nelson
2831 Marrcrest West
Provo, Utah 84604
Then, drop it in the mail. And as always, thanks for your support and a special
thanks to those we never see, but who still show their support by their dues
donations!