Utah County Birders Newsletter
|
 |
Contents
September Meeting
Upcoming Field Trips
Captain’s Log
Bird of the Month
Field Trip Report
- Silver Lake
Backyard Bird of the Month
August Hotline Highlights
SEPTEMBER MEETING:
Thursday, September 10th, 2015 - 7:00 pm
Get to know your fellow birders. If you're new to the group or have only been on a field trip or two, we would love to have you join us! If you've been coming for years we'd love to have you as well! We will play some games to help everyone get to know their fellow birders.
Meet at 7:00 pm at the Monte L. Bean Museum. 645 East 1430 North, Provo, UT http://mlbean.byu.edu/
Saturday,
September 12th, 2015. River Lane - 7:30 to
noon-ish. Meet in the Provo Sam's Club parking lot at 7:30am. We'll bird River
Lane and Sandy Beach, looking for migrants!
Saturday,
September 26th, 2015. Antelope Island -
7:00-all day. Meet at the Pioneer Crossing Park & Ride at 7:00am. If you have a
State Parks Pass and are willing to, please bring it. There is a $10 per vehicle
fee as well as a Causeway fee, I don't recall how much that is, just a few
dollars I think. Also bring food and water. I think we'll be out all day.
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 Bryan Shirley at -
bt_shirley@hotmail.com
Utah County Birders Captain’s Log:
September 2015
by Keeli Marvel
Nothing much exciting to report from this past month. Aside from the field trip
a week ago, I haven’t been able to get out and do much birding. Seems like
August has been a flurry of field work and birthdays and anniversaries and
back-to-school preparation.
Despite the still warm temperatures I feel a touch of fall in the air. The
colors have started changing up Provo Canyon. The Western Kingbird nest in my
gutter fledged last month and suddenly one day they were gone. No more parents
scolding from the top of the tree in my front yard. Large flocks of Canada geese
and White-faced Ibis in the fields near my house have been exhibiting zugunruhe
(migratory restlessness or anxiety) and seem to be spending a lot of time flying
around my neighborhood between the lake and the neighboring corn fields calling
back and forth to each other. I’ve been feeling a little migratory restlessness
myself. Hoping to head northeast towards the end of the month to see some iconic
national landmarks in South Dakota. Never been to South Dakota before so I spent
some time the other day looking at bird sightings on eBird. I made myself a
little list of birds I haven’t seen before that could possibly be there this
time of year so I have a goal for the trip. Now I can properly get excited –
haha.
There’s a pair of Swainson’s Hawks that hunt in the fields along Redwood Road
and I see them almost every day on my way home from work. I even saw one of them
soaring over the grocery store parking lot one day. I wonder how much longer
before it’s time for them to head south. The Turkey Vultures are still roosting
in Fairfield near the turnoff to Camp Floyd State Park. I see them on my way
home from work most days, but I know one of these days soon I’ll come around
that corner and they’ll be gone as well.
It’s these little observations that make me thankful that I caught the birding
bug. I’m not sure how I went through life before oblivious to the wide world of
bird out there and the interconnectedness of it all, but I’m grateful for the
added depth it gives my life now. I hope you all are well. I’ve missed seeing a
lot of you at the field trips lately, but I know life is busy. Hopefully I’ll
have some more travel and birding tales to write about next month.
Until then, Happy Birding!
Keeli Marvel
 |
|
Photo by Milt
Moody |
|
|
|
Photo by Machelle
Johnson |
Mountain Bluebird
Sialia currucoides
by Machelle Johnson
A common species of open habitat across much of western North America. Pete
Dunne describes the adult male as unmistakable - a pale blue shrouded bird. He
didn't add that the blue looks like neon blue in the sunlight! Many show a trace
of rufous on breast, then distinguished by long wings and tail, thin bill with
little or no yellow at base, and a more upright posture, instead of the
'hunched' look of the Western Bluebird.
We often see these wonderful blue birds flitting across meadows of grass and
sagebrush particularly in middle and higher elevations. The Strawberry River
Valley is full of them, and about a hundred nest boxes.
They eat mostly insects during breeding season. Beetles, grasshoppers, and
especially caterpillars. Spiders are also an important part of the adult diet,
which makes me like them even more... Unlike other bluebird species, Mountain
Bluebirds often hover while foraging; they also pounce on their insect prey from
an elevated perch. In winter, the species often occurs in large flocks of
20-200, wandering the landscape eating berries and seeds.
I didn't find a lot of descriptive information about these lovely birds, I guess
they're pretty ordinary, but watching Mountain Bluebirds flit around our
campsite at Soldier Creek Reservoir one weekend was a treat. There were bright
blue males and blue and gray females and juvie's all over the place. We even
shared some breakfast with one curious male.
Resources:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id
Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion
The Sibley Guide to Birds
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/440229/AUDUBON-PROJECT-PLANNED-AT-STRAWBERRY.html?pg=all
If you would like to
write an article for the Bird of the Month, please contact
Machelle -
machelle13johnson@yahoo.com
Click here for past 'Birds of the Month'.
Field Trip Report
Silver Lake Boardwalk - August 22, 2015
by Keeli Marvel
Alona and I were the only ones who showed up for the field trip yesterday, so we
hopped in her car and headed up to Silver Lake at the top of Big Cottonwood
Canyon. It was chilly when we got up there, but it warmed up fast. We walked the
boardwalk loop around Silver Lake and saw a number of fun birds including
Lincoln Sparrows singing on the marsh, ratty looking Green-tailed Towhees
(probably hatched this year), Clark's Nutcrackers and a Steller's Jay which flew
in to drink at the lake, and 3 Red-tailed Hawks soaring and calling over the
ridge, and a Northern Goshawk cruising around above the tree line on the far
side of the lake. We also got to see a short-tailed weasel which darted across
the trail a couple of times with breakfast in its mouth. We had a really nice
morning of birding. A complete checklist from our field trip is below.
Happy Birding!
Keeli Marvel
Big Cottonwood Canyon -- Silver Lake, Salt Lake, Utah, US
Aug 22, 2015 8:10 AM - 10:04 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.1 mile(s)
Comments: Walked the boardwalk loop. Also saw a deer and a short-tailed weasel
and chipmunks and squirrels
24 species
Mallard 8
Great Blue Heron 1
Northern Goshawk 1 Short wings and tail, gray, flying above the trees.
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 2
Northern Flicker 1
Steller's Jay 1
Clark's Nutcracker 2
Common Raven 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Violet-green Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 1
Mountain Chickadee 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Dark-eyed Junco 1 Heard only
White-crowned Sparrow 5
Lincoln's Sparrow 2
Green-tailed Towhee 2
Red-winged Blackbird 4
House Finch 1
Pine Siskin 2
August 2015
Jack Binch - Sandy
I don't usually pay much attention to flyovers, but I had a Common Nighthawk fly right over on the 31st. that was a year bird.
Lyle Bingham - Payson
Significant are the birds we lost this month from the hollow park in Payson. The yellow-breasted chats are no longer calling in the morning, during the day and all night. The lazuli buntings are also gone from our neck of the woods. Soon to leave will be the majority of the hummingbirds. Our choice for bird of the month is the female Rufous Hummingbird who guards our feeder from alien sippers.
Yvonne Carter - Highland
A Rufous
Hummingbird has been busy for some time at the feeder, along with Western
Scrub Jays fighting with Magpies, Black-capped Chickadees and House Finches.
Eric Huish - Pleasant Grove
Western Scrub-Jays were extra lively this month, collecting nuts and seeds and squabbling over territories.
Milt Moody - Provo
Western Screech-Owls like my tree-covered yard in Provo. Young ones have been bathing in my bird baths and older ones have been singing morning and evening outside my window.
Bruce Robinson - West Jordan
Rufous Hummingbird - Protected "their" territory for a few days then
moved on
Dennis Shirley - Shemya Island, Alaska
Hi from Shemya Island again - My Big Back Yard! Since getting here about a week
ago my best birds have been - Dark-sided Flycatcher and Crested Auklet
- both new ABA birds.
Alton Thygerson - Provo
Hummingbirds - Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Rufuous. During mid-August we
had as many as 15 at a time. Suddenly, during the last week of August the
numbers dropped of to only two or three at a time.
Report your favorite backyard bird
each month to Eric Huish at 801-360-8777 or
erichuish@gmail.com
The Utah County Birders Newsletter is now online only/mostly.
We've decided to stop the regular paper mail version of the UCB Newsletter. This will save our club on Printing, Postage and Paper. If you would like an email notice each month when the Newsletter is posted online please send an email to Eric Huish at erichuish@gmail.com.
We are willing to print the online version of the newsletter and mail it out to anyone who still wants a paper copy or who doesn't have internet access. If you know of anyone who enjoys the UCB Newsletter but doesn't have internet access please let Eric Huish or Keeli Marvel know and we will make sure they get a copy.
Printable Version of this UCB Newsletter