Here Kitty, Kitty

Just about one year ago, I added the gray catbird as a lifer and felt lucky to do so - I'd seen a bare glimpse of a trio of the birds foraging in Provo Canyon, and while the look was adequate for identification, it wasn't as memorable as I would have liked. Just a few weeks ago, then, we were walking again in the canyon, yet in a much more popular location, and I couldn't turn around without seeing the distinctive flash of gray with a black cap and rusty undertail coverts. Gray catbirds abound!

We never know what birds we will and won't see, and the birds that are scarce in one location may be abundant just a short distance away. What we can do, however, is try our best to create a bird-friendly landscape, to preserve birds in the wild, to practice an environmentally-friendly lifestyle, and to support wildlife organizations that also follow those goals. I do it to the best of my ability, and while the heat of the summer is slowing down the conversion of the new yard into a bird's paradise (I do have two bird baths and multiple feeders out, however), it is a process that will continue as long as birds are in the skies above my yard. Maybe one day I'll even attract a gray catbird - after all, they're only a few miles away.

Reacquainting, and a Reward

Sunday morning, while the sun was still low and the air still cool, I headed out for my first bird walk in several months. My only intention was to refresh myself with one of my favorite walks - a loop from Canyon Glen Park east along the Provo River - and hopefully to see some of my favorite birds in the area, including American dippers, song sparrows and black-billed magpies. What I got was far more than I expected.

I did see my familiar birds, all enjoying their regular spots. I heard western scrub-jays calling vociferously and watched their family busily foraging at a fallen log. I pished at a young song sparrow and sparked its curiosity, and I shook my head at the energetic antics of the western wood-pewee that refused to sit still for good observations. I watched a family of young American dippers plunging in and out of the river, swimming and flying simultaneously. I even smiled at the upside down foraging of the athletic black-capped chickadees.

Just over halfway through my loop, I paused near a stand of brushy berry bushes. I'd seen a silhouette I didn't recognize, something between the size of a sparrow and a robin. The initial bird I'd spotted moved deeper into the brush and out of view, but another quickly popped up just to the left, and I was able to get a crystal clear view through my binoculars - and my jaw dropped.

A gray catbird. A lifer.

This area of Utah is on the extreme western edge of the gray catbird's summer range, and they're quite rare and unexpected here. I certainly wasn't expecting it, no more than I was expecting to get a new lifer on my first bird walk in so very long. Several of the birds were foraging in those bushes, and I got very clear views of the black cap, rusty undertail coverts, gray plumage, and black eye. I couldn't ask for better views, even if they were all too brief.

I went out on that bird walk to just refresh my memory of how much I enjoy being out in the field rather than in front of a screen, and instead of just refreshed, I ended up rejuvenated, energized, and ready for more. You never do know what you'll see whenever you visit a favorite birding spot, and I can't wait to go to another of my personal favorites this coming weekend.