Sandhills in Spring

Spring weather in Utah can be unpredictable, with a chilly start to a morning that leads to a warm day that leads to a fluffy snowstorm in the afternoon that finishes with a clear sunset and balmy breeze. On such days, one has to take advantage of birding whenever possible, and it is always possible to get lucky.

I got lucky last weekend, but it wouldn't seem so at first. We began our walk at one of the easternmost parks in Provo Canyon, beyond Bridal Veil Falls, but the partially cleared path was quickly obscured by avalanche debris. Not to worry, it was solid enough for sturdy footing, but along the entire way we only spotted a few mallards in the river reeds and quite a few song sparrows merrily singing. While that is pleasant, I'd been hoping for a few different birds, but no. The scenery was gorgeous, but the birds were absent.

Next, we drove down Center Street in Provo looking for a roost of turkey vultures I'd heard about, but either we missed the area or the birds were absent there as well. Strike two.

At the end of Center Street by Utah Lake, we turned toward Skipper Bay Trail. We were already down there, I reasoned, so we might as well investigate the recent sightings of the Harris's sparrow. Despite scrutinizing the area where the bird has been seen, however, I was only able to see European starlings, black billed magpies, American robins, and a lone killdeer. While this was an improvement on the paltry birding earlier in the morning, it still wasn't so exciting as I'd hoped.

As luck would have it, we drove a different way home, through back roads and recent developments interspersed with as yet unworked agricultural fields. Around a curve in the least likely of places, there was my treasure of the day: a pair of beautiful sandhill cranes, the first I've seen this year. They were quite close to the road and unperturbed by my presence, and I watched them forage for several minutes while they obliquely watched me in return.

Some birding days are better than others, but it pays well not to give up. Try a new location, look for different birds, and enjoy all those you see, and you'll have a very bird-iful spring. Happy birding!

Swans and Songs

What a difference a week can make for birding. Two weeks ago, I participated in Utah's annual Tundra Swan Day with a birdwalk to see these lovely birds. The trip didn't quite turn out as planned - Utah's unpredictable spring weather intervened, and we spend quite some time on a ridge overlooking what we knew to be a flock of thousands of tundra swans, but seeing white birds through a white snowstorm floating on gray water under a gray sky doesn't lend itself to magnificent views. Fortunately, our leader - Bill Fenimore - kindly took us to another property where we were able to get much better views. Other sightings on that leg of the trip included dozens of bald eagles, different gulls, and a very cooperative horned lark that became the latest bird added to my ever-growing life list, bringing the total to 176.

Just a week later, the climate couldn't be more different. I went again to the Skipper Bay Trail near Utah Lake - one of my new favorite birding spots - and had the most enchanting encounter with a gregarious flock of red-winged blackbirds, watched flocks of foraging robins, laughed at agitated killdeer, and had a wonderful solo performance by a cooperative song sparrow. Rather than a snowstorm, the temperatures that day were mild and the weather pleasant; a truly beautiful weekend for the first weekend of spring.

So what will the next few weekends bring? Hopefully more opportunities for birding and more lifers for an eager birder!

If you're going into the field soon, these spring birding tips can help you make the most of it!

Brush Thrush

In the past few weeks I've been discovering just how valuable local listservs and field reports can be for sharing new bird sightings and tips for finding rare vagrants. While adding the long-eared owl to my life list in January was the first time I've used such tips, it certainly won't be the last, and I've been fortunate to have several more opportunities.

Of course, just because you have a tip and the time to take it doesn't mean finding the bird will be easy. Recently I learned about a varied thrush visiting Utah County just a few miles from my home, and I was eager to see the bird, since they don't appear in Utah that frequently. Every tip I read noted how the bird was near the paved pathway and how the location was easy to find, so I set out with high hopes for some easy and rewarding birding.

The location was easy to find, but only if you're familiar with the trail system it was on. I walked around a superfluous part of the path for nearly half an hour before getting onto the right loop to find the abandoned pump house, next to which the varied thrush was apparently happy to forage regularly. Once I got to that pump house (which is in the photo if you look hard enough), however, I realized it wouldn't be an easy sighting - the brush was so thick and tangled that it was only possible to see small patches of ground, and it took great patience to wait long enough for the bird to forage in just the right spot and at just the right angle for a positive view. Fortunately I had another birder attempting the same task, and together we were able to spot the varied thrush - a beautiful male bird with bold colors and industrious behavior - and I added another lifer to my list.

Even with modern technologies, high power optics, and the best foreknowledge, it can still be a challenge to find new birds. That challenge is what keeps us going into the field, hopeful and watchful, waiting for the next sighting.

Suddenly Snowy

For the past few days, spring seems to have been lurking just over the mountains, waiting to descend upon the valley in a rush of warm winds, green grass, and birdsong. That was not to be earlier this week, however, when four inches of heavy, wet snow fell overnight, burying feeders and shattering branches all over the neighborhood.

In the backyard, the nets I keep beneath Nyjer feeders to catch spilled seed quickly became floating snowdrifts, but that was not to stop industrious house finches, American goldfinches and lesser goldfinches from nibbling away. Instead of needing to dangle on the feeders, they simply stood on the snow to eat their fill. In the front yard, the lee side of the feeders was protected from most of the snow accumulation and thus became a popular dining spot, though when birds landed in the nearby aspens they were nearly buried among the branch drifts.

Just as quickly as it came, it was gone. Even that same day the snow melted away from the feeders (much to the delight of more hungry birds), and now it is gone from the grass as well. That hasn't stopped my life list from getting a bit snowier, however - just today I had the most marvelous walk along the Skipper Bay Trail near Utah Lake, and in two hours of birding a mere 1.25 mile stretch I spotted 26 species, including a common raven, plenty of black-billed magpies, several northern flickers, a flock of white-crowned sparrows, two playful northern harriers, and thousands of ducks: American wigeon, northern pintails, cinnamon teals, and green-winged teals, not to mention dozens of mallards. A tremendous flock of red-winged blackbirds also yielded a pair or two of Brewer's blackbirds, and song sparrows, house finches, and black-capped chickadees were also in evidence, along with one industrious downy woodpecker.

The highlight of the walk, however, were the two snow geese feeding among a flock of Canada geese. Their brilliant white plumage, thick bills and black wingtips were beautiful to see, all the more so because they are the newest addition to my life list.

The signs of spring aren't in whether the snow falls or melts, but in the behaviors of the birds. Just two days ago I was snowed under, but this morning I was surrounded by birdsong. Despite sometimes questionable weather, there is no doubt that spring is one the way when you begin to see new species migrating and birds pairing off to prepare their nests. Snowy or not, it's a great season to be birding!

Getting Lucky

Every birder knows that the more they visit one location, the less likely they are to see new birds. Of course, the occasional rarity or vagrant is always possible, but still uncommon.

With that in mind, I didn't have high hopes for our recent trip to Las Vegas, and my return to the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve and Sunset Park. When I'd visited these same areas last year, birding extensively, I hit the jackpot with 15 new species to add to my life list, and while I'm always hoping for a new lifer, I didn't think I'd see anything extraordinary on this visit.

During several hours of birding at the two sites combined, I identified 44 species, including an astonishing five new lifers:

• Gadwall: I'm fairly certain I've seen these dabblers before, but never clearly enough for a positive identification.
• Lesser Scaup: Finally I was able to clearly identify one of these diving ducks, adding it to my life list next to its near twin, the greater scaup, which I saw for the first time in Vegas last year.
• Great Egret: Beautifully poised on the island at Sunset Park, this is a stunning bird to behold.
• Crissal Thrasher: It took a half hour of wandering through sand dunes and desert brush before I got a clear look at this bird; then go figure after I'd identified it, it kept coming closer and into better light.
• Muscovy Duck: This was an exciting find, a pair of these rare ducks. While they may be escapees, they didn't have the white plumage you'd often find on domestics. Neither the male nor female will win beauty contests, but their coloration is extraordinary.

Of course, just seeing new lifers is only part of the fun of birding in a new - or infrequent - place. It was a joy to see many other species I don't get at home, including verdins, common moorhens, and great-tailed grackles. Other popular species at the two sites included yellow rumped warblers, ruby crowned kinglets, marsh wrens, and many species of ducks such as northern pintails, northern shovelers, pied billed grebes, and ruddy ducks.

Seeing different bird behavior is also a treat. Shovelers pinwheeling, grackles staring up like grackles do, warblers warbling - it's all a pleasure, and reminds me that even if you don't see new species, you're always lucky to be seeing birds.

Accounting Error

Finally I've begun keeping my life list in a more systematic way, rather than adding to the lists here and manually counting each bird to discern my total. I copied my list into a spreadsheet, which I eventually hope to expand from just an alphabetical listing to several variations, including family and species groupings. Nonetheless, looking at the list this way is enlightening.

One benefit, of course, is that it gives me an accurate total of the birds I've seen - I'm afraid my accounting has been off and I'm two birds lower than I'd previously totalled. The relieving part of this is that at least I've not duplicated any birds on the list, so I can move forward updating with assurance. With recent additions to my birds - which I'll detail soon - I'm now at 173 species, and hoping to grow as often as I can.

I highly recommend some uniform way to keep a life list. Whether you choose a birding journal with an integrated list, a checklist in your favorite field journal, a computer spreadsheet, or some other variation, as long as it works for you it can be a valuable and interesting tool for your birding. I've been petrified that this blog, which has been the only complete record of my sightings, would become disrupted, but now my life list is safe and free to expand. Let's get birding!

Tripping

It's been crazy for the past few weeks, both with work and with birds, and twice in just under three weeks I've traveled hundreds of miles to see fantastic birds. Much to my delight, on both trips I've discovered new lifers.

The first trip was to the St. George Winter Bird Festival in southern Utah, at the end of January. I've been to the festival before - last year - and came home with a wide range of new lifers. I wasn't so optimistic about adding new birds to my list this year, given that I've birded there previously, but to better my odds I chose field trips to unique habitats ranging from open waters to the edge of the Mojave Desert. I was not disappointed, and came home with eight new lifers.

The most memorable - though all will hold their special places in my birding lore - is the vermilion flycatcher. I'd hoped to see this bird last year but missed out, and this year I followed a tip not on a field trip, but to a small park a mile or two from my hotel. There the male vermilion flycatcher was a brilliant jewel just a few yards away, seemingly uninterested in the birders - and I wasn't the only one - who came to gawk. Again and again he flitted about for insects, showing off his spectacular plumage in the late afternoon sun. It's a sight I'll never forget, and a bird that is stunning in its beauty.

My other lifers were neither so colorful nor so close, but each one afforded me excellent views for identification:

• Ferruginous Hawk: We saw several of these roving through fields northeast of St. George, and one in particular gave spectacular views as it perched on a power pole, awaiting the opportunity for its next meal.
• Red-Naped Sapsucker: This was a challenge to identify, as the bird never stopped moving in and out of thick branches high above us. Still, the cheek patterns and coloration were strong clues that identified it.
• Rock Wren: This buffy, curious bird behaved true to its name as it foraged among rocks in a riparian area a few miles from the Tonaquint Nature Center.
• Western Bluebird: These were brilliant to see at Lytle Ranch as they visited a pond to drink, males and females both dipping to the edge for sips.
• Phainopepla: Another bird at Lytle Ranch, these glossy black flycatchers resemble nothing so much as a black northern cardinal. They're not related, but just as gorgeous.
• American Pipit: At first these unremarkable birds would seem to pass for sparrows, until closer observation shows marked differences in plumage, bill, and behavior. They were foraging in active, eager groups in the same field where the vermilion flycatcher was feeding.
• Black Phoebe: This was my last lifer of the trip, found at the Tonaquint Nature Center as I was idly visiting the pond for one last look. At first I wasn't going to add it to my checklist as I'd finished with all my field trips, but when I reviewed my life list and discovered that it wasn't yet accounted for, I was glad to have made the notation.

While these birds were all spectacular and are very welcome additions to my life list, they're by no means the only birds I was able to observe during the festival. Other notable birds on my different field trips include the loggerhead shrike, mountain bluebird, bald eagle, Abert's towhee, western meadowlark, wood duck, bufflehead, common merganser, great blue heron, and greater roadrunner. All told, I successfully spotted 49 different species in two days of birding. It may not be as great a total as some birders would wish for, but given that migration hasn't yet begun in full, it was a most enjoyable trip.

Little was I to know that two weeks later, I'd be adding even more lifers to my list with another trip, again to places I'd birded before. The lesson learned, then, is never assume you've seen all there is to see even at your most familiar places - birds have wings and they will use them, so you never know who may be flying by.

Never been to a birding festival? Learn what to expect if you go!

Taking a Tip

Birding may be a solitary hobby, but collaborating with other birders often leads to great rewards - tips on birding hotspots, new bird sightings, more accurate identifications, testing new equipment, and more. I'm always happy to share my tips with others, but I'm afraid I'm not quite so connected into receiving tips myself, though I don't hesitate to ask for help when I need it. I have recently, however, begun watching the Utah Birds Hotline List from Birdingonthe.Net, and the sightings are enough to inspire and excite any birder after long weeks of little to see but the backyard flock. Mind you, I do love my backyard birds (I wouldn't have spent more than an hour cleaning feeders and refilling them in a snowstorm if I didn't), but a birder's heart flies through many skies and yearns to share them with many birds.

This morning, my husband and I headed out toward Utah Lake, turning along the west side of the Provo Airport dike toward the control tower. On a tip from the list, we knew a long-eared owl has been seen regularly in the area for the past couple of weeks, and I've been itching to add a new lifer to my list. We parked somewhat north of the tower, walking along the dirt road (none too easily in the mud and slush from the recent snowfall) until we came near to the tower. Just south of it we met up with a trio of birders and exchanged greetings, learning that the owl was still nearby. Indeed it was, and beautifully so! Finding owls can be a challenge as they're superbly camouflaged and not prone to either noise or movement that might make them more visible to birders, but if you know what to look for and watch for disturbed patterns in winter-bare branches, you just might add another to your life list, as I did today.

While the birding along the dike was not as prolific as one might hope, we did spot several species...

• Canada Goose - Several flocks flying overhead.
• American Coot - Happily swimming in small areas of open water.
• Great Blue Heron - Looking cold and forlorn in the field.
• Northern Harrier - Hunting beautifully over the field.
• Red Tailed Hawk - Both perched and hunting, as well as harassing the harriers.
• White Crowned Sparrows - Feeding along the road and flitting among the brush.

Even on a cold winter's morning when the lake is mostly frozen and the weeds are snow covered, there are birds to be had. I encourage everyone to take advantage of whatever birding resources you may have to learn where the birds are in your area, and head out to new locations to discover what you may. Whether you get a new lifer or not, the walk and the fresh air brings new life to the joys of birding.

Check out these winter birding tips for finding the best birds in the bitter cold!