2005
Field Trip Report
Local City Parks - November 12th, 2005
by Leena Rogers

About a dozen enthusiastic Utah County birders and several visitors braved the cold, showery weather on Saturday morning to meet at 8:00 a.m. at Paul Ream Park in Provo Tuula Rose and Milt Moody had planned a field trip to several of the local parks, two local cemeteries, as well as Hobble Creek Canyon. Hobble Creek, especially, had looked very promising as they scouted out the field trip route a few days previously.

The theme running through the morning seemed to be "Where are the birds?" They obviously were smarter than our birding group -- away from the elements, staying snug and warm, hidden away from view. The birds continued to evade us at each location. Well, the company was wonderful even if the birding left something to be desired!

At the Springville Cemetery we ended the day on a brighter note. The sun finally came out and Tuula Rose pointed out a rainbow displayed against a beautiful mountain backdrop. Just as we were ready to get into our cars and head for home a pair of playful Belted Kingfishers, darting and diving, flew past our group calling out to each other and reminding us why we continue to love birding!

Unbelievable as it sounds, the list below consists of the TOTAL number of birds we saw:

Paul Ream Park, Provo
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Kestrel, House Sparrow, Magpie.

Provo City Cemetery
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Flicker, Magpie, American Robin.

Bi-Centennial Park, Provo
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Lesser Goldfinch, Magpie, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Bushtits [flock], House Finch, Mallard.

Hobble Creek Canyon
Chickadees [heard], Red-tailed Hawk, Kestrel, Magpie.

Springville Cemetery
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Belted Kingfisher [pair].

Thanks Tuula and Milt for a fun morning. Continued good birding everyone!
The birding gods were not smiling on Saturday morning. Most of the time we contended with a cool brisk wind mixed with a drizzly rain. I kept my binocs zipped inside my jacket to keep the rain off the lenses. Not to worry, there weren't that many occasions that called for their use.

1997

MY FIRST TRIP WITH THE UTAH COUNTY BIRDERS
Report by Club President, Ned Hill

Ouray National Wildlife Refuge Field Trip
April 26, 1997
by Ned Hill (ned_hill@byu.edu)
Four a.m. came very early--especially since we had helped a Cub Scout Pack learn about birds and see their very first owls only a few hours before. Nevertheless, the thrill of an all day birding trip to one of Utah's best birding areas with good friends tends to push sleep from the mind. Joined by four carloads of other birders waiting in the Bean Museum parking lot, we sallied forth shortly after five with CB radios at the ready to communicate any interesting birds along the way.

Swainson's Hawk

We drove through the landslide up Provo Canyon and then on to Duchesne while witnessing a beautiful pink and blue sunrise. The first bird of note was a newly arrived Swainson's Hawk sitting on a power pole. Our first birding stop was Pelican Lake, about 20 miles outside Roosevelt. We had hoped to find Eurasian Wigeon but were unsuccessful. We did find Western Kingbird, American White Pelican, Snow Goose, Common and Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, dozens of Great Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorant, Eared Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Bufflehead, Redhead, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Greater (with the iridescent green head) and Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Snowy Egret and other common waterfowl. Dozens of Yellow-headed and Redwinged Blackbirds were setting up territories.
We learned that Ouray National Wildlife Refuge was hosting an "open house." That explained the long lines of vans and busses at each observation point along the way. Many scout organizations were using this to culminate "bird month" in scouting. Ouray is a relatively new refuge, having been built in the late 1960's to mitigate the Flaming Gorge Dam construction. It has a series of holding ponds for migrating waterfowl and some areas of riparian woods. Because of the cool spring weather, the migration has been delayed by a week or so. Rangers told us that many more migrants had arrived by this time last year. We saw very few migrant songbirds with the exception of House Wren, Barn and Tree Swallows, Marsh Wren, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. There was, of course, the usual collection of blackbirds, Black-necked Stilts, Willet, Killdeer, Great Blue Heron and porcupines! It seemed as if every taller tree had a resident porcupine stripping bark from the branches. One of the more memorable sights of the day was of a Great Horned Owl chick, all white and fluffy, sitting in an open nest not far from a parking area. The mother was nearby carefully concealed in a tangle of branches. In the same area was a Red-tailed Hawk nest with a screaming mother perched above.
Taking a welcome break at refuge headquarters, we got to see a Harris Hawk tethered to a pole. It had been injured and was being shown by a falconer who stated that our group was the only one who knew what kind of bird he had. The find of the day came in the early afternoon as we walked down a road in the Leota Bottoms. After seeing several lumbering Great Blues, an American Bittern sailed into view. We watched it glide to a landing on the edge of a pond and then stealthily walk along the bank searching for fish in the shallow waters. We all had a wonderful look at this relatively rare (but regular) Utah resident. Some in the group spotted another bittern a few dozen yards from the first but it quickly slipped into the reeds where it became one with the vegetation.
The trip home produced several Osprey and Common Loons near Starvation Lake. We had never seen an Osprey in a juniper tree before. In the Strawberry Valley we found two Sandhill Cranes feeding along the edge of melting snow near a thawed field filled with American Pipits, Horned Larks, Long-billed Curlews, White-faced Ibis and American Crows. In the distance we heard more cranes.
While waiting for the rock slide traffic light in Provo Canyon, a beautiful Belted Kingfisher bounded up the river--our 70th bird of the day and a nice ending to a perfect birding day. Some in the group found nearly 20 new species and all found Ouray NWR to be a site worthy of many return trips.

BIRDS ON US COINS

Steve center and furthest back with the baseball cap, and 20 some odd Utah Birding Friends.

NOTE: I found the following short message written by Steve Carr in December 2008. Steve was a past President of the Utah Ornithological Society and one of the few individuals to achieve the 100 species of birds in each of Utah's 29 counties feat. He had a wide variety of interests.  Steve passed away on January 17, 2014.

 

This message is only for birders who enjoy birding trivia.  All others can delete immediately.

Ten years ago, the US government began a program of minting 25-cent pieces for each of the 50 states.  With Hawaii's coin having been minted, the set is complete.  We thought some of you might be interested is knowing how many birds are depicted on the 50 quarters.

AR - shows a Duck lifting off the water.

CA - California Condor.

ID - A large Hawk, recognizing the importance of the Snake River Birds of Prey area.

LA - Brown Pelican - the state bird.

ME - A distant view of 2 flying birds, likely representing Gulls.

MN - Common Loon - the state bird.

OK - Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - the state bird

SC - Carolina Wren - the state bird.

SD - Ring-necked Pheasant - the state bird.

So, almost 20% of the states showed a bird of some sort.  Ten% depicted their official state birds.

--Steve Carr, UOS