Today's photo challenge: Photographer's Choice

Yellow headed blackbirds decorating the reeds

Birding At Bear Lake Migratory Bird Refuge With Melinda

Melinda drove to Utah with Mom for a very short family visit. I met her in Logan and we took off birding. The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge http://www.fws.gov/bearriver/ has a stunning array of birds. I kept saying, what species I expected to see and lo and behold it would show up. The best was as we were leaving, I mourned the loss of spotting a curlew and one immediately flew by. It was a delightful day.



We saw:
Tree swallows
Barn swallows
Bank swallows
Cliff swallows
Western kingbird
Coots
Redheads
Gadwalls
Ruddy ducks
Yellow headed blackbirds



Red winged blackbirds
Magpies
Robins
House sparrows
Starlings
Cinnamon teals
Mallards
White faced ibis
Avocets
California gulls



Western meadowlarks
Ravens
Great blue herons
Cattle egrets
Bullocks oriole
Horned larks
Franklin's gulls
Western grebes
Vesper sparrows
Snowy plovers



Killdeer
Double crested cormorants
Canada geese
Grasshopper sparrows
Snowy egrets
Black necked stilts
Wilsons phalaropes
Northern shovelers
American White Pelicans
Brown headed cowbirds



Clarks grebes
Marsh wrens
Forster's terns
Black crowned night herons
Pied billed grebes
Common terns
Brewers blackbirds
Greater yellow legs
Eastern kingbird
Northern harrier



Great egret
Long billed curlew
Willet
American Kestrel

and a Muskrat

We had a really late lunch at a Mexican restaurant who's name escapes me. The interior looks like a Mexican street market. Then back to Dave's where I had to say bye. *sniff*

Photo's from Bear Lake 2009
(Written Dec 2010)

Birding around San Antonio

Journal Entry March 2010 (Written December 2010)
Thursday March 25th

This was a very busy day. We started birding in the parking lots of the hotel and adjacent McDonalds.

It continued from there as we used the Great Texas Birding Trail maps to find lots of great places. We got a day use pass for a couple of private lakes.

Black vultures on the wing

Tree full of Great-tailed grackles

There were more fields of flowers to be seen too...

After lunch at Appleby's, we walked around the Mission Espada grounds.

And after much driving about found the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. We saw a great number of birds this day. Many of them new to me. The flock of black vultures on the dumpster at one of the private lakes was awesome in every sense of the word. And the grackles displaying for mates were amusing.

Bird list:
1. House sparrow
2. Common grackle
3. Great tailed grackle
4. Rock doves
5. Starlings
6. Cliff swallows
7. Mocking birds
8. Black vultures
9. Mourning doves
10. Cattle egrets
11. Scissor tailed flycatcher
12. Crows
13. Kildeer
14. Crested caracara
15. Turkey vultures
16. Barn swallows
17. Coots
18. Savannah sparrows
19. Great egret
20. Pied billed grebe
21. Mallards
22. Double crested cormorants
23. Common moorhen
24. Blue winged teals
25. Neotropic cormorants
26. Osprey
27. Glossy ibis
28. Spotted sandpiper
29. Song sparrow
30. Red tailed hawk
31. Red winged blackbird
32. Gadwall
33. Great blue heron
34. Eastern meadowlark
35. White winged doves
36. House finches
37. Cardinals
38. Cliff swallows
39. Kestrels
40. Northern shovelers
41. Blue gray gnatcatcher
42. Swamp sparrow
43. Loggerhead shrike
44. Common yellowthroat - Jenny only cause she was searching the reeds with her binocs

And finally a fixed wing cargo bird that kept psyching us out.

I found the book 'Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays' by Candace Savage at the Refuge and read it to Nick and Melinda while we drove home. The family went to the new Chinese place in Italy for dinner. Surprisingly it was really good. Later a very tired group of us played Scrabble.

For photos see:
Birding day 2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157624106750920/
Mission Espada - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157623982568747/

Birding our way South to San Antonio

Journal Entry March 2010 (Written December 2010)
Wednesday March 24th

Melinda's Car & Nick's Coffee

Nick, Melinda and I took off for San Antonio. The plan was to meet up with Nanette for lunch somewhere along the way. The plan worked. We birded and met them just north of Austin for lunch at Wendy's.

Black-bellied whistling ducks

Then they took off to go to a cave and we continued our birding adventure. By now, Nick had figured out that Melinda and I don't sit for hours looking at a bird. Instead we drive around looking at cool stuff. We get out and hike down interesting trails in the middle of nowhere and generally go and see what's out and about.

From the bridge we could see kinglets. Frisky kinglets flicking wings and darting about. Unfortunately they didn't stay still long enough to identify the top of their heads. So we have no idea if they are ruby or golden...

This was a lovely deserted stretch of park. Notice the big spiny prickly pear cactus on the left.

Nick had to investigate it...

That day we saw 43 bird species including:
1. Eastern phoebe
2. Northern cardinals
3. Great blue heron
4. American crows
5. Great tailed grackles
6. Common grackle
7. Black vultures
8. European starlings
9. Carolina chickadee
10. Mourning doves
11. Osprey
12. Kildeer
13. American coots
14. Double crested cormorants
15. Forsters tern
16. Red wing blackbird
17. Roadrunner
18. Mocking birds
19. Pied billed grebe -- We saw this on a pond beside the road, it was bobbing along and then Nick shouted "THAT DUCK JUST SANK!" it was awesome.
20. Orange crowned warblers
21. Barn swallows
22. Chipping sparrows
23. Black bellied whistling ducks
24. Ring necked ducks
25. Mallards
26. Lesser scaup
27. Turkey vulture
28. Cedar waxwings
29. Lapland longspurs
30. Lark sparrows
31. Eurasian collared doves
32. Eastern bluebird
33. Kinglets
34. Eastern meadowlarks
35. Vesper sparrows
36. Bank swallows
37. Cliff swallows
38. Rock doves
39. Kestrels
40. Red tailed hawk
41. White wing doves
42. House sparrows
43. Great egret

Additionally gray squirrels and cottontail bunnies

On the trip I got notes to look up Ogilvy's book "Ogilvy on Advertising"

I also needed to look up the history of 'cast aspersions'

From the OED:
6. A damaging report; a charge that tarnishes the reputation; a calumny, slander, false insinuation. Esp. in the phr. to cast aspersions upon.
1596 Spenser View State Ireland Pref. 2 Which may seeme to lay‥any particular aspersion upon some families.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Bristol 37 As false is the Aspersion of his being a great Usurer.
1692 King James II Let. 2 Apr. (BL Stowe 158 f. 61) , Even that precatuion [having witnesses at the prince's birth] was not enough to hinder Us from the malicious Aspersions of such as were resolved to deprive Us of Our Royal Right.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. vii. 155, I defy all the World to cast a just Aspersion on my Character.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. v. 113 Vindicating myself from the aspersions.

It was a LOT of fun. We crisscrossed around birding in Waco and Austin and San Antonio environs. The spring wildflowers were out in force this weekend and they were gorgeous. Fields of blue and red and orange and yellow were all delightful. We ended in Southeast SA at a Best Western. The desk clerk gave us directions to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants EVER. It was filled with locals and for good reason.

For more photos see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157624106750920/

Birding American Falls - again

On our way to Burley for ILA Cheryl and I did a little birding around American Falls.  We spotted:

Common loon
American white pelicans
Red tailed hawks
Flickers
Canada geese
Double crested cormorants
Rough legged hawk
House sparrows
Crows
Magpies

The conference was fun, we presented on Evaluating Databases and Decoding Salesspeak. We also got to watch an episode of Project Runway together.

Grays Lake

DSC08491
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

So why did I have so much time off and time with friends? Well, originally we had planned a 4 day campout Thurs-Sun. The Idaho weather decided we weren't going to get to do that. It had rained so much that even if it had stopped the campgrounds were still going to be closed because of mud.

I had also taken Monday off thinking I'd need a day to recover. After sleeping in I decided to go and do something. By now the sun had come out and the weather was spectacular. Again nature was displaying its finest in green with accents and fields of flowers.

Doing something for me nowdays means birding. So off I went, South instead of my usual North and circumnavigated the Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge. There were a LOT of good birds. I was particularly excited to see the 4 Long-billed curlews flying in for a landing. Once landed, I couldn't see them at all. This wildlife refuge doesn't have the viewing areas that you can find at Camas or Market Lake. Still my list was quite good and I got to watch Red-tailed hawk after Red-tailed hawk after Red-tailed hawk. I've been studying raptors hoping to be better able to identify them on the wing. I think I really know the RT hawk now.

Ravens
Crows
Red-winged blackbirds
House sparrows
Rock doves
Great blue herons
Long-billed curlews
Horned larks
Vestper sparrows
Cliff swallows
Tree swallows
Brown headed cowbirds
American goldfinches
Magpies
Robins
Western meadowlarks
Mallards
Redheads
Cinnamon teals
American wigeons
Yellow-headed blackbirds
Coots
White-faced ibises
American avocets
Wilson's phaleropes
Canada geese
A.White pelicans
Osprey
Western Bluebirds
Turkey vultures
Common terns
Sandhill cranes
Coppers hawk
and a Mule deer

I drove home the long way up through Wyoming then Palisades, Ririe and Idaho Falls. It was also gorgeous and added to the bird list. I am most proud of the Coopers hawk identification. Woo Hoo!

Last day of GSL Bird Festival

Bummer the picture is blurry, I've got a problem taking pictures while on a horse. Still you can see the coyote looking at us on the far edge of the shadow of the tree.

Last but certainly not least fun was our "Birds & Spurs" bird tour. Sunday morning 8:00 a.m. at the ranch on Antelope Island. Good thing we always try to be early for things. We made it just on time because of our, okay my desire to look at birds. We saw more birds going in to the ranch than we saw on the tour. That just doesn't matter though. We got to spend two hours riding around the environs on horses.

I signed up for this even back at the beginning of April. I hadn't been on a horse in ages. So for the subsequent 6 weeks I did strength training 4 days a week and rode horses a couple of times with the outdoors program. It worked! I was able to 1: Get on the horse. 2: Ride the horse without pain for 2 hours. 3: Dismount the horse with a modicum of grace. 4: Walk away from the horse without acting like a cripple. 5: Be able to walk the next day. I was very happy to have achieved all of those goals.

Our bird list included:
Ring-necked pheasant, California quail, Chuckar
Red-winged, Yellow-headed, and Brewers blackbirds
Magpies, Robins, Ravens
Horned larks, various unidentifiable warblers and flycatchers
Grasshopper sparrows, White-crowned sparrows, House sparrows, House finches
Cliff and Barn swallows
Wilson's snipe, Willets
Burrowing owl!!!

And then we also saw Mega-fauna
Pronghorn
Bison
Mule deer
Coyotes
and the skeleton of a bighorn sheep

Twas very, very cool and I hope to go again next year!

Birds of Prey workshop at GSL Bird Festival

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Originally uploaded by J Semenza

Raptor Notes

Raptor Identification by Ben Woodruff, SkyMasters
"This program is geared towards serious bird watching enthusiasts. Ben will share many non-traditional and little known identification tips. Live raptors will be displayed in this program as well as digitally displayed images."

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When identifying raptors take the time to ask yourself these questions:
What is the bird doing?
Where is the bird?
These can help you figure out what the bird might be.

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Falcons are like bricks the weight of 5 large raptors are compressed into this little raptor making them super dense and heavy. The exception is the Kestrel.

Falcons DO NOT glide. They zoom to their destination without a pause in the wing beat or a dip in the flight plan. Unstoppable cruising speed that they use to catch other birds for dinner

Falcons have long skinny wings.

Kestrel v Merlin
When sitting they have different silhouettes. The Kestrel nips in at the rump and then out for the tail. The Merlin does not.

Peregrines have stumpy tails

Prairie falcons are less tolerant of humans. They LOVE larks and are found in the prairie hunting them. Particularly abundant on the salt flats desert.

The Gyrfalcon has a longer wing and can be found in the Bear River area in Feb & March

Prairie falcons are darker underneath. They like to sit on the second rung down on the telephone poles (to help hide from larger raptors). They will lean next to the post or "hug" the post in order to hide.

If it is a falcon in the city it is a peregrine.

When hunting other birds the peregrine will strike, circle up and strike again.

When hunting other birds the Prairie falcon will hit just as it is coming up under its circle.

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Hawks or Buteos have long broad wings. They are the "soaring hawks"

Buteos don't worry about eagles eating them so there is no hiding near fence posts.

They have very broad shoulders and glide, there is an up and down motion in flight. In Utah Swainson's are the summer hawk, Red Tails and Ferriginous (the prairie eagle) the spring and fall, and Rough legged in the winter.

Ferriginous hawks have tiny feet and hunt on the ground.

Harris hawks are pack birds

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Accipters are forest hawks. They are high strung and aggressive.

Goshawks are not found in town

Coopers & Sharp shinned can be spotted in neighborhood trees.

Coopers have a white tip on their tail that is noticeable.

Sharp-shinned do have a white tip, but it is not noticeable.

Accipters have shorter wings compared to their height, and they love water.

Accipters have big deep rowing wing beats (pigeon like). They will flap 3-4 times then soar. Look for them in canyons hunting for ground squirrels.

Goshawks nest in areas with Fir and Aspen. their nests of sticks are right next to the trunk of the tree.

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A Harrier is hawk size but really light, it hunts by coursing out over fields.

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Great horned, burrowing, barn and short-eared owls can be spotted in the daytime.

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Golden eagles are aggressive, they pull their heads in close to their body to take off and have a longish tail.

Bald eagles are more social and tend to have "poofy" heads. They keep their heads down to take off and have a shorter tail.

This was a fascinating lecture and one I will remember for always. If you have a chance to attend one of their lectures, GO!

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Great Salt Lake Bird Festival May 15-17

Ah, the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival that was something else! I began Friday by driving up to BYU Idaho. I was the closing speaker for their Library Week festivities. I was able to take 1.5 hours for my Notes from a Wandering Librarian and that was a relief. I'm normally talking so fast it's a little obnoxious. It was interesting to visit the old Ricks campus, so familiar and yet so foreign now. The library used to take one wing of the building with administration in the other wing. Now the library occupies both wings. Lunch with librarians and then back to Pocatello to repack for my next trip.

On the drive down to Farmington on Friday evening I called Krista and sure enough she and Terrial were available for dinner. We met up at Applebees and had a great visit. It seems impromptu works well for both of us. We stayed at a nearby Day's Inn. It was important to drive down Friday cause I had signed us up for a 7:00 a.m. bird tour.

The tour "Glover Ponds at Sunrise" was very fascinating, not just for the birds, but for the birders. I'm so used to going with family and being silly that the seriousness of the group was a bit intimidating. I am not going to let that put me off. Next year I'm going again, only maybe I'll wear clown shoes and a nose. They seemed so afraid of getting it wrong. Pity.

We saw lots of bird species and many, many, adorable chicks (as in baby birds).

Western kingbirds, Yellow-rumped warblers, Marsh wrens

Brewers, Red-winged, and Yellow-headed blackbirds

Great blue herons, Snowy egrets, American avocets +chicks, Black-necked stilts, Kildeer, Snowy plovers, White-faced ibises, Sandhill cranes +chicks, Double-crested cormorants

Pied billed grebes, Western grebes

Canada geese, Northern shovelers, Redheads, Cinnamon teals, Ruddy ducks, Gadwalls, Mallards, Coots

Forsters terns

Tree, Barn, Cliff and Bank swallows

Red-tailed hawks

Ravens, Crows, Magpies, Starlings

The program advertised the Glover Ponds tour as:
"These ponds bring YOU into nature, with an enriching experience, as you come in contact with this marsh habitat. The Nature Center deck and surrounding wetlands at the edge of Great Salt Lake, enhances your opportunity for close-up observation. A nearby Great Blue Heron rookery will be active and Avocets will be building nests. Other possible species include: Cinnamon Teal, four species of grebes, Snowy Egrets, Ruddy Ducks, American Pelicans, plus other shorebirds, and other wildlife."

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I attended a couple of workshops on Saturday. (Including the Raptor one).

The "Nature Photography" class was interesting and I learned a lot of basics on how to take better pictures.

The "Ruling by Obfuscation: Tyrant Flycatchers of Utah" was great and I have a marvelous cheat sheet that I need to make copies of and affix to my bird books. I'm not sure if I am more confused or less confused but I'm sure I learned something. The blurb for the workshop was marvelous:

"Are you confused about flycatchers? Losing sleep over the Empidonax group? Do you lash out at family and friends when they bring up lower mandible coloration? You should consider an experimental new treatment: Flycatcher Stress Reduction Therapy. The treatment is free and you can be seen on a walk-in basis. So don’t let flycatcher confusion rule your life any longer. Come and learn the truth about flycatcher identification. Plumage characteristics are not always enough, but you can use other distinguishing features like song, habitat, and even behavior to help surmount your fear of misidentification. You can go from “Oh no, it’s a flycatcher, let’s go the other way” to ”OH LOOK! It’s a flycatcher, let’s figure out which
one!”

I got a little turned around on our way back to the festival after lunch. This meant we wandered into a neighborhood with a fantastic yard sale. We've now officially replaced our ice cream maker with one that seems much more sturdy.

There were a lot of activities geared for kids at the festival and the workshops were all free. I'd highly recommend this as an activity for families!

GSA May 10-13

DSC08014
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

Geological Society of America: GSA, Conference Location: Orem Utah, Special Speaker: Nick Semenza.

I got home on Saturday from my trip ILA North trip. Sunday we had a graduation lunch with friends at our house. Because of all of the traveling I've had to do recently, I wasn't looking forward to taking off on Sunday evening to head for the GSA conference. Nor had we made arrangements for our dog for Sunday evening. See, we had thought to drive down on Monday. It wasn't till Saturday evening when we realized that the conference actually started at 8:00 a.m. on Monday. We decided to take two cars down. This way I could sleep and sleep and sleep and drive down in time to hear Nick speak. And he could leave Sunday and be there first thing in the morning. It's probably too late to try and make this story any shorter so ...

Sunday after lunch Nick gathered stuff up, packed, and headed out while I sat and talked with our friends. They left early and I did a wonderful bunch of nothing. I did get to Orem in time to find Nick (who was all decked out in a suit looking very professional) and go to his session. He did such a great job, everyone loved it. He spoke about using historical records and geoscience/mapping to find lost springs.

The first evening we went out to dinner at the Brazillian Grill "Tucanos" near the mouth of Provo Canyon. Annie met us there and we gorged on the all you can eat grilled food. I am in LOVE with grilled pineapple.

I went birding while he attended GSA for the next couple of days. First I visited the South end of Utah lake. Here I found:

Western meadowlarks
Yellow-headed, and Red-winged blackbirds, Brown-headed cowbirds

House sparrows, Robins, Mourning doves, Western kingbirds, Magpies,

Tree, Bank, and Barn swallows

Canada geese, Redheads, Coots, Mallards, Western grebes, Pied-billed grebes, White-faced Ibises, American-white pelicans, American wigeons, Cinnamon teals, kildeer, Double-crested cormorants, Cattle egret

American goldfinches, Western tanagers, Yellow-rumbed warblers

Turkey vultures

The second evening we were looking for much lighter fare and discovered a relatively new place that served great salads, sandwiches and tea. A lovely change to the heavy Brazillian fare. After dinner we drove out Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls. I thought Nick should see the amazing rocks and mountains of the canyon. It is too bad night fell so swiftly.

We had to check out on Wednesday so I headed north for a leisurely drive home with more birding while Nick attended more conference sessions. I stopped at Willard State Park, Brigham City, Honeyville, and the Bear River Refuge. The Refuge is STUPENDOUS! I saw so many birds...

Tree, Violet-green, Cliff, Bank, and Barn swallows

Great-tailed grackle, Robins, Magpies, House sparrows, Crows, Ravens, Starlings, Rock doves

Bullocks oriole, Western kingbirds, Western meadowlark, Horned lark, Marsh wrens

Kildeer, White-faced ibises, Cattle egret, Long-billed curlew, American avocets, Willets, Black-neck stilt, Snowy egrets, American-white pelcians, Wilson's phaleropes, Western grebes, Clarks grebes, Canada geese, Great-blue herons, Double-crested comorant

Mallards, Coots, American wigeons, Cinnamon teals, Redhead, Ruddy duck, Northern shovelers, Gadwalls, Northern pintail

Kestrel, Red-tailed hawk

Yellow-headed, Red-winged, and Brewers blackbird

Bonaparte's gulls, Forsters Terns

The best part was driving out of the Refuge. I was driving along and glanced to my left and thought, oh northern pintail duck. My inner critic then said Nah, so I stopped and turned around and sure enough it really was a northern pintail. I was very, VERY excited. I've been birding for a long time and it is getting more and more fun as I can identify many birds at a glance and many more after a bit of study. It is only now and then that I have to get out the book and ponder. And I've only had to email a picture to Melinda once so far this year. Whoo HOOO!

Home from ILA North

DSC07922
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

I attended (and presented) at the ILA regional conference in Moscow. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to book a room that evening in Moscow because of graduation ceremonies. I finished the conference and drove to the Super 8 in Coeur d'Alene. Next moring I headed for home. There was so much to see on the way home. It was fabulous!

On the way home I stopped at the lake and took a few pictures, and I stopped at the Mission and took a few pictures. I did not go in the Mission, I've been there before and I didn't want to take the time. Heading south I got to Missoula around 1:00. I headed into the city hoping to find somewhere interesting to eat. With Nick's long distance (thank heavens for cell phones) help. I did find a great lunch place but it was packed and there was no parking in the downtown area and there were people everywhere so I gave up and headed south. That little detour (which still didn't get me lunch) took an hour. Anyway, I ended up at a roadside diner south of Missoula.

As I passed Camas wildlife refuge the urge to go birding was overwhelming so I stopped in Roberts and did a drive by through market lake. There were tons of birds! It was early evening and I found the Short-eared owl out hunting. I just assumed it was a RT hawk, still it was sitting on a post and I might as well look and once I got my binoculars up I realized that this was no hawk. It posed for awhile and then took off to find more food. It was very cool.

I saw a LOT of birds over the 3 days including:

Short-eared owl, Golden eagles, Bald eagle, Red-tailed hawks, Swainsons hawks, Turkey vultures and Kestrels

American-white pelicans, Long-billed curlew, Kildeer, Mallards, Western grebes, Double-crested cormorants, White-faced ibises, Sandhill crane, American avocet, Black-crowned night heron, Wilson's phaleropes, Great-blue herons,

Ruddy ducks, Cinnamon teals, Coots, Lesser scaups, Northern shovelers, Readheads,

Franklins gull, California gull, Common tern
Crows, Ravens, Magpies, Stellars jay

House sparrows, Rock doves, Mourning doves, Robins, Western meadowlarks, Ruby crowned kinglet, Yellow rumped warblers,

Red-winged, Yellow-headed, and Brewers blackbirds

Bank, Cliff, Tree, Barn, and Rough-winged swallows

Red fox, Antelope, and Mule deer.

For more photos see the flickr set at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157618913280236/

Sisters & Birds

I left work a few minutes early and headed home. I was still not certain if I would drive down to Salt Lake City that evening or the next morning. As I started packing and getting things together I got more into the idea of getting there Friday night and NOT trying get up at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday. With the car loaded I took off, arriving at Rebecca's downtown apartment at 8:00 p.m. She met me downstairs and we headed for Sawadee Thai Food.

Sawadee has amazing food. For the first time I really, REALLY enjoyed the tofu parts of my pad thai. Rebecca says the trick is to drain the tofu, chop it up in cubes, and let it sit for awhile to finish draining (approx 1hr). You then fry it and add to whatever you want.

If you want to go to Sawadee it is located at:
754 East South Temple
Salt Lake City UT
http://www.sawadee1.com/

Hung out with Rebecca and her daughter + friend for awhile before going to sleep.

Woke up early, had too. Really wanted to go birding with the Great Salt Lake

Audubon group http://www.greatsaltlakeaudubon.org/ on their Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve (Kennecott Mitigation Property) field trip. It was really amazing the area is HUGE and normally off limits to people. I didn't count, but it seemed like hundreds of Avocets were present, along with the trifecta of teals and more:

American Avocets
Cinnamon Teals
Blue Winged Teals
Green Winged Teals
Great Blue Herons
Western Meadowlarks
Sage Thrashers
Northern Harriers
Northern Shovelers
Coots
Willets
Savannah Sparrow
Yellow Headed Blackbirds
Red Winged Blackbirds
Canada Geese (surprisingly few)
Eared Grebes
LEsser Scaups
Long Billed Curlews
Logger Head Shrike
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Golden Eagle

And best of all a new species for me: Barn Owl!!

Outside of the field trip I also saw:
American Robins
Red Tailed Hawks
Starlings
Rock Doves
California Gulls
House Sparrows
Trumpeter Swans

And the cutest Wood Duck.

For Mammals, there were Pronghorns on the reserve and dozens of Mule Deer along I15.

I met some great people and ended up carpooling with a Yvonne from the Utah County Audubon group http://www.utahbirds.org/. She was very congenial and interesting. She has a spotting scope and so I got more information about them from her. The best surprise was the fact that there are Bird Festivals where there are field trips and classes and vendors and I gotta go to one!!

After birding I cleaned up and headed for Jessica's.

Jessica is very pregnant right now. She's having a girl and the little baby Rachel is expected to make her debut within the next few weeks. Thank heavens for Rebecca, she let me pay for half of a great present. She found a gorgeous sterling silver necklace with coin like monogram charms for each member of Jessica's family.

It was one of the best baby showers I have ever attended. Jessica's friends had set it up as an open house so people could come and go. There were presents and cake and veggies and it was only friends and family. I wish I coulda stayed longer.

More later...
Jenny

Birding - March - Camas, Market Lake, Mud Lake...

Two days of birding, Camas Wildlife Refuge, Mud Lake, Market Lake, the Snake River North of Idaho Falls, and my house. I was able to find the Long Tailed Duck on the Snake River, though it took two days of hunting. It was very nifty!! I was also able to plot a path outside of I15 from IF to Market Lake to Mud Lake to Camas. I ended up seeing so many more birds because of this change of path. I really liked the fields filled with ducks (northern pintail mostly...)

Golden eagle	Rough legged hawks
Swainsons hawks	American kestrels
Red tailed hawks	Northern harriers
Red winged blackbirds	Yellow headed blackbirds
American robins	Dark eyed juncos
Western meadowlarks	California gulls
Ring billed gulls	Northern flicker
Horned larks	American crows
Rock doves	Mourning doves
House sparrows	House finches
Lesser goldfinches	Pine siskins
Red breasted nuthatch	Magpies
Canada geese	Snow geese
Starlings	Red naped sapsuckers
Trumpeter swans	Tundra swans
Common goldeneyes	Gadwall
American wigeons	Northern pintails
Coots	Ring necked ducks
Long tailed ducks	Blue winged teal
Mallards	Lesser scaups
Cinnamon teals	Red breasted mergansers
Red headed ducks	Kildeer
Sandhill cranes	Great blue heron
Chinese pheasants	Great horned owls
Bohemian waxwings	Cedar waxwings
Porcupines	Captive bison

Birding around American Falls

3/20/09

I had planned on going to Mud Lake, Camas, and Market Lake, but slept in and missed the timing. Instead I headed for American Falls. There are many great birding spots around this reservoir and the Snake River. Of particular interest is the birding trail that the Audubon society has marked near the fish hatchery.

At my house:
1. House sparrows
2. House Finches
3. Pine siskins

On the road:
4. Rock doves
5. Magpies
6. Western Meadowlark
7. Red tailed hawk

By the marina:
8. Song sparrow
9. Mallards
10. Crows
11. California gulls
12. Ring billed gulls
13. Robins
14. Starlings
15. Tree swallows
16. Goldfinch
17. Kestrels
18. Norther 'red shafted' flickers playing mating games

By the dam:
19. Northern pintail

By the fish hatchery:
20. Red breasted mergansers
21. Yellow rumped warblers
22. Norther shovelers
23. Common mergansers
24. Common goldeneys
25. Barrows godleneyes
26. Dark eyed juncos
27. Canada geese

It was a gorgeous sunny day and lots of fun to be out and about.

Birding in Utah

Melinda and I went birding in Utah, around Antelope Island and the wetlands nearby.


Day 1 3/7/9

kildeer
robins
canada geese
northern shovelers
eurasian wigeon
bufflehead
northern harrier (male)
american kestral
mallards
western meadowlark
common ravens
whooping crane
red winged blackbird
american tree sparrow
long eared owls
white breasted nuthatch
crows
chuckar
magpies
mourning doves
rock doves
starlings

coyote (heard the pups too)
pronghorn

Day 2 3/8/9

european house sparrows
american kestral
robins
starlings
rock doves
magpies
red breasted nuthatches
crows
common ravens

Boating at Massacre Rocks with Nick and Barkley

DSC03489
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

Birding from the boat, I love it! Barkley is a great, big, funny, fuzzy, dunderhead. On the boat he would walk around in circles from back of the boat to front of the boat. If he wasn't circling he was on the front watching the water or curled up napping.

We saw so many birds it was great. The most fun was the young grebe, that wanted the float off of Nick's fishing line. He chased, circled, poked and tried to eat the big orange ball. We also saw Bullocks orioles, marsh wrens, northern waterthrush, and all kinds of grebes, eared, horned, clarks, and western grebes.

It was a lovely day.

Photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157605200477430/

Birding with Susan

saw whet owl
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

I finished up the southern sabbatical circuit and was home for about 10 days. I repacked, replanned, plotted and prepared for the next circuit. I also went birdwatching one day with Susan Crandall. We had the best time. We went to Market Lake and Camas Wildlife refuge. At Camas we walked along a trail and met a couple of other birders. These birders told us about a Saw Whet Owl just up the trail. We wouldn't miss it because still another birder had a telescope pointed at it.

This picture shows the teeny tiny Saw Whet owl clutching a mouse in its claws. Personally, I think he was napping before lunch. We also saw Canada geese on Market Lake stuck in the ice. Poor goosies couldn't move. On our way out, the ponds had thawed and the geese were gone.

We munched on apples, cheese and applesauce spice cake. It was a very fun day and I hope I get to go out with her again soon.

4 photos from this trip at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604514291394/
We saw:
american white pelicans
brewers blackbirds
buffleheads
california gulls
canada geese
canvasback
chipping sparrow
common goldeneye
coots
crows
dark eyed juncos
great blue heron
great horned owl
house sparrows
lesser scaup
lincoln sparrow
magpies
mourning doves
northern harriers
northern pintails
northern shoveler
prairie falcon
red breasted merganser
red headed ducks
red tailed hawks
red winged blackbirds
ring necked duck
robins
rockc doves
ruddy ducks
sandhill cranes
saw whet owl
snow geese
starlings
stellars jays
swainson's hawk
trumpter swans
tundra swans
western meadowlarks
yellow headed blackbirds

Not Birds:
antelope
ground squirrels

Staying in Italy March 17 - 24

determined cardinal03
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

So much to do and so many people to visit with. I had to do work though too. I ended up at dad's office typing away on my computer, transcribing notes, uploading photos, and planning for the next route.

I was able to meet up with Jeff and Randy (dragging Mom, Dad and Erika along) at the El Fenix restaurant in Dallas. The El Fenix is a marvelous Mexican restaurant that is a Dallas institution. We also invited them to Easter dinner at Moms. It was great to catch up with them. Dad gave us a comprehensive dome tour which is always interesting to me. I never can keep up with all of the innovations going on with Monolithic Constructors.

Mom, Melinda and I did some shopping. I loved the going out of business Liz Claiborne outlet and found $4.00 shirts that I would end up wearing on every other circuit of my sabbatical. The clothes were a great addition to my trip wardrobe. I ended up having to ship some of it home in boxes, cause even though I was driving my big red suitcase, it only holds so much. I also didn't want to encourage anyone to break into my car by leaving things in it.

Rebecca showed up part way into my stay, she was recovering or rather not recovering from a surgery. After I left she ended up in the Texas hospital for a second go-round.

Tessa hosted a breakfast for all of us and I got to see more of those cute nieces and nephews of mine.

While staying at mom's house I got awoken in the morning by this sharp rapping on the window. Eventually, I discovered that a bright red cardinal was attacking its image in the window. Defending his territory and functioning as an alarm clock, what a bird. I also got to see a lot of Carmella the albino house sparrow. Melinda and I did some birding and I was even able to spend a few days at her house. In the evening we would watch David Attenborough's Lives of Birds. It had rained enough to create a big pond in between Mike's house and Gary's house. Erika named it Erika's lake. It was a great birding spot.

I had a great visit with everyone.

Pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604165651309/

March 21 2008
“Erika’s Lake” at the dome & Charca
1. baird’s sandpipers
2. solitary sandpiper
3. wilson’s snipes
4. savannah sparrows
5. American pipits
6. house sparrows
7. greater yellowlegs
8. barn swallows
9. killdeer
10. red eared sliders (turtles
11. common grackles
12. scissor tailed flycatcher
13. eastern bluebird
14. mockingbird
15. brownheaded cowbirds
16. cardinals
17. mourning doves
18. white winged doves
19. Eurasian collared dove
20. blue jay
21. great tailed grackles
22. rock doves

March 22 2008
Lake Whitney, Milford, Hillsboro, Lake Erika
1. baird’s sandpipers
2. solitary sandpipers
3. killdeer
4. pipits
5. savanna sparrows
6. wilson’s snipes
7. savannah sparrows
8. American pipits
9. house sparrows
10. greater yellowlegs
11. starlings
12. eastern bluebird
13. cardinals
14. mourning doves
15. American crows
16. eastern meadowlarks
17. barn swallows
18. mockingbirds
19. turkey vultures
20. great tailed grackles
21. loggerhead shrike
22. lark sparrow
23. rough winged swallows / cliff swallows
24. coots
25. great egret
26. scissortailed flycatcher
27. herring gulls?
28. mallards
29. great blue heron
30. chipping sparrow
31. yellow rumped warbler
32. bewicks wren
33. blue jay
34. red tailed hawk
35. black vultures
36. Eurasian collared doves
37. white crowned sparrow
38. Carolina chickadee
39. hermit thrush
40. Carolina wren

Birding in Southwest Texas - March 15 & 16

big bend tunnel
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

This morning we packed our bags and headed back towards Big Bend. And this time we saw lots of birds including the beautiful little Vermillion flycatcher. We got up into the Chisos Mountain Basin where the oak grows wild. After a very long day of birding we headed for Italy. It was a very long way off so once we found a phone signal I called Nick to see if he could find us a hotel. Eventually I had to pull over and wait for his return call. Signal strength isn't exactly reliable in those parts.

A hotel was found in Monahans. The lady at the desk recommended a terrific restaurant, so we brought her back a piece of cheesecake. She had been having a pretty bad day. The look on her face was priceless.

The next morning we loaded up and headed out for Italy again. As we approached Fort Worth we saw the traffic backing up and many Texans heading across the side median to a frontage road. We just followed them. Unfortunately for them they did not have Melinda the super-navigator with them and they ended up back in line on the stalled freeway. We took back roads and saw more birds. It may have been the long scenic route, but I'll take that any day over stop and go freeway traffic.

It was great to arrive in Italy

Pictures from day 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604161092758/

1. white tailed deer (not birds)
   
2. Chihuahua ravens
3. mourning doves
4. western meadowlarks
5. red tailed hawks
6. mule deer (also not birds)
   
7. pyrrholuxias
8. common ravens
9. roadrunners (my trip favorites)
   
10. loggerhead shrike
11. black throated sparrows
12. mockingbirds
13. turkey vultures
14. black tailed gnatcatcher
15. verdin
16. golden fronted woodpecker
17. white crowned sparrows
18. yellow rumped warbler
19. cardinals
20. vermillion flycatchers
21. spotted towhee
22. white winged doves
23. ruby crowned kinglet
24. golden crowned kinglet
25. lark buntings
26. chipping sparrows
27. ladder backed woodpecker
28. purple martin
29. black phoebe
30. mountain chickadee
31. purple finches
32. cassins finches
33. house finches
34. northern (red shafted race) flicker
35. western meadowlarks
36. cactus wren
37. cottontail bunnies (not birds either)
    
38. western wood peewee
39. starlings (Stockton)
40. common grackles
41. house sparrows
42. harris hawks (mf pair plus juvenile near grand falls)

Birding in Southwest Texas - March 14

purple finch01
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

Today, we got up early and headed for Big Bend National forest, the long way, of course. On our way to Pinto Canyon road we stopped at a culvert to look at the swallows. WHOOO HOOO cave swallows and then a miraculous appearance of scaled quail this was a very good omen of things to come.

The back roads started out pretty good, pavement gave way to broad, smooth gravel expanses. Our first heart stopping moment came with the cresting of a rise and trying to run over a small group of collard peccaries (wild pigs). A mule deer gave us another moment, and then we really got into back roads. It took us several hours to drive through the 35 mile back road of Pinto Canyon. It was wild and beautiful and there were birds. The driving though was slower than walking because a decision had to be made every inch of the way, turn left-miss that rock, turn right-miss that pothole. Learning to drive on the Menan Buttes in winter and spring was the best training I could have ever had for this road.

We came out back onto pavement at Ruidosa. From here we could see Mexico. We never did go into Mexico, but we sure saw a lot of its mountains to the South. We drove and drove along the Rio Grande, through desert and rock and over mountain. It was stunning and I wish I had more pictures. We stopped at an abandoned movie set (Controbando). Fort Leaton was interesting and had more birds and wonderful sun shades made of dried ocotillo. Ocotillo cactus looks like spiky rebar. At Terlingua ghost town we stopped at a diner for a late lunch. We still had miles to drive, but it was necessary. Terlingua is hot, dry, and dusty. When the wind kicked up the dust it was pretty miserable. The good and bad news at the diner was that the lady who owned it makes world class, blue ribbon winning pie, unfortunately she didn't have any available that day.

We made it into Big Bend national park and just drove on through. By now I was whining about never seeing a road runner. I really, REALLY wanted to see one. And then we turned a corner and I had to slam on the breaks again to prevent us from hitting one. Now that was an exciting way to see a bird. He was gorgeous and I am in love with the road runners.

We got back to Alpine, dusty, sunburned, allery ridden, and fell into bed.

Pictures of day 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604142402353/

Birds of the day include:

1. curve billed thrasher
2. house sparrows
3. brown headed cowbirds
4. Eurasian collared doves
5. common ravens
6. white winged doves
7. red tailed hawks
8. northern harriers
9. scaled quail
10. cave swallows
11. western meadowlark
12. mourning doves
13. eastern meadowlark
14. Chihuahua ravens
15. loggerhead shrike
16. American kestrel
17. pronghorns (still not considered birds)
18. vesper sparrows
19. canyon towhees
20. turkey vulture
21. mule deer (not a bird)
22. black throated sparrows
23. pyrrholuxia
24. roadrunners
25. purple finches
26. house finches
27. yellow rumped warbler
28. long billed dowitcher
29. Mexican mallards
30. northern shovelers
31. green winged teal
32. cinnamon teal
33. great blue heron
34. white crowned sparrows
35. eared grebe
36. cliff swallows
37. say’s phoebe
38. collared peccaries (truly not birds)