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)

Drive to Price UT then to Santa Rosa NM then to Italy TX

Nick & Jenny drive to and visit Italy Texas
Journal Entry March 2010 (Written December 2010)
March 19th - 21st (Friday - Sunday)

The plan was to drive the freeway for as much of the trip as possible, stopping in the great plains flyway to do some birding, but weather intervened making the road through Wyoming, Colorado, and Kansas a crazy mess of snow. The plan changed, we'd drive through Utah and take the southern route to Italy TX.

We left in the late afternoon on Friday and drove to Price. We had originally planned on getting to Green River but a miscommunication landed us with reservations in Price. This miscommunication was a real blessing. Passing Malad ID we found deer. Deer, hundreds of deer, were scattered in clumps along the fields, streams, and canyons on both side of the road through any area devoid of civilization. It would not have been safe to continue once night had fallen. Additionally, the snow caught us in the canyon leading to Price. AND we were both exhausted. Nick had been reading Grave Peril by Jim Butcher and was close to the end. I read it aloud and finished it.

The next morning we left bright and early and headed out across the red desert and canyon of Utah. It was a stunning though confusing drive. Nick and I were listening to the book Summer Knight by Jim Butcher and forgot to pay attention to the driving directions on occasion. This led to many a scenic detour. Eventually we arrived at our next stop, Santa Rosa NM. Dinner at a local Route 66 diner where the song 'Get your kicks on route 66' started haunting me again.

The rest of the drive passed uneventfully, we finished Summer Knight and moved on to Death Masks by Jim Butcher. Regretfully we were unable to finish listening to this. Before we left I signed us up for Audible. An audio book club that allows you to download a book a month for ~$15.00 and more books really cheaply compared to cd prices. This book club has been extremely useful. We called as we neared Italy and the extended family met us at the local buffet restaurant that Dad likes. It was great to see everyone.

I've uploaded pictures of these days to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157623847229968/

Tooele - A Housewarming

My friends Bill & John recently moved to Tooele Utah (pronounced two-ill-uh) and invited us down for fun and food. So we crammed all of our usual weekend work into one packed morning and then headed for Utah. We had the best time eating pizza, talking, crafting and hanging out. Instead of us bringing gifts John made us gorgeous bracelets from chips of amethyst, citrine, garnet and other stones. This was my first drive on the new Legacy Parkway, which certainly is a great shortcut. The trip out on I80 made me crave the drive over the Bonneville Salt Flats. One of these days, Nick and I are going to go this way to Sacramento, instead of dropping down through Twin Falls ID and Jackpot NV. The next morning we had to leave early cause my allergies kicked in to high gear. I was sneezing and stuffy and miserable, I took a claratin, but it didn't help. I'm allergic to Utah much of the year. Still it was great to see their home and everyone else too! What's really strange is that I didn't take any pictures of the weekend. I have no idea why, I always have my camera it just didn't happen.

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!

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 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

Notes from February's Sabbatical Visits to Utah

slc urban room01
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

At Salt Lake City Public I discovered the new and exciting world of library photography policies. I had no idea such a thing existed. It makes sense though, when you consider all the professional photographers coming into the SLC publilc library to use it as a backdrop.

My visit to Orem included the mandatory stop at La Dolce Vita in Provo, an incredible Italian restaurant.
It is located at:
61 North 100 East
Provo, UT 84606
(801) 373-8482
http://www.ladolcevitaprovo.com/

On the drive to Logan I had an incredible impulse to call my aunt Susan. It seemed a little nuts since I have a brother, sister-in-law and 4 nieces/nephews there and I was going to be stealthy and not visit them. I eventually gave into the impulse and arranged to go to lunch with Susan. I met her at the Utah Festival Opera's building. Susan is the director for 'Opera for Children'. See: http://www.operabychildren.org/. We headed over to Great Harvest Bread Co., for a lunch of sandwiches. In the middle of a great conversation she suddenly looks up and says "there's your brother."

He, of course, loudly exclaims "Aunt Susan!" and comes over. I then get the best double-take I've ever seen from him. And he continues "and my sister!"

It was great to see both of them.

The way out of town was particularly exciting when deer jumped out in front of me on the road. I was driving slowly in part to save gas money and in part because of the 'watch for deer' sign.

Visited:
Salt Lake City Public - Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604004657195/
University of Utah - Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604000775304/
Provo Public Library - Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604005050647/
Utah Valley University - Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604000953468/
Logan Public Library - Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604001499630/
Utah State University - Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157604005331249/

Ogden outing

2-20-08

Birds on the Road to Ogden

• 19 Cedar Wings in my tree by the driveway, I thought it was a good omen.
• House sparrows
• Mourning dove
• Swainsons hawks
• Red tailed hawks
• Rock doves
• Crows
• Starlings
• Canada geese
• and lots and lots of Magpies

I met a fascinating guy at Starbucks. I sat down in a comfy chair across from an older gentlemen and we started talking, now in his mid 70's Tom had a truly interesting life. He is an artist, he helped to restore cars, motorcycles and other vehicles with his airbrush. He worked for Mr. Harrah (of the Harrah Casinos) in Reno, restoring everything from rollsroyces to cable cars. I got to hear about some of the challenges including the researching original art/logos in order to keep things accurate. It was a welcome break from thinking about libraries. Some of the collection can be seen at: National Automobile Museum: Reno

Later that night Krista, Terrial and I went to dinner at the Brazillian Braza Grill. My first time with Brazillian food, it was very yummy.

In the further adventures of Jenny's Keys...

I found a second key to my Echo in the bottom of my suitcase. 'Cool' I thought and reasoned that it would be more useful if I put it in my purse. After all, my purse is now so large that it cannot be hidden in the car and must come with me all the time. So I put it in my purse and continued my day.

On my way home, I stopped at the Lava exit for a break. I was desperate and encumbered, what with trying to find and get my coat on and gloves and grab my bag. I was out of the car with my hands full and the door shut, only to find that I really had locked my keys in the car. There was a moment of panic and then I realized that HEY! I put my spare key in my purse that morning. So I dashed into the quick stop and didn't worry about it.

I visited both the Weber County Main Public Library and the Weber State University Library and got lots of good ideas and stories.

SLC and Jessica

Goodbyes are hard. I drove to SLC to catch a plane for Texas. Nick is leaving for field camp on the morrow. Beautiful lazy drive, arrived at Rebecca's and went to visit Jessica. She has such a cute house and a great husband and it was wonderful to see them. The three of us went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Something I haven't done since visiting Jen B. in Denver almost 10 years ago.
I spent the night at Rebecca's she dropped me off at the airport at an unreasonable morning hour.

Nick is keeping a blog at http://geoscirockhunter.blogspot.com/ and he'll be available by email. We're just tooo cheap to get a second cell phone.

April 1 & 2, Pocatello to Logan to Provo and Back

April 1, 2006

We got up bright and early (6:00 a.m.) so we’d be on the road in time to hook up with Melinda at Nanette’s in Logan. Our ETA was 9:30… allegedly. The plan would have worked, except for the distraction of the geology books and maps. I wanted the books sequenced; so that I’d know what to read at which part of the journey. So instead of leaving at 7:00 a.m. which would have put us there waaaay too early, we left at 8:30 which put us there late (10:15ish).

Drive to Logan
I was shocked to discover that the Roadside Geology guides were not up to par for the road from here to Logan. Actually, I’m not all that shocked. They are definitely weaker than I’d like. If I ever have time I’d love to rewrite those books… We only stopped a couple of times to look at birds. The red tailed hawk sitting on a tree was a must to stop for. Then Nick definitely had to climb the hill by the Geology marker for Red Rock Pass. This is the pass that Lake Bonneville eroded away to flood Pocatello and parts of Idaho. What’s disappointing is that the geology marker at the bottom doesn’t tell you that the monument at the top is for a group of graves.

At Logan we found Nanette’s new place. It’s fabulous. Lots of room, plenty of storage, a great place to live. We went to breakfast at the nearby diner and then back to her house. Nick and Nan loaded the wagon wheel bunk beds into the jeep. It was raining. They got damp. Thanks guys.

Drive to Provo
Melinda left her car at Nan’s house and took off with us towards Provo. We used a Utah Geological Association (1) field trip guide to explore the geologic features around Logan. This field guide was designed to stat in Salt Lake City an end in Logan. So I had to try and read it in reverse. Not fun, but it was a lot more interesting and thorough than using one of those roadside guides So we went up the canyon, along the valley, through the snow… over the dam, around the bend, up the hill, down the highway, along the dirt track… Pretty rocks on a hillside, faults, folds, mountains, rivers, lakes, alluvial fans… Melinda brought her geography book to study for a test. I had the mini-library and we had a great time. The reasonably short trip from Logan to Provo took us 8 hours. We saw lots of rocks and birds.

In Provo, we toted the bed up the stairs of Melinda’s new place and helped her put the beds together as a trundle set. This way she can use the top bed as a shelf and the bottom bed as a bed. Nick and I drove over to the Marriott hotel. While Nick was in working on the reservation situation I called Shanna. Apparently the power went off in our part of Pocatello. Someone hit a power pole. Two hours later everything was fine. Shanna is so cool. She already had a candle lit and wasn’t worried a bit. We went to bed and I slept like a rock.

April 2, 2006

And Back
The time changed while we slept. I hate daylight savings time. Got up, got moving early and headed back to Logan (yes Melinda came with us). Anyway, we drove to Antelope Island and did ½ the field trip there. Nan called, and unfortunately she had to go to Pocatello, leaving before we got to Logan. After Antelope Island we headed for Logan. Nick and I talked geology while Melinda napped.

At Logan we parted ways and Nick and I headed for Idaho. I was tired of talking/reading. So we stopped at the nearby Borders and bought a book on tape, or rather CD., a Louis L’Amour story read/acted by Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. It was great.

I’ve become fascinated by the scope of Lake Bonneville and the scale of the flood. I want to pursue this a little more, and am planning to do a Lake Bonneville trip soon.

Weekend Bird List:
Crows
California Gulls
Coots
Canada Geese
Red Winged Blackbirds
Starlings
Magpies
Red Tailed Hawk
Domestic Geese – on way up canyon
Chinese Swan Goose
Mallards
Horned Larks – triangle intersection by McMurdie Hollow
Meadowlarks
Kestrel
Robins
Brewers blackbirds
Kildeer
Avocets
Cormorants
Northern shovelers
Ring necked ducks
Great blue herons
Cinnamon teals
Canvasback ducks
Dark variant Canada goose
Rough legged hawk
Northern harrier
Song sparrow
Coopers hawk
Gadwalls
Eared grebes
Chukkar
Ravens
Yellowheaded blackbird
Snowy egrets
Sandhill cranes

Weekend Mammal List:
Muskrat
Bison
Coyote

(1)

“Geology of the Northern Wasatch Front, Utah: Utah Geological Association Field trip Road Log September 11, 1999. Compiled by W. Adolph Yonkee and Jeffrey G. Eaton, Department of Geosciences, Weber State University, Ogden UT.” In Geology of Northern Utah and Vicinity, Utah Geological Association Publication Vol 27 pages 378-402.