Great Salt Lake Bird Festival

In case you aren't also following the wonderful Summer of Salt - I'd like to invite you over for a look-see. The most recent post is by yours truly and discusses my experience helping out and leading several tours during the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival.

And while you're over there, check out some of the other posts that are up. This summer has just begun. There is so much more to discover and explore. So come back often.

Bio Blitz, Part Two

Well, 24 hours of surveying complete. I look forward to seeing the final species list compiled from all the groups, but in the meantime here are some snaps of what I experienced.

(click to enlarge any of the images)

Setting up camp in an open field. Not much time was spent here, so it wasn't anything fancy.

Antelope Island is home to a herd of about 300-400 Bison. A good chunk of them were on the north side of the island where most of the surveys took place, so we came across quite a few.

More Bison. They are just so massive.

At one point, four big bulls came running by, not too far from where I was camped. I stayed well back and behind my truck in case they decided to check our little camp out. They didn't; just kept heading south.

Getting ready for our scorpion surveys.

Our scorpion expert had a few specimens to show us during a little education bit as we waited for it to get dark.
Don't ask me the names of these guys; I don't know. But I do know that we don't grow them that big or black out here.

Holding one of his living, non-lethal ones for all to see. Quite a bit of "wow" factor here. These we do have.

Here he is holding it by the stinger - the best way to hold them. I didn't try.

It got very cold once the sun went down, plus it was a full moon. Two strikes against seeing any scorpions. We were about a month too early.


However, we still searched for about an hour and a half with black lights - they actually fluoresce under black light. That's how you find them. However, we had no luck finding any. So our guide put his out on the sand so we could all see how it reacted under the fluorescent lights.

It was too cold for it to move too fast. So we all got good looks at him. Very cool.

The next day started early. I was up by about 4:45am, got a few groups off to where they needed to be, watched the sunrise, then spent the rest of the day birding and bugging (don't know if that is a real term, but that's what we did - looked for and tried to escape from bugs).

Sunrise over the water.

Of course, while out looking for birds and bugs, other things are seen as well. Here is a Pronghorn, also known as Antelope - for which the Island is named. The funny thing is, they aren't even Antelope. Just like the Bison on the Island are sometimes called Buffalo, but aren't.

Catching and examining insects. I tried to get some pics of the little critters, but that mesh net didn't allow any clear looks.

One of the many Red-winged Blackbirds seen over the course of the day.

Fellow surveyors and birders.

We found several mushrooms, but I don't know my fungi, so I'll leave that up to the mycologists.

Here's another.

A Western Meadowlark.

A Long-eared Owl hunkered very low in the nest. That was a fun find.

Can you see what's out there? They certainly aren't birds.

Here's a closer look. A couple of Coyotes.

This was a fun find. A Common Raven in it's nest. It was so well hidden up there, and so still that if it hadn't been blinking, we would have thought it was dead.

Another awesome find. A Great Horned Owl high up in the trees. He and his mate had a nest in the hollow of a tree. There were two chicks in there, but they never poked their heads out while we were watching.

Finally at the end of the day, we all gathered together for a nice dinner. Some of the bug and plant folks brought a few specimens back to ID.



It was a great day. A lot of fun. Great people. If you ever hear about a Bio Blitz going on in your area, I highly recommend joining in. You don't have to be an expert, but the experience is well worth it.

Bio Blitz

Have you ever done a Bio Blitz? It's a 24-hour survey of all life in a particular area. This weekend I am participating in the first Bio Blitz held in Utah.

We begin our surveys at 5:00 pm tonight, and end at 5:00 pm tomorrow night. Different shifts are set up throughout that time period, with experts in various fields leading the groups. I am signed up for three shifts as an educator. My first shift is 8:00 pm to 1:00 am (looking for scorpions and various insects). I have a five hour break (nap time) and begin again tomorrow morning from 5:30 am to 11:30 am (looking for virtually everything). My last shift is from noon to 5:00 pm (Birds and Insects). I am looking forward to it. Hey, what could be better than spending all day just watching, monitoring, recording plants, animals, insects, birds, mammals, etc? I honestly can't think of anything.

The lack of sleep will undoubtedly make it a bit rough at times, but how fun overall.

I will have my camera, and I'll do my best to record bits and pieces of it to share.

Bluff Fort

While in Bluff I had the chance to stay in the "Cowboy Cabin". I don't think it was historically part of the fort. But it was kind of like an old bunkhouse. Very quaint.

So of the fort itself, only a few original buildings, or building remains are present. Most of what is there now has been rebuilt. The Hole in The Rock Foundation is working with family members and others to reconstruct this area to match, as close as possible, what it was like in 1886.

There is a lot of work to be done on a limited budget, but I am impressed with what they are doing, and with what they have accomplished.

This is all that remains of one of the homes. The foundation intends on rebuilding this structure at some point, using what they can of the original stone.

Above is the Log Meetinghouse which served as a school, church, courthouse, and dance hall. The inside is set up for either a meeting or school, and from what I understand, the foundation uses it even now for small gatherings and functions.

These are the replicas of some of the cabins that are being rebuilt. Family members come together, raise the money, and then over one weekend, raise the cabin. Theses will eventually line the perimeter of the square.

This is one of the original wagons that came through the Hole in The Rock trail.

This is referred to as the Barton Cabin. Much has been rebuilt, but a portion of the cabin is original, the only original cabin still standing in the area. And in front of the building, an old covered wagon, similar to what the settlers used to make that incredible journey.

More cabins, making up one corner of the fort.

I think this foundation is doing a great job, and it's exciting to be a part of this project, however small that part might be.

Hole in The Rock Trail

Part of my reason for going to Bluff was to get a better sense of the area, and the actual old Mormon trail from the Colorado River across to Bluff. The stories I've read and pictures I've seen do it some justice, but as with most things in life, the best way to learn about it, is to experience it.

The entire expedition from Escalante to Bluff ended up being called the Hole in The Rock Expedition because of one small section of trail that took months to build. It was a small hole, or break, in the huge sandstone cliff that they widened to reach the Colorado River. From there they continued on across very difficult terrain to reach their destination.

While I was there, I had the chance to travel part of that trail with a few other people who knew it well. They were wonderful guides. We spent 8 hours out there driving that trail, and covered a total of about 60 miles.

This cliff is called Comb Ridge. It was one of the first main landmarks we passed as we ventured out, but one of the last obstacles faced by the explorers as they searched for a passable route.

Making our way along the trail.

One of the areas that was once part of the old trail. We hiked up along this section to see if we could locate an area that looked like it was passable. Well, it could have been. But I certainly can't image how they did it. By foot was one thing, but they also had covered wagons.

The view from on top of that section of trail.



These posts were placed all along sections of the trail to mark the original (or close to it) location of the trail.

Now this little spot marks the location of one minor mishap by me. We had come to a fairly steep section of rock. The driver would be guided down by another member of the party, so she could safely place the wheels of the jeep during the decent. I wanted to get some pictures.

I carefully stepped back onto a rock that I felt would give me a good view. But it was not a stable rock, and tumbled out from under me. I tumbled down a few feet after it. No real damage, but I still have a bruised and sore knee, and the rock rash on my arm is almost healed. My guides were very helpful. In the picture above, Mary is retrieving a first aid kit.

Being guided down the rock. It's always more exciting in person. Flat photographs just don't do it justice.

Again, photos just don't do it justice.

It was so incredible to be out there. The land is so beautifully rugged. I never worried about what time it was, or hurried to get to the "next thing". I was just there. Out in the middle of seemingly nowhere. Doing more than just traveling a broken road, but in a way, re-living an amazing, and unthinkable past.

The city of Bluff

Well, calling it a city might be pushing it. I think I heard about 300 people live there. The original group that settled the area consisted only of about 250 people. So, suffice it to say, Bluff is quaint. The area is harsh. The majority of the early settlers only stayed a few years, because of the difficulty in irrigating their lands, flooding of the river that destroyed most of the homes and farms, and just plain difficult living circumstances.

But the effort in getting to this corner of the world seems virtually unthinkable. I had read stories of the harsh broken country these pioneers had to travel through, but having been there, and seeing that land, makes me truly wonder how they ever made it with covered wagons. We had a heck of time in some areas with 4-wheel drive Jeeps.

More of that story to come. For now, here are images of Bluff, and the historic graveyard overlooking the valley.

Christmas Bird Count

I've been interested in nature my entire life. However, my interest never really made it to the level of research and record what I learn. That didn't really begin until I was hired on, nine years ago, as a Park Naturalist for Utah State Parks.

Even then, I wasn't really a list keeper, or as detailed observer as some. I just observe, learn, enjoy and as often as I can, share that enjoyment.

However, early this year, I decided I'd like to keep track, at least of the birds I've seen. This put me on the path of developing an updated, and more accurate bird checklist for the park in which I currently work. This process put me in contact with Keith Evans, from Wasatch Audubon. What an amazing man, and terrific birder. One day while we were talking about possibilities with the checklist, and the help Wasatch Audubon could give, he mentioned the Christmas Bird Count. While I had never participated in one before, I was familiar with it.

He mentioned that at one time there was a circle set up in the Heber Valley (where I currently work), and that if I was interested, it would be great to reactivate that circle. I was interested. So after much guidance from Keith and John Bellmon (another Wasatch Audubon member extraordinaire) I was able to get in touch with the National office and get the circle activated once again.

I am looking forward to this whole process...my small dilemma is that I've not only never run a CBC before, but I've never participated in one. I like to see how someone else does something so I have a base line to start from. If not that, then I love lots of suggestions, and information on how things should/will look. I am going to participate in an upcoming CBC in another area, and look forward to that for many reasons. However, until then, I would be very grateful for any other information...

If any of you have participated in a CBC, or run one, would you be so kind as to send some thoughts and suggestions on how to make it successful? How long do groups usually spend in the field? How big is their chunk of the circle? Is it generally customary to hold a count/list tally later in the evening? And any other information you can share on your experiences with a Christmas Bird Count.

Oh, by the way. The Heber Valley count is Saturday, December 27. If you are free, come on over and help out.

Sunrise

This is a pic I took about a year ago while taking a little camping vacation at one of my favorite state parks: Goblin Valley. Interesting name, beautiful scenery.

It is a park out in the middle of the desert, surrounded by towering sandstone cliffs. Over time, some of these cliffs have been eroded in most interesting ways. The resulting formations look like little sandstone goblins, or mushrooms. Its fun to explore this area, not only for the incredible geology, but there is just so much raw, natural beauty.

Sunrises touching already fiery red sandstone, before the sun blazes too hot, is one of those natural beauties.