Backyard Bird Challenge Check-In

Have you been seeing many birds in your backyard?

Our Backyard Bird Challenge is going well. We've been a lot more diligent lately about looking and have come up with a nice list--twelve so far! Only thirty eight to go. We're keeping a tally in the sidebar to the right. We haven't seen anything strange or exotic, but that's okay. And we're really trying to watch bird behavior of the birds we see over and over again. I've seen a few extra that we don't have on the list, as I really want the kids to see them before we add them.

An easy one to identify was the Great Horned Owl. The one in the photo above posed so nicely for a photo. Then it took off and flew across the yard. The chickens screamed (they had had a scare a couple weeks previously from a Great Horned Owl that we witnessed). I ran over, but saw the owl continue into the next yard. The rooster pecked at the ground, seemingly unconcerned, and one of the hens wandered. I didn't see the other hen, but didn't think much of it.

Until later, when my husband told me that he and Desert Boy had been out looking for a hen, as when Desert Boy closed the chicken coop, there was only the rooster and one hen.

I started wondering if the owl had killed the chicken, but hadn't flown off with it. And it was all my fault, because I had made the owl fly because I had gotten too close to take a photo. Of course, I didn't know what had really happened. Maybe skunks were back in the area. And there's been a mountain lion sighting not far from our house, so perhaps the lion had gotten a chicken (although our dog Henry hasn't been barking a lot, so that didn't seem too likely).

Losing any pets is not fun, and I was feeling a little verklempt. As we got ready to go this morning, I opened the garage door, and the hen ran out! What a great way to feel better! I sure do like a happy ending to the story.

Adventure Walk with a Problem-Solving Obstacle

 One afternoon while it was still cold, we had a bunch of kids over one afternoon and decided to go for an adventure walk. We first headed over to the creek, where the water had spilled over the banks to make a nice ice-skating rink. It was a lot of fun.

And also very slippery!

Next we headed to the sand pile, where the kids quickly clambered to the top and then jumped off.

We still had more fun to come, but it required a bit of a hike.

We eventually got there: the kids had to cross the creek, but could use the two concrete structures. Their challenge was to do it safely without getting wet.

One of the boards that had been a bridge had fallen into the creek and gotten stuck. Evan and Desert Boy were able to negotiate it, but the other two boys didn't want to do it. Desert Girl decided to go for it with help. But they still had a dilemma: two boys needed to get across, because they wouldn't be successful unless the whole team made it.

It took them a little thinking, but eventually they figured out a way.

They moved the bridge that still existed.

It took some delicate moving.

Once they all made it across, they extended the bridge back across the other section.

And they all made it! We were at the creek for over half an hour at this obstacle, and I think it made an impression on them. I wouldn't tell them how to do it, but told them they could figure it out. Kids often like a little challenge in their lives!

Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge Christmas Bird Count 2015

 Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge needed some help with their Christmas Bird Count. I had helped a couple years ago and relished a chance to return to this very remote outpost (they have to drive an hour to get their mail; we had to drive two hours on dirt roads to get there). To sweeten the deal, we were offered lodging in their bunkhouse the night before and/or after the count.

The bunkhouse is fantastic.

Inside is a big living room with a huge TV, Dish, and, most important to Desert Boy, wifi.

The bunkhouse has four bedrooms, and as we were the first to arrive, I let the kids choose which room they wanted to stay in. Then they got to choose their beds, and they didn't hesitate to take the top bunk beds.

The kitchen area is great, with plenty of dishes and pots, which we used to make some soup.

Later other folks arrived and we had a lot of fun meeting them. Tiffany, the refuge biologist, came over to make sure we were situated. We slept well, and the next morning we got our assignments for the Christmas Bird Count. We were looking forward to seeing what bird species we would spot.

As we drove around the refuge, we found lots of American coots on a couple of the canals, but they were too far away to photograph. We flushed some northern pintails, and they quickly flew away, looking for other open water. Later we had a wonderful view of a loggerhead shrike.

We got out at the end of the road near Avocet pond and walked a bit, hoping to find some other birds. The boys were busy discussing Minecraft and Desert Girl had fun making strange footprints.

Many of the ponds were frozen over, with interesting patterns out on the ice.

Later we found a coot and a pied-billed grebe next to each other. It was nice of them to provide such a good comparison!

One highlight was seeing about 80 tundra swans out on the ice. Here's a view of them in front of the majestic Fish Springs Range.

We found two bald eagles in the trees by the historic Thomas Ranch. One was content to stay put and let us take photos.

After doing the mid-winter waterfowl count in the afternoon, Tiffany showed us a spot with a large number of black-crowned night herons. They are such cool birds!

They were hanging out near a springhead, where the water was too warm to freeze.

I had planned on going home that afternoon, but it was getting late and I was tired, so we decided to spend another night. Our new friend Shirley graciously offered to watch the kids so I could drive around and take some photos in the beautiful late-afternoon light. I found an American tree sparrow, which I hadn't seen earlier. It cooperated for photos.

Earlier we had noticed the tracks on the ice and were fascinated with them. The ones on the clear ice are raised.

The almost-full moon rose early and I figured it would be a good time to practice for the Full Moon Photography Challenge.

We enjoyed our second night at Fish Springs. I could easily spend a week there, the light is always changing and it is such a scenic place. We did some sightseeing on the way home, which I'll share on a future post.

2014 Christmas Bird Count and Desert Survivor's Backyard Bird Challenge Wrapup

I helped with the local Christmas Bird Count, and it turned out to be a beautiful day, albeit very windy in the afternoon.  I was pleasantly surprised to find some birds that haven't been seen for this count in over ten years, like the Evening Grosbeak, above. All the warm weather we've been having in early and mid December probably had a few bird species hanging around longer than usual.

The winter landscape was gorgeous.

And the warm weather meant that the lakes and streams weren't frozen over, so we saw lots of water birds. I counted over a thousand mallards.

I had a spotting scope so I could check each one. I found a couple mergansers and a couple green-winged teals hanging out with the mallards. Some mallards were floating out in the middle of the lake, but most were eating along the shoreline.

Another bird I had to test my counting skills with were the European starlings. There were hundreds, sometimes in huge flocks. Even though they are non-native so they aren't a bird I particularly like, I still marvel how they fly together and can change direction so quickly.

Christmas Bird Counts are still continuing in various locations until January 5. They are a lot of fun and a great way to learn about an area. I might do two more.

Since we're talking about birds, let's segue into Backyard Birds. Did you take my Backyard Bird Challenge? The challenge was to keep track of what birds you saw in your backyard throughout the year.

We did really well starting the challenge, but slowed down in May as my schedule got busier. I realized that we didn't spend as much time in the backyard as I had thought! We did keep a list, though, and here's the front page:

Desert Boy wrote some of our findings, which was a great way to get him involved. Plus his spelling puts a smile on my face (e.g., trky volcher).

But I needed a neat and tidy list, so I typed one up and put in boxes so we could check what months we were seeing what birds. It was a great idea, but by the end of summer we couldn't keep up.

So will we do the Backyard Bird Challenge in 2015? You betcha. And now we have a goal to beat: we saw 34 different bird species in our backyard in 2014. I'm sure we can do better in 2015. And hopefully with the kids getting older and being able to take more responsibility, we'll count for more of the year!

Happy Winter Solstice! And a Hike in the Burbank Hills

 Last Sunday morning we decided to take a hike. We couldn't go too far or too long because we had to get back in time for church, but we knew we wanted to get out and celebrate nature.

The weather was cooperating, cool, but not cold or warm. And the recent dusting of snow on the higher mountains made them look so big.


Before long our truck looked tiny. You can see snow-covered Wheeler Peak and Jeff Davis Peak in the background.


We went up a small canyon we had never been in before. We all agreed (well at least the kids and I did) that we should take ropes next time!


Holes pocked the rock faces, and we walked the base of the cliffs looking for caves.

Of course we had to take some snack breaks.

And check out some holes.

I also had fun trying out a new lens, a 100mm macro. In the shade, frost clung to the leaf margins.

The backlit rock spirea was gorgeous.

We weren't content to stay in our little canyon, so we found a way to scramble to the top (the dog had the hardest time). We then had a nice view of Garrison, Utah.

Going a little higher, we reached this view.

Time was running short, so we had to find a way down. We cliffed out one way so had to backtrack and find another way.

It was a fabulous hike, even if the kids got a little crabby at the end. My husband and I really like checking out places that don't have trails and test our scrambling abilities. It's even better when they're just a short drive away!

p.s. The winter light was fantastic for photography. Shadows will be at their longest today, winter solstice. Happy shortest day of the year!