St. George Birding Festival 2013

For the past ten years, St. George has held a birding festival. It's the last weekend of January, which means it's a great escape from the snow and cold of more northerly latitudes. I've wanted to go for several years, but with little kids, I didn't know how I could pull it off. Fortunately, last year I asked my mother-in-law if she would help watch the kids this year, and she said yes.

The festival was held from Thursday evening to Saturday evening. We drove down after school on Thursday. On Friday, I took Desert Boy with me on a shorter bird trip. Since he was missing a day of school, I figured he should do something educational.

Bird field trips are fun for several reasons. First, the leader is usually very knowledgeable and you can learn all sorts of things about birds that you never knew. This was definitely true for our trip. At our first stop we saw the huge gaggle of Canada geese out on a pond that's in the first photo of this post. Kevin found the lone greater white-faced goose in the group, and put his scope on it for us. Plus he made sure we all saw the canvasbacks and ruddy ducks and explained that the ruddy ducks only get the strange-looking blue bills during breeding season. 

Second, the leader knows the local bird hotspots. You see cool birds not only on the field trip, but know where to go when you return. You'll see a spot below to which I'd like to return.

Third, it's fun to meet other birders. Often people of all levels go on the bird trips, and it's fun to find out more about how people got into birding and if they've seen anything interesting lately.

 This is what I hoped Desert Boy would be doing for the field trip. I taught him how to use the binoculars and helped focus them. He looked through a few times.

 This is what he preferred to do, though--gather materials for a little boat made of bark.

He thought the pampas grass was cool and wanted to add that to his collection.

I enjoyed seeing an array of birds, including some that I haven't seen around here for several months, like the northern mockingbird, seen above.

Female and male house finches cooperated for us by sitting still on top of a tree so that everyone could see the differences in plumage.

 One of our locations for this trip was Halfway Wash, which has some nice riparian habitat. It's easily accessible, with a paved trail along it. This is part of St. George's extensive trail system, something I'd like to get to know better.

 Desert Boy found some friends, and they had a wonderful time digging in the dirt, gathering materials, and even pretend fishing. When I commented to another mom that Desert Boy wasn't getting as excited about birds as I had hoped, she reminded me that he was getting some good outside time. And much to my relief, he managed to keep his feet dry (especially since I had forgotten to bring any other footwear for him).

I saw two new birds for me: the greater white-faced goose and a quick glimpse of a verdin, a small bird just larger than a bushtit with a yellow head.

The next day I had planned on going on a five-hour birding trip, but early-morning rain discouraged me (plus I figured the kids might get a little too rambunctious sitting inside), so I changed to a three-hour birding trip to some other locations. Local birders from my valley happened to be on this trip, too, and it was fun to get to do some birding with them.

 Our first stop was at a golf course. It was beautiful, despite the overcast skies, with ponds and wetland areas. It all made wonderful bird habitat.


We got some good looks at ruddy ducks.


A song sparrow also let us get quite close. With the spot in the middle of its chest and a streaked breast, it's one of the easier sparrows to identify.

We stopped at several other parks in the Washington area, and found cool things at each: a hummingbird (probably a Costa's), American wigeons, a better view of a verdin, and another new species for me: Abert's towhee. Abert's towhee doesn't migrate and is found in a rather small area of the desert Southwest.

The rain started a couple hours into the trip and stayed steady through the rest of the day. It wasn't ideal for birdwatching, but the birds are still out there in the rain, so they can be found, it just takes more effort.

In the afternoon, I took the kids back to Tonaquint Nature Center for the bird house-making activity. Home Depot had donated bird house kits.

 Desert Boy couldn't wait to get started.

 He did most of his bird house all by himself.

 Desert Girl was lacking a nap and wasn't so enthusiastic.

 Such concentration! Fortunately he didn't hammer any digits.

 A lot of people turned out for the activity.

Desert Girl cheered up as the birdhouse neared completion.

Success! We'll put these in the yard and see if we can entice any birds to take up residence.

We'll definitely be going back to the St. George Bird Festival. There were so many programs we didn't have a chance to attend, plus field trips to many more areas. It's only $5 for adults and free for kids for the whole festival. And even though it was rainy, it was nearly twenty degrees warmer than home, and for me, that makes it an extremely nice winter getaway!

Random Weekend Happenings

It's been cold. Not the coldest it's ever been, but it's been a long three weeks without getting above freezing. Some mornings are gorgeous, with frost coating everything, and I've tried to take photos a couple times. Last year I think I wore my puffy pink jacket that goes down to some ridiculous temperature rating only once or twice. This year, it's the coat I wear all the time, and I'm so glad I have it. 

This weekend the cold temperatures nearly froze our water pipes, even though our house is heated with hot-water pipes that run under the house and through the radiators. I absentmindedly turned off our pencil stream of water one afternoon at 3 pm. Half an hour later, I remembered to turn it back on. Nothing came out of the faucet. Do you know what it feels like when you turn on the faucet and nothing comes out? It's certainly not a good feeling. And I might have muttered something under my breath that wasn't fit for young ears. Fortunately, the water eventually started running again. We had one other little forgetful episode, but that was also happily resolved. Whew. I'm so ready for warmer weather, and today we finally got above freezing for a couple hours. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see mud.

The weekend was full of fun activities, including a birthday party for Andie Mae. The kids had fun playing, and we came up with some good balloon games. The best part was the little girls giggling. Oh my goodness, the cuteness factor went off the chart!

We went to a couple other events, which I hopefully will blog about soon. It seems that some days just don't hold enough hours! I haven't slept well the past couple nights, I think because of cold medicine I've been taking, and then the hours creep by.  Hopefully my internal clock will get settled soon.

 We had some good laughs this weekend. I had to run and get the camera when Desert Boy came out dressed like this. I think he's the Train Conductor Superhero. Sensing no danger, he didn't stay long, so I didn't have much chance to question him.

In an effort to find some warmer weather (and some exercise!), we headed up the mountain, where it's been consistently ten degrees warmer. Sure enough, we found melting snow and even little sprouts around the new mud puddles! Desert Girl made sure she pointed out every patch of mud to me. And every little pellet of rabbit scat. And every rabbit track. Ava showed me all sorts of juniper berries. They all were very happy for the snack breaks, which occurred at every bench. We took advantage of the breaks to look at the birds: a western scrub-jay, Clark's nutcrackers, common ravens. Then I heard a familiar sound and taught the kids to "pish" for mountain chickadees. We were successful, luring one closer to our location by our alluring sound. I think they enjoyed being outside, except for the snow in the boots and cold feet.

Well, now it's time to dive into the week. How was your weekend?

A Celebration of Birds--John James Audubon Exhibition

We went into Ely to get ready for some Christmas festivities. One of our stops was to the ever-favorite East Ely Railroad Museum, located at the Nevada Northern Railway. I had seen flyers about an exhibition of John James Audubon and The Birds of America exhibition. While the kids watched The Polar Express, my husband and I enjoyed the marvelous paintings.

Many paintings showed birds we see in the area, like an osprey and a white-headed eagle, now known as a bald eagle. I didn't know much about John James Audubon, so I appreciated the information provided.

Audubon was born in Haiti (with a different name) and raised in France and didn't come to the U.S. until he was 18, in 1803. Lands west of the Mississippi had just been sold to the U.S. by France as a condition of the Louisiana Purchase. Audubon explored these frontier lands, collecting and drawing birds of these places. He had little formal training in birds or drawing, but his close attention to detail helped him immensely. He was also a very good hunter, and he shot the birds before he drew and painted them. In the 1830s, Audubon began commenting on the decline of some birds from overhunting, namely passenger pigeons. His name began to be associated with conservation.

The painting above shows ivory-billed woodpeckers. Another showed passenger pigeons. When I look at the paintings I'm sad that I'll never get to see these birds in real life.

The above painting showed a bird I saw recently on our trip: an anhinga, known better in the 1800s as
the black-bellied darter.

The exhibit will be at the East Ely Railroad Museum until January 6. It's free! Open 8-4:30 every day but Tuesday. They have a really nice brochure that goes with the exhibition and has a map of Important Bird Areas in Nevada and activities for kids, as well as a guide to bird identification.

To read a little more about how the exhibition came to be, here's an article in the Elko Daily Free Press.

Shark Valley

As I mentioned in my last post, we recently took a vacation, and it was to a warm spot. Looking out the window at many inches of snow and thinking about a temperature that freezes your nose hairs by the time you get into the truck makes me want to go back to that warm spot. So here's the return, at least a visit of the memories. After a day and a half of travel that included two planes, we arrived in Miami, Florida.

The next day we gathered with family and headed to the Everglades. We wanted to visit Shark Valley, which is in the middle of the river of grass. It is also known for having a lot of alligators, and bicycle riding is a good way to see them up close.

I think this alligator is grinning at my brother, daring him to get closer! Alligators can move at 25-30 mph for short distances. I'm not sure how fast my brother can move.

Some of our group took the two-hour tram ride on the 15-mile loop. The rest of us biked seven miles to the tower and back. It was very warm and humid, but it was flat, so that made the riding relatively easy.

The Everglades is known for its birds. It used to have even more birds, but although the numbers are fewer today, birds are still a frequent sight. Above is an anhinga, also called a snake bird because when it's swimming its body is mostly underwater and its protruding head looks like a snake. After it has been in the water, it often spreads its wings to dry.

We saw over a dozen gators right next to the paved path. Desert Girl was quite concerned, but she felt safe in the bike seat.

This trail near the tower was closed due to high water. A peek down it made it seem quite wild, with many gators hanging out, waiting for a tourist who didn't follow the signs.

We finally got to the tower (in about an hour), and it felt good to get off the bikes and stretch our legs.

A white ibis was busy eating in the wetlands.

The tower is quite high, giving a great vantage point to see more of the Everglades. Coming from a mountainous area, it felt really strange to be in such a flat place.

The sawgrass stretched out as far as the eye could see, with little islands of trees where the elevation gained a few inches. Lending more drama to the scene were big storm clouds, which built every day we were in Florida.

A very tame cormorant sat on the railing the whole time we were on the tower. It even stayed when the tram arrived, with about 50 people all coming up to the tower at the same time.

I'd say that the view was worth hanging out for!

The way back was rather uneventful, with more beautiful birds and plenty of gators. We were fortunately spared mosquitoes--I didn't get a single bite the entire trip.

Even though it was winter, we still saw a few flowers blooming.

This tricolored heron (I think that's what it is) was not bothered by people and continued on its hunt for more food.

I had not been to the Everglades for 12 years, and it sure felt good to be back for a quick visit. I'd like to go back again some day and do some kayaking among the mangrove islands. It is such a fascinating place, and such a different ecosystem than anything else in the U.S.

Next up: more trip memories. Maybe they'll make you feel a little warmer too!

Life on the Playa

 I wasn't feeling the energy for my weekly Black Rock run while Desert Girl was in preschool. So instead I decided to do a little exploring. Since I had playas on my mind (see this earlier post if you haven't already), I went to a nearby playa.

 As I approached, I spooked some of the wildlife. Several pronghorn took off, as well as horned larks, a raptor, and probably more. I parked on the edge of the playa and got out to start walking around.

 A lone pronghorn, probably hoping I would just go away, bounded past. Fortunately I had my camera ready.

 I've never been able to see how a pronghorn runs, so I was fascinated with the photo results. Pronghorn are the fastest land animals in the Western Hemisphere, with speeds exceeding 40 mph. Worldwide they are second only to cheetahs. Pronghorn have 13 distinct gaits. I have to say I don't know what this one is.

 One of the cool things about pronghorn (cool enough to make me put it as my Favicon (the little icon that shows up next to the name of my blog) is that they are endemic to western and central North America. They have been around much longer than deer or elk, and they have evolved with the ubiquitous sagebrush and are able to use it much more efficiently than other ungulates. There used to be 12 species of pronghorn (Antilocaprids) here in the Pleistocene, but today only one still exists, Antilocapra americana.

Although pronghorn can run fast, they can't jump well. Instead of jumping over fences, they usually crawl underneath them. It looks as awkward as it sounds. Someday I might get lucky and get a photo.

I could see the pronghorn off a ways in the desert, watching the playa. I wouldn't have seen them, though, if I didn't know to look for them, as they blend in really well.

 The bone on the playa showed that not all animals are able to escape their predators.

 I found these nice pronghorn tracks.

 The tracks were near this puddle. Flocks of horned larks kept flying around. I'm sure this water is a major attractor. Playas are often dry, but when they have water, they are a hotspot of diversity.

 One of the things that attracts me most about playas is all the patterns that can be found on them. Near the edges I found small black gravel on the playa. It had filled in many of the mud cracks, accenting the dessicated pattern.

 The tree-like drainage pattern caught my eye. Even on a small scale, the patterns are fantastic.

 When you get out to the middle of the playa, it's hard to imagine what could possibly live on it. It seems so desolate and forlorn, so hard to make a living.

 The playa attracted some short-termers for a party.

 An elevation change of a few millimeters permitted a bush to grow out on the playa.

 And then I found this beetle out near the middle. What are you doing out here, little beetle?
 

 The beetle is in the lower middle of the photo--look for its shadow. It's really far from anything!

 It was moving quickly, perhaps realizing that it was more-than-a-little exposed to birds and other predators.

 These tracks that start and stop abruptly made me think of alien life. Perhaps that's due to so many alien movies being filmed out in the desert!

I was surprised by all the life I saw out on the playa. There was sign of lots more--plenty of scat from pronghorn and wild horses, burrows, bird scat, and more. At first it might appear as such a bleak place, but once you look a little closer, you can see that the playa is an important place for many animals.

Now I'm ready to go explore a few more playas!