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I birded a trail above the North Arm of
Pineview Reservoir today that was nameless until I dubbed it the Fruit Eater's
Trail. It's located at mile marker 3 of Highway 158. Highway 158
begins at Pineview Dam at the head of Ogden Canyon. The trail is
short, runs mostly east-west, is vegetated with a mixture of deciduous
woods and herbaceous undergrowth, and ends at the reservoir embankment.
The trail is lined with Western or Utah Serviceberry and a few
honeysuckles. Both are in fruit, and the serviceberry is heavily laden
with a mixture of plump blue and unripe pink berries. I ate a
handful, didn't die, and wondered how many worms I was consuming at the same
time. The berries are sweet and the seeds oblong and larger than
those of blueberries.
Now...for the birds. As one might expect, the
American Robins and Cedar Waxwings were lovin' Mother Nature's largess. I
saw many mature and speckle-breasted robins manipulating plump, round berries
between their mandibles. I also saw Black-headed Grosbeaks including a
female whose beak was lined with little blobs of blue, Western Tanagers,
Warbling Vireos, a juvenile Spotted Towhee, adult and juvenile Lazuli Buntings,
and Orange-crowned Warblers feasting on the smorgasbord. Most surprising
were the Virginia's Warblers. I watched carefully to be sure that's what I
was seeing, and sure enough, the Virginia's were gorging themselves like their
fruit-eating companions. I saw other birds in this spot that might not
have been partaking in the fruit feast--Bullock's Oriole, Black-capped
Chickadee, Chipping Sparrow, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.
I took a quick survey of the North Arm from the
embankment, and saw or heard American Avocet, Belted Kingfisher, Spotted
Sandpiper, American White Pelican, and of course, the Osprey on the
platform. American Magpies called endlessly for their buddy, Mack..."Mack?
Mack? Mack-Mack-Mack-Mack-Mack?" Mack must not have answered, because they
continued to call for him. When I emerged from the trail the male and
female Osprey waited for me like sentinels on alternate telephone poles
along Highway 158.
Before I came across the Fruit Eater's Trail I was
thrilled to see the Ospreys on telephone poles along the Narrows area just east
of the dam. I watched the male finish the last of a fish. I
continued on and found the female on top a pole at about mile marker 1.
She, too, had a fish in her talons, but had just begun to strip it
apart. I pulled off the road, set up the scope, and watched her for 45
minutes. She looked wild and fierce and primitive as she stripped apart
the fish. The wind blew around the long crown feathers at her nape.
The necklace of spotted brown feathers were rich and beautiful against her white
breast. The dramatic pattern of white and brown-black feathers gave her
that much more of a menacing aspect...and belied the fact that she is a gentle
fish-eater. But there was nothing gentle in the way she consumed the
fish. She gripped, twisted, and tugged at the fish skin with determined
force. I imagined her curving talons--remarkable looking weapons--cutting
into flesh... ouch! Her talons appeared so curved she seemed ill-adapted
to standing on the flat top of a telephone pole. She gripped the fish with
one foot, and stood with the other. Her black pupils surrounded by yellow
irises seemed to bore into me when she looked down from the
fish. The curve of her strongly hooked beak was wet and glistening
and echoed the curve of her talons. She finished all but the
fan of the tail. She tried to grip the flat fan with her talon,
and had a hard go of it. She was finally able to pick the fan up in her
beak, and three times tried to maneuver the fan small-end-first down
her throat. Eventually she dropped it and watched it fall to the
ground at the base of the pole. Then
she flew, and gave me the view of the Osprey I've seen many times in
migration--crooked wings, classic "M" shape--dark wrist patches. Beautiful
bird.
Kris
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