Utah County Birders Newsletter
|
 |
Contents
March Meeting
Upcoming Field Trips
Captain's Log
Bird of the Month
Field Trip Report
Backyard Bird of the Month
MARCH MEETING:
Thursday, March 9th, 2017
Utah Specialty Owls-When and Where to See Them. Utah County Birders will be
sharing information about various species. Note that the field trip (an owling
adventure) will be complementing this meeting.
Meet at 7:00 pm at the Monte L. Bean Museum. 645 East 1430 North, Provo, UT
http://mlbean.byu.edu/
Saturday,
March 11th, 2017:
Starting at 5:30pm
Owls
Meet at the NE corner of the Payson Walmart parking lot.
Target birds are: Barn Owl, Short-eared Owl, Great Horned Owl, Long-eared Owl,
Western Screech-Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, and Northern Saw-whet Owl (in that
order). Sorry, no Snowy, Boreal, or Great Gray this time - unless something
changes
We are actively recruiting people to lead local half-day field
trips, any time, any place. If you would like to lead a field trip or if you
have any ideas for this year’s field trips, please contact Keeli at -
keeli.marvel@gmail.com
Utah County Birders
Captain’s Log: March
2017
by Keeli Marvel
The last time I checked in I was adding on life birds in Florida. Good news! I
ended up adding Eastern Meadowlark, Swamp Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and
Brown-headed Nuthatch (my new favorite nuthatch) to my life list. I also added a
probable Red-cockaded Woodpecker, although I never got a visual confirmation,
just an audio. I’m not officially counting it, but we saw plenty of nest colony
trees on our field trip, so it’s not a far stretch.
In February I went on to continue my lifering streak as I promptly added Harris’
Sparrow and Great Gray Owl to both my Utah list and my life list the week I
returned from Florida. I was looking over my records, and adding two life birds
in Utah hasn’t happened for me in a while. In fact, I added only one in 2016 -
the Common Black Hawk - and none in 2015. Needless to say, it’s been a good
month!
I hope all of you who wanted to were able to make it up to Mountain Green to see
the Great Gray Owl. I know there was some concern and some controversy within
the birding community regarding the sharing of the initial sightings, the
location, and then the massive influx of people who showed up to see it. I truly
believe the vast majority of birders (including those in our group) were
sensitive to the impact on the owl we were having as a community. I know there
was a great deal of discussion about birding ethics, and there were a couple of
instances where a few people were clearly too close to the bird (which I hope
was purely out of ignorance and not someone from the birding community). I
believe honestly that any attempt to withhold the location or police the people
going to see the owl was done out of concern for the bird’s welfare first and
foremost, and there were no hard feelings intended.
As a biologist, I think sometimes I forget that a lot of birders are not
biologists and don’t necessarily have the same level of understanding of
ecological and physiological processes and pressures birds are experiencing, but
care for the birds no less and want to do the right thing by them. This bird was
a once-in-a-lifetime sighting and a large number of people were lucky enough to
be able to experience seeing it without seeming to have a noticeable impacts on
its’ existence. This seems like a win for everyone and a great educational
opportunity. Without getting too preachy, I just wanted to mention this in hopes
that in the future we all continue to keep in mind the impacts we are having on
birds and the environment in the pursuit of what we love and that we continue to
be a sharing, educating, conservation-minded and passionate community. Whew.
Alright, I’m stepping off my soap box now. ☺ As a community, you guys are
awesome. I’ve been told a few times how friendly and welcoming our group is.
Stay awesome, and keep on birding!
 |
|
photo by Jeff Cooper |
Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa)
by Dennis Shirley
Utah’s 2017 Great Gray Owl Bonanza
It’s been about ten days (Feb. 19) since the last report of the Great Gray Owl
in Mountain Green. So it may have moved on, starting to go back north to its
normal breeding range. But it’s been an exciting month for Utah birders with
first the Heber North Fields Great Gray Owl report coming out near the end of
January. This one didn’t pan out like we all hoped – only a handful of people
actually go to see it. But a big crowd showed up for a day or two and got us all
primed for the Morgan County bird.
The Mountain Green bird was first confirmed on the morning of Feb. 2, 2017. A
quickly removed facebook report had been posted on the previous day, but several
birders noticed it and made plans to be there the next day. It was easily found
by 6-8 birders that morning and soon the word was out and birders from all over
the state converged in the area over the next nearly three weeks. The
neighborhood residents were generally happy to share “their” owl with all
involved. It was a carnival-like atmosphere when the larger crowds were there.
The owl itself was amazing! It seemed very confiding and as long as people
didn’t get overly aggressive and get too close the owl just went ahead and did
his activities without even noticing anyone was around. He was often times
hunting for prey and actually seen catching and swallowing field mice. There
were a bunch of great photos taken of him.
The Great Gray Owl is an accidental winter visitor to Utah. Up to this year
there had only been nine previous records, and several of these are marginal at
best. The last was during the winter of 1989 when one was seen in Cache and Rich
counties. The only Utah owl with fewer records is the Elf Owl with seven. It’s
interesting the only years when GGO has occurred in Utah are years of bad winter
and heavy snowfall across the western states. During the record snowfall of
1948-49, Steve Carr, a long time Salt Lake County birder who many of us knew,
recorded the first GGO in the state at his home. The Deseret News also noted a
number of these large gray owls wintering along the Wasatch Front that winter.
The Great Gray Owl is the largest North American owl. It’s closest relatives are
the Spotted and Barred Owl (genus - Strix). It is an owl of the deep Boreal
Forest from Alaska across Canada and down the northern Rockies. In spite of its
large size, they are almost entirely small rodent eaters, mostly microtine field
mice. Studies have shown less than 1% of their diet is small birds.
For some of us it’s been a long time coming to finally see a Great Gray Owl in
Utah, close to 40 years of birding for me. Owls hold a special place to most
birders. Not many birds stare back at you like an owl does with its large
piercing eyes and they seem to have their own aura. Now let’s go find a Boreal
and Snowy.
If you would like to
write an article for the Bird of the Month, please contact
Machelle -
machelle13johnson@yahoo.com
Click here for past 'Birds of the Month'.
Unfortunately the two field trip options in
February fell through. Please join us for an exciting owling adventure in March!
Dennis Shirley
Four Canada Geese - circling high over my yard during a snowstorm on Feb.
22, 2017. Unusual for our oak brush bench area.
Report your favorite backyard bird
each month to Josh Kreitzer at joshkreitzer@gmail.com
Printable Version of this UCB Newsletter