Utah County Birders Newsletter
January 2001
JANUARY MEETING:
Wednesday January 17th. 7:00 pm
at the Shoney's in East Bay, Provo. 1122 S University Ave.
We will be introduced to our new Executive Committee
and
recognize those who participated in the year 2000
contest.
Come in, eat from the buffet, and chat with friends.
The meal will cost around six or seven dollars.
It's going to be fun! Don't miss out.
FIELD TRIPS:
Saturday, January 20.
Wasatch County
We will meet at 8:00 A.M. at the Provo Temple.
In the parking area South West and across the street from the Temple.
Swan Song
by Darlene Amott
It's January, a time of newness and change. It's a time
for newness and change among the birding association officers as well. It's
seems unreal that two years have passed since I became your president, and much
has happened. There have been meetings, and parties, and contests, and trips.
There have been hundreds of beautiful birds seen and many choice friendships
developed. It has been a choice two years. However, there is a time to move on,
and this is the time. Someone else needs to have the opportunity to serve.
As I
sit and reflect on the two years, I become very aware of how much my birding
skills have grown and I become aware of a corresponding increase in my
understanding of birds. The learning process has been exciting. I recognize, as
well, how much I have learned about this state of ours. Surely, I have been
places and seen things that would not have been part of my experience otherwise.
The greatest experience, however, has come through association with you, the
members. Association with people is the essence of life. Each one of you, in
some way, has enriched my life. We don't meet often, but when we do there is an
excitement and a spirit of fun that doesn't exist in all groups. I found long
ago that birders love life, and beauty, and the world around them. This makes
them (and you, specifically) a delightful and special group. So, let me say a
great big "THANK YOU" for all you have done for me and for our
association. The incoming officers are excited about serving and will provide
strong leadership for the group. The next two years promise to be fun.
What Makes Us Strong
by Robin Tuck
What makes us strong I had a conversation last month
with a person who had come to some of our birding functions, but didn't keep
with it. She mentioned family pressures and lack of time as some of her reasons
for not joining in, but when she said she hadn't felt included, I was taken
aback.
I believe we make an honest effort to include all who come and mostly
make them feel welcome. Although I have watched many people come to one or more
of our functions then drop out of sight, I do not believe their departure is due
to any omissions of ours. I think there is a lot right about our club.
Admittedly, I am biased, but here are some of the things that I think are good
about our organization:
1. We have monthly meetings. I think that monthly meetings with good speakers
gives us life. We learn about interesting and different aspects of nature
(mainly focused on birding) and we have an opportunity to stand around and talk
to each other.
2. We have frequent and varied field trips. We travel near and far, about twice
a month. Our trips are exciting. Everyone may not be able to attend each one,
but they are frequent and varied enough that there is opportunity for all. And
our trips are not just local either. Our big plans excite even those who cannot
go.
3. We have committed leaders. There is a lot of work done behind the scenes that
make this work, without putting undo pressure on any single person (with perhaps
the exception of our web master).
4. We have a great newsletter. Mind you, we could always use more articles and I
encourage each of you to write one.
5. We do not conflict with the predominant religion in our area. Conflicts are
impossible to eliminate entirely, but we do not put people in a position where
they have to choose between church and the club.
6. Our Internet presence is fantastic. I cannot say enough good about Milton and
his efforts there. He is ‘working' full time making it one of the best.
7. Lastly, we have great members. We care for each other. We like being with
each other. Where our abilities are strong, we teach, where they are light, we
learn
As an aside, I believe our contests help a lot. They provide a challenge and a
reason to get out and bird. Really, our strength is you. I appreciate being a
part of this group. Thanks.
MILESTONE 700
Ned C. Hill
January 9, 2001
"How would you like to see your 700th bird?"
Matt DeVries asked me last week. The hotlines were reporting a recently
identified Nutting's Flycatcher in Irvine, California. The bird had been there
since mid-November but it had been misidentified sometimes as an Ash-Throated,
sometimes as a Dusky-capped Flycatcher. Just a few weeks ago, some experts
examined the photos, carefully looked at the bird in the field, heard the calls,
and determined that this was a Nutting's Flycatcher from Mexico-only the third
time this species has been seen north of the border.
Normally, I don't go on
"chases" to find rare birds. I have met some of the avid chasers of
the birding world and I am not nearly as intense as they are about the size of
one's life list. I bird for the pleasure of it. When I happen to be traveling to
an area that has an unusual bird nearby, I may go a bit out of my way to see it.
But I'm not a complete crazy who jumps on the first plane to see a Code 5
bird-just crazy enough to jump on the second plane for Irvine.
This opportunity
was different. I had been stuck at 699 on my ABA area life list since last
April, 2000, and had not been able to find that last species to get me into the
formerly rare "700 Club." I came very close in Nova Scotia (fogged out
for a pelagic trip where South Polar Skua and Leach's Storm- Petrel were being
seen and "holidayed out" for Bicknell's Thrush-as in the ranger who
knew where to look for the thrush was off for Canada Day) and Indiana (a day too
late for a Buff-breasted Sandpiper). Besides, Matt is a great friend and
excellent birder and we haven't been together on a birding adventure for several
years.
Now, 700 species today is really not that big a deal. Twenty years ago,
probably only a handful of birders had seen 700 species in North America. But,
with the advent of hot lines, area bird finding guides and the Internet, there
are several hundred birders who can claim at least 700. I personally know of a
few birders who have seen over 800 species. Nevertheless, the lure reaching 700
and, possibly, even 701 (Santa Cruz Island is not too far from Irvine) was a
great temptation. My wife, Claralyn, who had been with me a couple of times this
year when I failed to make 700, thought it would be good thing to "get out
of my system." So, with our wives' blessings Matt and I found cheap airline
tickets into LAX airport, rearranged work schedules and hoped the thickening
Utah fog would not jinx my efforts.
Friday, January 6th, 2001, we found the fog
had lifted enough for us to make it to Salt Lake and take off. Arriving in Los
Angeles at 1 p.m., we had a 40 mile trip to Irvine. Fortunately, our car came
with a navigation system at no extra charge. It faithfully led us through the
usually crowded freeways of LA to a small regional park next to the University
of California's Irvine campus. The directions from the Internet were quite good
but the aerial photo was confusing. Fortunately, a small group of birders were
already prowling around down the trail and they seemed to know where the bird
was usually seen. They had been there for an hour or so but no Nutting's
Flycatcher had appeared yet. We wandered the area near some apartments trying
not to scare the residents by looking through binoculars too closely in their
direction. Dog walkers and jogging were abundant. Turkey Vultures came gliding
in to roost in tall eucalyptus trees. After half an hour, David Mark, a birder
from Buffalo who was attending a conference in the area, held his binoculars to
his eyes and said those most comforting words, "I think that's the
bird." I was standing close by but at first couldn't see where he was
indicating. The other birders came running and trained 7 pairs of binoculars on
the willows about 20 yards in front of us. I finally found the bird in my
binoculars. It sat quietly, not moving for several minutes. It looked just like
an Ash-throated Flycatcher but the belly was more yellow. I ran back to the car
to get my scope and give everyone a better look. On the way back to the site, I
called Claralyn on my cell phone to tell her the news. She was happy to be
included.
Through the scope we could see the rufous in the primary feathers
extending further down the wing than in Ash- throated. We could also get a hint
of orange around the mouth. The bird started to move around a bit affording
everyone very close, scope-filling views. Although the flycatcher did not
vocalize, we all felt we had pretty good looks. I can see why they had trouble
with the identification- one just would not expect such a rare bird to be here
(first California record) so it would be easy to just pass it off as a more
common species.
When we told the group that this was my 700th bird, the 5 other
birders extended congratulations. Louise McCullough said that Ed Greaves (both
from Sacramento) had recently seen his 800th bird. They had also both been to
Attu on multiple trips so we exchanged some stories about our experiences there.
Attuvians have an immediate common bond. Birders are always so friendly anyway
and seem happy to share one another's successes. After spending a few more
minutes taking in the Nutting's Flycatcher, we looked around to see what other
birds were in the area and then headed out for our next adventure. We had
planned to come back to Irvine in the morning if we could not find the Nutting's
today- so this meant that we could head north to look for the Island Scrub-Jay
tomorrow.
701 was now a possibility-or would IT actually be my 700th bird? Matt
told me of some conversations he had had with Texas birders who said the
Gray-crowned Yellowthroat Matt and I and many others had seen about 5 years ago
in the Rio Grand Valley was being (or had been) rejected by the Texas Records
Committee. Although the bird looked like a Gray- crowned and vocalized like one,
some of its features showed it may have been a hybrid.
The next morning provided
us a gorgeous sunrise as we awaited the Island Packer's boat at Ventura Harbor.
Santa Cruz Island, our destination, is the only place in the world one can find
the Island Scrub-Jay. Long considered a subspecies of the Scrub Jay, a few years
ago, research revealed that the island subspecies was indeed a distinct species
(same for the Florida subspecies).
On the 1 1/2 hour trip out to the island, we
met Bill Tannery, an avid birder from the Philadelphia area who had come to
California for a 2-week birding trip. As he had never been on a west coast
pelagic, it was a pleasure to find with him Black- vented and Pink-footed
Shearwater, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murre and, the real treat of
the ocean part of the trip, a pair of Xantu's Murrelets-a lifer for both Matt
and Bill.
On Santa Cruz Island, we were told that the Island Scrub-Jay lived at
higher elevations in the canyon scrub. So we set out on a hike that took us
through a couple of camping areas where there were huge trees. The trees were
filled with Allen's Hummingbirds, Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers,
Say's Phoebes, Bewick's Wrens, House Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, and
Ruby-crowned Kinglets. On the rocky slopes we located several Rufous-crowned
Sparrows. Some of these species may be isolated subspecies that may some day be
declared full species like the Island Scrub-Jay.
After a long hike up a
boulder-strewn canyon, Bill shouted back to us that he had found the jays. They
are much brighter than our local Western Scrub-Jays. The blue is bluer and the
belly is very white. The bill is larger and the bird overall is an inch or so
longer than our species. They sounded pretty much like our Scrub-Jays, however.
After seeing half a dozen of them, we headed back down the canyon and were
treated to the mating flight of an Allen's Hummingbird. It would zoom up into
the air and then zoom down-sometimes making an unusual whistling noise (with its
tail?).
On the boat trip back we saw some of the same pelagic birds plus
hundreds of Western Grebes and a Pomarine Jaeger. We finished off the day with a
wonderful fish dinner at a non- fancy restaurant on the harbor.
What does it
mean to have seen 700 (or 701) birds? It means 700 wonderful memories. I think I
can remember the first time I saw every one of those 700 birds-except perhaps
the ones I saw very early in my life. Since I started birding as a Boy Scout and
then became re-dedicated to the idea about 14 years ago, birding has been a most
enjoyable hobby. The feelings, the excitement, the smells, the surroundings, and
especially the friends I was with-all come back to my mind just by looking at
the list of those 700 birds. Of course, you don't have to have seen 700 birds to
have those memories. Any number will do. 700 just means that I have a few more
of them than some. Anyone want to try for 800?
Appendix
Some memory highlights among those 700 birds:
Most expensive birds: A tie between two birds: Whiskered Auklet seen in the Baby Islands off Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Ivan Call and I along with four others chartered a plane and a boat (as we waited in vain for our flight to Attu in 1995) to reach this very rare species. Even the captain was nearly seasick. We also saw about 3,000 Tufted Puffins on the trip. OR Buff-breasted Flycatcher in Arizona. While trying to get up Sawmill Canyon road, I tore the bottom off the Volvo and cracked a hole in my catalytic converter.
Most disappointing misses: (a) A sure Mongolian Plover at Alexai Point, Attu, was reported at the end of a long, exhausting day. The leaders said, "Don't go for it-they are common here." Our legs balked at the thought of a 20 mile bike ride over the tundra so Ivan and I stayed back. One in our group went out and found the plover-none were seen the rest of the trip. (b)Gray Silky Flycatcher in El Paso. Matt DeVries and I had great success in finding a Rufous-backed Robin in Phoenix so we decided to press our luck and drive to El Paso. The next morning we searched in vain to find the bird. It disappeared for that day and the next but returned after we left. (c) My son Jonathan and I attended the BYU Cotton Bowl game in 1997. We went down a couple of days early to bird in the Rio Grand Valley. The night before we arrived, the only appearance of a Stygian Owl in North America happened. The owl was gone the next morning when we looked for it at Bentsen State Park..
Luckiest finds: (a) I had to give a seminar in San Antonio. Merrill Webb and I decided to go together and arrive a few days early to bird in Texas. When we arrived at Bentsen State Park, a huge group of birders was there, too, looking for the Collared Forest-Falcon. We were standing next to a guy who located the bird and Merrill and I got great looks at it. A few minutes later it left and was not seen again, disappointing many other birders who flew in from all over the country later that day. (b) Ivan Call and I were heading to our finance meetings in Toronto. When we called the hotline, a Variegated Flycatcher was reported to be on Toronto Island. We had meetings all the next day and hoped the bird would still be there. Early the next morning we took a ferry over to the island along with other birders and spent several hours looking for the bird. No luck. We determined we had to leave within the next 15 minutes to catch the next ferry. Just then, Ivan saw the bird pop up into a low branch. We got great looks at this third North American and first Canadian record, Code 5, beauty-and then ran like mad for the ferry.
Rarest bird: On our Attu trip in 1996, Ivan Call and I were privileged to see the second record of Great Spotted Woodpecker. In 1986 and 1987 the same bird was seen by one person in two consecutive years. He was a collector and shot the bird before any other birders could see it. While the bird is not uncommon in Europe and Asia, only about 85 people have seen it in North America.
Summary of Code 3, 4, and 5 Sightings
Code 5
Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Collared Forest-Falcon, Black- tailed
Gull, Oriental Turtle-Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nutting's Flycatcher,
Variegated Flycatcher, Bahama Mockingbird, Red-flanked Bluetail, Siberian
Accentor, Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Bunting. Total 12
Code 4
Laysan Albatross, Blue-footed Booby, Masked Duck, Whooper Swan,
Common Pochard, White-tailed Eagle, Northern Jacana, Bristle-thighed Curlew,
Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper,
Gray-tailed Tattler, Red-necked Stint, Long-toed Stint, Common Ringed Plover,
Slaty-backed Gull, White- winged Tern, Black Noddy, Whiskered Auklet, Arctic
Loon, Buff-collared Nightjar, White-eared Hummingbird, Berylline Hummingbird,
Eyebrowed Thrush, Clay-colored Robin, Rufous-backed Robin, Siberian Rubythroat,
Bluethroat, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Bahama Swallow, Olive-backed Pipit,
Brambling, Rustic Bunting, White-collared Seedeater, Blue Bunting. Total 36
Code 3
Black-footed Albatross, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Masked Booby,
Brown Booby, Eurasian Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Spectacled Eider, Hook-billed Kite,
Gyrfalcon, Yellow Rail, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Curlew
Sandpiper, Ruff, Yellow-footed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed
Gull, Ross's Gull, Bridled Tern, Brown Noddy, Red-billed Pigeon, Ruddy
Ground-Dove, Monk Parakeet, Mangrove Cuckoo, Flammulated Owl, Great Gray Owl,
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Boreal Owl, Antillean Nighthawk, Violet-crowned
Hummingbird, Elegant Trogon, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Island Scrub-Jay,
Tamaulipas Crow, Crested Myna, Northern Wheatear, Sky Lark, White Wagtail,
Yellow Wagtail, Colima Warbler, Tropical Parula, Kirtland's Warbler,
Five-striped Sparrow, Shiny Cowbird. Total 44
TO TWITCH OR NOT TO TWITCH
by Tuula Rose
If you are reading this, you qualify to be categorized
under one or more of the following:
1. BIRDLOVER - one who definitely likes birds.
2. BIRDWATCHER - one who looks at birds and is familiar with four different
kinds, or as one of my coworkers put it: tweety birds, dickie birds, ducks, and
hawk-like things.
3. BIRDER - one who owns a pair of binoculars and a field guide and uses both on
a regular basis
4. BIRDING ENTHUSIAST - one who is actively involved in a birding group or two
and participates in field trips, meetings and contests.
5. LISTER - one who makes lists in myriads of categories of birds seen or heard
anywhere in the world.
6. TICKER - one who already has the most comprehensive world lists, and ticks
off the sightings one by one.
7. TWITCHER - one who is ready to leap into action at a moments notice to go
chase a rare bird (like Iceland Gull, Varied Thrush or Nutting's Flycatcher for
example), and to TICK them off on their life LIST with ENTHUSIASM.
8. HARD CORE BIRDER - one who is knowledgeable, devoted and passionate about
finding all the species possible, near or far.
9. NED - one who fits all of the above. Congratulations on #701 ABA.
You can examine your personal style and rate yourself. I confess to being a
full-fledged twitcher. (I could name a few other UCB members who qualify for #7,
self-confessed or not). This is a British term that might not be familiar to us
in the west. Maybe some of you remember a comedy series named "To the Manor
Born". In one of the episodes Audrey spots a rare Bee-eater nesting in her
garden. One of the characters, a crusty old general warns her not to let the
word out for fear that all the TWITCHERS in England are going to be trespassing
on her property to see the bird. Instead of fighting the crowds, Audrey puts up
a blind near the nest and charges admission. It worked out beautifully for all
involved.
Sharing sightings is invaluable to us if we are trying to reach
personal goals or those given in a contest. The birdnet e-mail system has proven
to be an excellent help in getting the word out. However, everyone does not have
access to e-mail. We don't want anyone to be left out of the loop, so yet
another PHONE HOTLINE is in the process of being created.
We know that
the early bird gets the worm, and maybe even more true is that the early birder
gets the bird. So, if you want the bird, your choices are:
1. Get e-mail, and get on the birdnet, today!
2. If you are on the birdnet, check your mail more than once a week, i.e. today!
3. If you can't get e-mail, sign up for the PHONE HOTLINE and someone
will call you about sightings reported on birdnet. Voice- mail on your phone
would be useful, so we don't need to keep calling back.
4. If you have e-mail, but are worried about missing rare and occasional species
because you can only check your e-mail at night or during weekdays, sign up for
the PHONE HOTLINE, and give us a number you can be reached at when not at
home.