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        President's Message - Dec 2022  

                    by Machelle Johnson

Well, I guess it's December already! What a great birding year! There have been many rare birds coming through just in the past couple of weeks. You've still got time to get your counties checked off for the gold level of the challenge! If you haven't reported your level yet, please do as soon as you can. We are compiling a great list of prizes for you!

The new year will bring a few changes to the board, including a new president. I'm pleased to announce that Yvonne Carter will be the President of the club for the next 2 years! Yvonne has been a member for many years, we look forward to hearing all about her at the next meeting and in her newsletter articles. If you are interested in serving on the board please let us know. We are always looking for volunteers to write an article, lead a field trip, and help with the website. We also need a President Elect for 2025. For more information talk to a board member.

I love being a member of this group! I've learned so much from the members that are so willing to share their time and expertise. Thank you to all, I'm honored to be associated with you and look forward to learning for years to come.
  

              Thanks,
             Machelle
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The 2022 Birding Challenge

Prinout with the details
(PDF file)

BIRD OF THE MONTH:
    

Hiking and birding amongst the shrubby sagebrush steppe, a summer resident of this mountain west habitat in East Canyon during the second week of May, I enjoyed an encounter with a handsome white throated, rust crowned, and overall gray “colorful chirper” the Green -tailed Towhee sporting its distinctive yellow-green edged wings and tail; singing whistled notes, buzzy trills while perched within a soon to bloom Service Berry, Amelanchier utahensis. *And, more often is discovered while voicing its familiar “mew” call.
 
By the way, quite aptly its New Latin name is derived from: Pipo (peep or chirp); Chloro (green) and wasn’t able to find a latin or Greek meaning for Urus other than that of a wild ancestral bull. Hardly a befitting name for our Towhee.
 
The pair arrive late April to early May and the male begins to sing and defends its territory very soon after arriving on its breeding grounds. Although, I’ve never witnessed males making low aggressive flights, with puffed out feathers, a raised rusty colored crown and an upright stiff pointed tail this is apparently how a male demonstrates to other males its territorial behavior. Breeding pairs are most often monogamous, but the male may on occasion breed outside of the pair bond.
 
This large sparrow, although not necessarily secretive spends much of its time (especially while raising their young hatchlings from clutches of 2-5 eggs in a deep cupped nest well concealed in scrub and no more than knee-high above the ground), double-scratching in leaf litter beneath shrubs for beetles, caterpillars, and other insects, in addition to foraging for a variety of berries and seeds dropped from filaree and dandelion and other forbs.
 
Well concealed most of the time, exposed particularly singing males, may become a meal for predators including East Canyon residents: Cooper’s, Red-tailed, and Swainson’s hawks and American Kestrel’s; their nests may be raided by Woodhouse jays, magpies, weasels, snakes and skunks.
 
While my wife and I once again camped at the East Canyon reservoir state park this past September, I hiked several areas where I had seen towhees during spring and summer, but was unable to discover one. The Green-tailed towhee is a true migrant and leaves for its wintering grounds in the fall for southern New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and throughout Mexico.
 
Over-all the Green-tailed towhee population is fairly stable, however, more recent population studies reveal a decline in specific habitat regions (sagebrush steppe and lower mountain shrublands) as a result of increased development, grazing, expanding agriculture and changing fire management systems.

Credits: The Cornell labs “All about Birds”; The Smithsonian Handbook, “Birds of North America, Western Region”


         
  
       [See past Bird of the Month articles] 
  

14 turkeys, not chickens braved the 10° F morning and trotted for South Fork Canyon around 8:40 am.

We found 247 Wild Turkeys!! Plus a couple Scrub Jays, Steller's Jay, Dark-eyed Juncos, a Black-capped Chickadee, Mallards, Common Raven and a Red-tailed Hawk. And 12 Peacocks haha!

We then trotted to East Lawn Cemetery. The turkey's were MIA :( but we found a Woodhouse's Scrub Jay,  Juniper Titmouse, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, American Kestrel and a Townsend's Solitaire! Everyone else had afternoon plans so we shared our delicious Chocolate/ Peanut Butter turkey sugar cookies and Jess and I trotted off.

Yvonne stopped by Sundance and added 10 to our tally!

Jess and I stopped at ULSP for a hopeful look at the Snow Bunting, no luck on the bunting but we did see Ian who saw it after we left ;(

From there we trotted to Diamond Fork Canyon. We didn't find any turkey's on the main road but by Red Ledges we spotted something better! A Northern Pygmy Owl!! As we trotted down the canyon we decided to check up Wanrhodes...jackpot!! We added 49 Turkeys!! Plus 2 Golden Eagles being harassed by a couple Common Ravens. We saw a Red-tailed Hawk, Black-capped Chickadee, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay, American Kestrel, American Robin, Song Sparrow and Dark-eyed Juncos!.
  

It was so beautiful up there today out of the haze. On the way down Spanish Fork Canyon we saw a small group of 15 Turkeys!
  

We trotted over to Payson Canyon. Jess and I enjoying the cookies all by ourselves. In the meadow we had a 101 Turkeys and 2 Black-billed Magpies!
 

Brown Creeper-Santaquin Canyon

Last stop was Santaquin Canyon. We found 9 Turkeys, one Brown Creeper and a Golden Eagle!!

Mom called and today there were 60 turkeys in Elk Ridge!
  

We crushed our previous years with 491 Turkeys!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!  

Photo by Robert Parsons
  
 

LOON LOOP...Morgan and Summit Counties    12 Nov 2022 by Suzi Holt

 
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