birding, photography and living with pet birds
Posted in shorebirds on Sep 23rd, 2011
Most of Farmington Bay is behind a gate that they close off during breeding season. When I visited last weekend they opened it back up again. And I’m so glad that they did because I got to see grebes! These are Western Grebes because the black feathers are underneath their eyes. Clark’s Grebes only have [...]
Sometimes life is just about finding the next box to chew.
Posted in conservation on Sep 19th, 2011
Now comes the best part of the season where we get to eat the spoils of our labor. Green bell peppers from the garden are better than any pepper you can buy in the store. They’re so flavorful that I’ve cut them up and eaten them without any seasoning. Jon made an omelet with tomatoes [...]
Posted in lark on Sep 17th, 2011
Horned Larks are very common in Utah, but they’re really hard to get good pictures of in the winter, as evidenced by this post. I’ve had been luck in the summer, though. I saw them in Arizona (of course) in early April. And at Antelope Island on July 4th. They just love perches in open [...]
Posted in warbler on Sep 16th, 2011
I’ve seen a lot of warblers. Many, many yellow and brown warblers. Arizona had a black warbler. Or to be more specific, a Black-throated Gray Warbler. He really is black throated! Oh my goodness, he’s cute. He has two little yellow spots near his eyes. Here is a side view. And here is a dead-on [...]
Trevor is such a trouble maker. At night Conner likes to hang out on his stick because it’s close to Audrey. Trevor hangs out on the rope below or stands above Conner on the top of the cage. No matter where he is, he fights with Conner. So I bought another rope perch – this [...]
Posted in random on Sep 11th, 2011
Salt Lake City has an old cemetery that was started as a result of tension between Mormon and non-Mormon religions. The non-Mormons are buried at Mount Olivet. Inside the cemetery, it looks like a different world. But on the outskirts, it’s still a very urban area. You can see the University of Utah stadium from [...]
kil-deer, kil-deer, kil-deer! Kildeer are very noisy, especially when they are in groups. These guys were talking up a storm, it was a bird convention! Earlier this summer I finally got to see a Kildeer doing that broken wing thing that you always read about. If you’re not familiar, Kildeer will feign an injury around [...]
Posted in sparrow on Sep 7th, 2011
The air in Utah is very dry. During the winter we run a humidifier every day so that my skin isn’t constantly itchy and the birds’ feathers stay nice and sleek. The air is so dry that instead of air conditioners some people have swamp coolers. Swamp coolers cool the air by releasing water vapor. [...]
Posted in goat sucker on Sep 5th, 2011
One of the really cool things that we did in Arizona was night birdwatching. Many birds are nocturnal and are therefore easier to find at night. One of these birds is the Common Poorwill. photo by Jon Common Poorwills eat insects and are easily found on the road at night. They’re also quite convinced of [...]