Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The Joys of a Summer Evening . . .

  • a chocolate chip smudge on the wall above the cooling rack -- the only trace of the cookies that Beans and Loula Belle made.
  • sprinklers in a grain field catching the rays of the setting sun.
  • sliding the windows open to let in the fresh breeze; knowing that by morning the house will be crisply cool.
  • listening to the jangle of silverware and dishes as Lou unloads the dishwasher.
  • hearing the hum of an airplane and wondering if Brad Wursten is up in his stunt plane.

Friday, June 04, 2010

It's a bird . . . It's a Western Tanager!

Perhaps you've noticed the small, brightly-colored birds hanging out in the valley this spring. They have a red-orange head and face, a yellow body and a black back and wings. They're actually male Western Tanagers. And they seem to be everywhere this year. Begging the question, why?

I decided to call my local newspaper, and ended up leaving a message for the editor I worked with on the hiking articles from last year. I said something like, "Hi, with all the Western Tanagers in the valley this year I thought you might want to do an article on why there are so many. A lot of people have been talking them. I don't have to write the article, but will if you want me to. Let me know."

Well, the editor called back and said, go for it. (With the deadline being the next evening.)

Long story short, I got busy and sleuthed out the answer to why there are so many Western Tanagers in Utah this year. The article printed today in the Outdoors Section. Here is the online link:
http://news.hjnews.com/features/outdoors/article_3fcc0e24-6fe4-11df-9f6f-001cc4c03286.html

The Bridgerland Audubon Society also has an article on their website written by Holly Strand of the Stokes Nature Center up Logan Canyon that explains the phenomenon as well. You can read it here:
http://www.bridgerlandaudubon.org/wildaboututah/100603westerntanager.htm

All in all I really enjoyed being in the birding element for a few days. It was nice getting updates from Utah Birdtalk about the sitings others were having across the state.

Happy birding!