[Birdtalk] Meaning Behind the Christmoose

[Kristin Purdy]

Santa left presents under the tree sometime last night as we hoped he would. 
But late this afternoon, I discoverd he might have forgotten to tie his bag 
tightly as he flew over the next ridge. Presents were sprinkled across the 
snow, on prominent rocky outcroppings and even in a grove of oak. In the 
late afternoon sunlight, I saw thirty-one head of deer, three Golden Eagles 
and one moose on the south-facing slopes of the Burch Creek and Beus Canyon 
drainages east of Ogden in Weber County.

The deer were not a surprise; in fact, following deer trails with scope and 
binoculars is a favorite winter pasttime of mine. The Golden Eagles were a 
special treat as I haven't seen any above my house recently. Two appeared to 
be a mated pair. They only interrupted their lazy soaring when a third eagle 
appeared. This one seemed to be a young bird with white at the wrists and 
base of the tail. It performed one rocketing dive near the other two, and 
then left the area when one of the pair seemed to escort it out of my view. 
Later, I watched one eagle on various perches against the mountain including 
a rock and a branch of a Mountain Mahogany. Both birds were in the area for 
at least an hour and a half. I wondered if they were searching for a carcass 
of a deer that might have become weakened and foundered in the snow.

Sweeping across the rocky slope for the eagles caused me to pass by a moose. 
I estimated his elevation from a USGS quadrangle map--about 6600 feet. The 
elevation is not remarkably low, but I haven't seen one on my side of the 
mountain in about three years. What does this mean? The snowpack probably 
isn't deep enough to have driven him here yet. Could it be a sign of 
snowpack yet to come?

We're fond of forecasting the type of winter by noticing the bird movements. 
The reports of Red-breasted Nuthatches at low elevations started rolling in 
in August, followed by those of kinglets, Mountain Chickadees, Brown 
Creepers, Cassin's Finches, Steller's Jays and Bohemian Waxwings. Can we 
forecast potential snowpack from moose movements? Colby, do you use this 
method ;^D?

Then again, perhaps I'm completely wrong about potential snowfall. Maybe 
Santa really did leave his sack open and all those wonders landed on the 
mountain for me to see this afternoon, especially the moose. And that's OK, 
too.

Kris