Fw: [Birdtalk] 2006 listing reports

[Kristin Purdy]

Whoopee! It's time to report our numbers for 2006. Mine didn't exactly fit 
the format that serves most people, so I'll just post them here--my top 10 
birding experiences of 2006. I didn't share some of these experiences when 
they happened because all of the birds could not have sustained the 
attention. But I publicized about half and some folks on this list shared 
these experiences with me. There's a theme; I wonder if it will be too 
obvious. Here goes:

10. A small (5 birds) communal Long-eared Owl roost in west Weber County. 
I'm cheating here because I came across the roost for the first time on Dec 
30, 2005. But the roost was still there in January and I visited several 
times, including once with a group of GSLA birders, before the roost 
disbanded a short time later.

9.  A surprise pair of Northern Saw-whet Owls that responded later than I 
expected--late May and early June--to a what-the-heck attempt to call 
saw-whets. The first time I tried I was owling, moosing and grousing with a 
Weber State summer research assistant. The saw-whet that came in was her 
lifer. I returned with a fellow Audubon board member, Gayle Allen, who 
hadn't seen a saw-whet, and Paul Higgins. After a memorable and failed 
attempt to see the bird that was calling just 10 feet over our heads, 
crossing a moose daytime bed and finding what was likely a grouse wallow all 
in the dark, the second bird came in and gave Gayle his lifer look.

8. Three memorable sunsets spent with a displaying male Dusky Grouse in May. 
You could have knocked me over with a feather when I got out of my truck on 
a mountain road the first night to look and listen for grouse and I heard 
this guy hooting. It took awhile to find him even though he was close; 
watching him display from 30 feet or so while he kept a wary eye on me was 
unforgettable. It was just him and me. Me n' Dusky.

7. Western Screech-owls "performing" for participants of the bird festival 
owl prowl at an off-the-beaten track location. On my scouting trip, both 
parent owls appeared in my spotlight at the same time, exchanged a rodent 
and then one (likely the female) flew away with it. I returned a few nights 
later with the prowl and my fellow leader, Arnold Smith. Both parent owls 
appeared in turn and one grasped a rodent in her beak. She disappeared out 
of the light and returned in a twinkling minus the rodent. Arnold had seen 
her silhouette against the trunk of a tree and directed me on the light 
until we found the nest cavity with two insistent fluffy owlet heads 
clamoring out of the hole. The female returned to the cavity while we 
watched in the light and she delivered another prey item. Three owlets 
fledged two days later.

6. I returned to the screech-owl location nearly a month later with Glenn 
Barlow, Bill Fenimore and visitors from Washington and Boston. I didn't have 
much hope of seeing the birds at that late date. We hadn't walked 50 feet 
down the path before we heard a fledgling screech-owl hooting just ahead. 
The bird perched on a branch at eye level. Holding the light was my total 
effort to deliver a screech-owl to the group. Gee...owling...nothing to it.

5. The warbler sighting that almost wasn't--the Worm-eating Warbler at Beus. 
I wasn't even supposed to be birding that day. I was just checking the 
feeders to see if the very special Thanksgiving dinner that I had delivered 
down a rat hole near the feeder had had an effect on seed consumption rate. 
My first look at the warbler was a terrible 20-second intermittent view of 
the crown while the bird played bracken fern peek-a-boo. After I 
resuscitated myself, I looked for that little stinker for 2 1/2 hours before 
I saw it again. By then I had also made an emergency run home to get a 
phone. I finally ran into the bird again near where most people eventually 
saw it and that's when I called Glenn (while trying not to hyperventilate). 
If you'd like to thank anyone for your Worm-eating Warbler sighting, thank 
the big rat that's been emptying the Wasatch Audubon feeders.

4. The Flammulated Owl that cooperatively perched on a bare branch 15 feet 
away and 7 feet above the ground for several visitors from Ontario and one 
from Brooklyn. The adults in the group held our collective breath while that 
bird perched in front of us in the open and "Boo-doop-BOO'd" for about 5 
minutes. The four-year old with us had the right idea. All the while she 
kept saying, "He's so cute! He's so cute!" Had I known in advance that one 
of my visitors had waited 25 years to see that bird, I would have been 
paralyzed with Birder's Performance Anxiety and would not have consented to 
the trip. I've passed the site many times since. If I were 7 feet tall, I 
would kiss that branch.

3. The two Northern Pygmy-owls that made a sandwich out of me in East Canyon 
in January. Despite obsessive searching, cursing, calling and scouting, I 
had never seen a pygmy-owl. And then on the day I saw my first one, I saw my 
first two. This bird or these birds delighted many and the experiences would 
not have been possible had Paul Higgins not discovered and reported them. 
Please...report your birds if you feel you can share them while still 
looking out for the birds' welfare.

2. The parliament of 12 Short-eared Owls that flushed from their daytime 
roost along both sides of the road and then circled around me in Curlew 
Valley in Box Elder County. This was on a day when I had already seen 
approximately 45 other Short-eared and 10 Burrowing Owls. I left my truck, 
stood in the road and squeaked like a rodent. The birds flew in a 
hundred-foot circle around me and then beelined to me each time they heard 
the squeaking. Having Short-eared Owls hovering over you at about 10 feet to 
find the mouse on your head is amazing and disconcerting and life-changing.

And the number one experience on my 2006 list...

The Anna's Hummingbird that came for breakfast and then stayed for lunch, 
dinner, and between-meal snacks from November 10 until December 17th. My 
hummer's first appearance in the morning made my day and I was despondent 
when he didn't show. Leaving your feeders out in late fall to snag a fall 
hummingbird works; just ask Jack Binch (who hosted a Rufous) and Mort Somer 
(who hosted another Anna's). I sure did save on birding gasoline in November 
and December by staying home to watch my hummer, nicknamed Mr Beautiful. I 
miss him so.

I encourage you to share your most memorable birding moments of 2006. Sure, 
they might be the lifers you added to your list or even the number you 
achieved. Or perhaps you'll tell us about the House Finch you rescued from a 
window strike, watching the light dawn in your grandson's eyes while you 
watched a nest of baby American Robins together, or a memorable trip to a 
great birding location. Just share.

Kris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Utah Birds" <utahbirds at excite.com>
To: <birdtalk at utahbirds.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 9:02 AM
Subject: [Birdtalk] 2006 listing reports


>
> For all you listers out there, it's time to report your numbers for 2006.
> The forms have been updated and are ready for your 2006 reports.
>
> Here's the address of the main listing records page:
> http://utahbirds.org/records/index.html
>
> Thanks and Happy New Year!
>
>
>
>
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