Fish Springs at sunrise

Fish Springs is a beautiful, yet harsh environment; it's a series of springs nestled in between the Dugway and Deep Creek mountain ranges. It's a 4 hour, desolate drive out there. There is no cell service, and weird things happen along the Pony Express road. The drive out can often be bland, but if you look hard enough, it's possible to see wild horses, antelope and a Prairie Falcon or two.

Jeff, Brittany Badger(Ingwell) and I went out to Fish Springs for the New Year's weekend to take place in their annual CBC. Brian Allen, the NWR manager was nice enough to let us spend two nights in the bunkhouse before and after the count. This year we had very few participants, I'm guessing most didn't want to make the long drive on a holiday weekend.

 Me, Brittany, Jeff Bilsky

The night before the count, the three of us went out on the refuge for a little owling. There is a picnic area with a few majestic cottonwoods, and that's where we decided to call for owls. It was a crisp night, and the leafless cottonwood skeletons towered over us, the only barrier between us and the luminous stars (sometimes it's good to get out of the city lights). After five minutes of inactivity, we decided to pack it up and move on. As we were leaving, we heard two very loud calls, saying "who's awake? Me toooooooooo." We bailed out of the car for the second time, and two silhouettes stood atop the cottonwoods. A pair of Great Horned Owls serenaded each other for five minutes or so, then flew away together.

The count started at 9 AM the next morning. Immediately upon leaving the bunkhouse we spotted a mixed flock of Dark-Eyed Juncos and American Tree Sparrows. A moment after that, Jeff refound a Townsend's Solitaire that we had spotted the day before. Our morning was off to a good start.

We walked over to the NWR office for some logistics before the count. Brian Allen, the refuge manager gave us our assignments, and we were off. Just outside the office, we spotted another mixed flock; this one contained more Tree Sparrows, Juncos, a Spotted Towhee, and a Robin.

Before birding the refuge, Jeff, Brittany and I birded just beyond the refuge gates in a spot where I have often found Sage Sparrows. We were lucky enough to find the only four Sage Sparrows of the count, and one of them gave us great looks. The Sage Sparrow is a beautiful bird with a very memorable song, so I am always excited to see them.

The birding on the refuge was a little slow (from what I remember in years past), but we did pick up some good birds. A Great Egret flew around our car for five minutes or so, we ran into an Eared Grebe, and saw a good sized flock of Tundra Swans. I was quite disappointed because the Fish Springs count is one of the few spots I see American Bittern; this year I saw none.

 I think I was scoping a group of ducks

After lunch, we met up with the other team (Valerie Frokjer and Nathan Darnell), and we headed down to some of the southern springs. We got out to chat at one of the springs, and as Valerie was walking towards the phragmites, a couple hundred birds flushed out. A group of ducks headed to the left, and 32 Black-Crowned Night-Herons headed to the right. I didn't ID the ducks because I was too busy looking at the Night-Herons; it was one of the bigger groupings of that species that I have ever seen. Night-Herons are a little beautiful and a little awkward in flight; Jeff made a good observation when he said that they fly a little bit like owls.

After that, the day ended with the great duck flush of Fish Springs (I'm not going to explain this one; you have to be there to experience it); the teams picked up a few duck species that we didn't get previously on the count.

It was a pretty good day. The count had 49 species, and our team had 34 species for the day.

We had a great time. The scenery is majestic, the birds are great, and it's always good to see our old friend, Jay Banta. The Fish Springs count is an annual tradition for me, and I always look forward to it. I suggest that every Utah birder does this count at least once in their life.

Carl

Utah Birders Park City Christmas Bird Count 

Sunday, December 18, 2011

8am - 5pm

Sign Up for the CBC Now

We are pleased to announce the first ever Utah Birders Park City Christmas Bird Count and invite you to participate! The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a census of birds performed annually in December and January by volunteer birders. The purpose is to provide population data for use in science, especially conservation biology--though many people participate just for fun.

The 2011 Park City CBC will take place on Sunday, December 18, 2011 starting at 8am and going until 6pm (or until there are not more birds to be seen). We will split up into several teams to cover areas from Jordanelle north to Jeremy Ranch and from Summit Park east to Rockport and Peoa.


We will begin meeting at 7:30am in Park City at the Whole Foods at 1748 West Redstone Center Drive If you take exit 145 (Kimball Junction) on I-80 then go south the store is just east of hwy 224 just south of the interstate:

http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/store-locations/?storeabbr=PKC#map_top

The Whole Foods will be providing a fruit tray for us to snack on before we head out for the day--you can also purchase other items for breakfast while we chat before heading out.  We will hand out checklists, maps and any other materials as well as breaking into teams if needed.

Each team will be led by a member of the Utah Birders that will help identify the species encountered and share some information about the birds along the way. For those interested we will meet at 6:00pm after at a location TBD to compile all the checklists and share stories from the day. 

The cost to participate is $10 per person or $25 for families of 3 or more. $5 will go to cover the cost from the National Audubon Society. From that you will receive a copy of the report the following spring detailing findings form CBCs across the country. The other $5 will go to our local charity that the Utah Birders sponsor. 

If you have any questions feel free to contact us at utah.birders@gmail.com or call Carl at 801-688-5017, Jeff at 801-842-4013, or Tim at 801-440-3035.

Sign Up for the CBC Now 

We hope to see you on the 1st ever Park City CBC!
The Utah Birders

On January 1st, Carl Ingwell and I headed out Fish Springs NWR to participate in their annual Christmas Bird Count which was scheduled for the next day. Fish Springs Refuge covers 17,992 acres with a 10,000 acre marsh system. Water is supplied by 5 major springs and several lesser springs and seeps (info from their website). To access it, we had to drive 75 or so miles on the unpaved Pony Express road. In any conditions this road is not exactly easy to drive, so the winter provided some interesting challenges including a couple of mountain passes, some heavy snow, and areas of snow drifts. 4WD was a must. On the way, we came across the largest flock either of us had ever seen of Bushtits moving through some Junipers. There were probably close to 40. A good omen to be sure.

We stayed at the Fish Springs bunk-house for the night, and being the light sleeper that I am, I woke up to the singing of Great Horned Owls outside the window just after midnight. The memory of the weekend that is burned as transcendent was when an American Bittern was captured by the sun as its head stuck up through ice crystals that had formed on the surrounding vegetation. It was an unreal display of nature's unwavering beauty.

There were many other incredible moments throughout (contact me for a complete list of species seen) including the infamous great rally at the end and lots of great food, drink, and discussion.

There's something about Fish Springs that is unique and memorable. Hard to articulate, but I think if you go out there you'll see what I mean.

I am pretty sure the title of this probably just sent a number of people into a furor, with a, "How dare he!" or "what does he know?" But before anyone stops reading and writes an angry comment, read on.

The key word in the title of this post is "data".

We have Big Sits, Thanksgiving Bird Counts, Christmas Bird Counts, The Great Backyard Bird Count, and so on and so forth. All of these counts happen on the same day, or week, every year, and some have been going on more than 100 years. There is no doubt that these counts have provided a checklist or series of checklists that over time have created a larger checklist, and shown trends year in and year out. But in retrospect, they are just one day, or one week, and every year there are going to be factors that can skew results year in and out.

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a prime example of this. Each year these counts are held all over the nation and information is gathered, put onto a checklist and then added to the history of that count and that years data. A CBC can be a lot of fun, and it's a tradition well worth keeping and taking part in if you haven't already. But let me for a minute talk about data.

During a CBC we count birds at a number of locations within a count circle for that one day. 1 day. It's one day, and that's where the data becomes irrelevant. On any given day you are going to see a certain number of species at a certain location, and year in and out you will see those same birds. Some days you will see a few different, other days you will miss a few. Every once in a while you will see something rare. But it's just one day and historically if a count has been around for 100 years that is 100 days of data, over 100 years. It gives a peak into a historical time line of that specific count, but as a tool for measuring bird trends it is lacking in enough information.

I would argue eBird is a far more valuable counting system, and will be long into the future than any of these counts. eBird allows any number of people to enter information from anywhere they would like, as many times a day from as many locations as they would like—as often as they would like. This means that any number of people over the month of December could enter all their checklists and have a pretty good data set for the month for locations, for counties, and even the entire state. And every year this information grows, and shows a much more complete picture of what is going on with birds in the state each year.

Currently there are far too few people using eBird out of the vast number of birders that are out there. I would opine that a lot of this has to do with the generational gap. Most young birders are quite religious with using eBird to keep track of sightings. Let's face it, we grew up with the computer age, we like things to be easy, and nothing is easier than eBird for keeping track of sightings. That's not to say that older generations don't use the program, but in terms of birders, there are far fewer younger birders than older, and vice versa those older birders are using programs like eBird far less than the younger birders.

If you've made it this far, I will end by saying I do think that these counts are valuable in a number of ways. They DO add valid data sets to the overall picture. On any CBC I have taken part in I have added my lists into eBird—and many birders do the same. It also give opportunities to introduce new, and younger birders to people who know the areas they are going to be counting in, and give them a taste of what the counts are about. Those birders are often experienced, and have quite a bit of knowledge to share, and are invaluable in spreading the interest in birds.

Great Salt Lake Audubon. Copyright Tim Avery

Let's face it; lots of us that participate in counts often are trying to see as many species as possible. The big number at the end of the day is exciting, and beating the year before, or the record excites people. It's fun, it gets people into counting, and it's memorable. Not everyone is, but I have been part of more counts than I can count on my ten fingers, where the grand total for species has been the cheering point.

The data collected is relevant in the big picture. As part of a data set as a whole it is just as important as every other data point. If it were the only measure, it would be missing far more important information than the historical information tied to the count. However, for the value it brings to advertising and marketing birding—it is invaluable.

Saturday, I participated in the Great Salt Lake Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC). A historical perspective of what these counts are about can be found at this link. My team consisted of just 3 total birders. We originally had a much larger cast but several cancellations trimmed it down to myself, Carl Ingwell, and Sarah Nelson. The count is segmented into territories, and for the 4th year in a row, I was assigned to an area that includes the town of Bountiful, a few miles North of Salt Lake City. Bountiful is unique in that it includes Mueller Park, a montane habitat and one of the few places within the count radius to find certain species. So naturally we maximized our time there, but we also drove all around searching neighborhoods, parks and the local cemetery for whatever species we could find. Anyone interested in a comprehensive list, please contact me and I'll forward our counts for the day.

The biggest surprise was a group of Wild Turkeys at Bountiful Ridge Golf Course. We had never seen them in this area before and were shocked. We counted 28 total, many of which you can see in the below photo.

It's always interesting what you come across spending an entire day scouring an area for all signs of bird life. It is a game of slamming brakes, illegal U-turns, shouting, taunting, and a lot of coffee. On this day, we also built a couple of incredible snowmen and then took turns destroying them with full-body tackles.

In the late afternoon, after trudging through the snow in Mueller Park and finding at least a few of our montane targets (Steller's Jay, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper), we called it a day. We were cold. We were tired. But we had fun.

There is always a post-count party to meet up with other teams and share in some food and drink and discuss what was seen. The last few years it has been in a banquet room at the Tracy Aviary. My brain, infused by both a day of relentless bird counting and a healthy amount of celebratory drink, attempted to add a number of the exotics living in the aviary to our day's list. I don't think anyone was as amused as I was. I guess talking to the birds and asking them if they want to be on our list in a loud and obnoxious voice isn't always the best way to make yourself look intelligent.

If you haven't participated in a CBC, make it a point to do so....