This past weekend was the first weekend I had free in months. My ultimate frisbee season (I'll blog soon enough about birding and ultimate frisbee) had ended in Corvallis, Oregon with a 3rd place finish in Northwest Regionals and suddenly I had a bunch of free time again for the first time since May to do things like write in this blog and to get out hiking and birding again. The first spot I wanted to go again was one that I haven't heard many reports from recently but was a favorite of mine since I moved out to Salt Lake City- Silver Lake and the adjacent trails in Big Cottonwood Canyon. This trip also doubled as my first ever hike in aspens in fall and even though the foliage was past peak, I was still enthralled with the beauty of them.

Silver Lake- Big Cottonwood Canyon

I quickly found out why there weren't many birding reports recently from the area- there were very few people up there! I basically had the whole area to myself and took advantage of the situation by taking my time to take in the scenery and to enjoy the birds and other animals I encountered. Unfortunately there weren't many birds up there, but because of the lack of people around they allowed close views and it was nice to see Mountain Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches and Ruby-crowned Kinglets up close again. There were some raptors migrating through as well which is a benefit of this time of year as well. 

I hiked up to Twin Lakes Reservoir and had the whole trail and lake to myself to take in the beautiful vistas. The hike up didn't have much in the way of animals but the hike down more than made up for it. On the way down, I spotted a herd of about 7 Mule Deer and wondered how close I could approach them. I snuck down the hillside until I was about twenty yards away from a doe and her two older fawns. They seemed to not care about my presence at all and I got to watch them as they ate.

Mule Deer family

It was fun to get to view them just acting naturally with them feeding and occasionally having the youngsters romp around. Once the got far enough away from the trail I continued down. I eventually came to some scree slopes where I had heard some pika bleeting on the way up. I was determined to get a good view of these adorable lagomorphs since up until now I have only seen them from far away. Looking at the scree, I saw some pika close to trail so I readied my camera and proceeded cautiously toward the scree. Once I got close I saw one was feeding on nearby shrubs and inched my way closer until I was about 15 feet away. Luckily the pika was hungry and paid me no heed. 

American Pika

It even hung around long enough for me to shoot some video of it eating and running around:

Finally sated by great pika views I continued down the trail as the sun started to dip down behind the mountains. As I was approaching Silver Lake, I heard the light tapping of a woodpecker in some nearby pines. I was hoping for an American Three-toed Woodpecker, but I was thinking it would probably just be a Hairy Woodpecker or a Red-naped Sapsucker. I finally got a view of the woodpecker and it ended up being an American Three-toed.

American Three-toed Woodpecker

This bird was basically a lifer for me since my only other views of this woodpecker were poor and fleeting. The bird let me carefully approach it and also barely took notice of me standing nearby. I managed to get some video of it digging a hole to find insects.

I left the woodpecker as I had approached it, with it pecking away for food. I was excited about the great views I had had of both birds and mammals and thought about how sometimes it pays to go where others aren't. Even if the birding isn't the best, the chance for meaningful encounters with nature is high.

I remember some years back out birding with Colby Neuman and a group of birders from Cornell.  It was during the AOU convention at the University of Wyoming in Laramie during the onset of fall migration.  We had driven out into the middle of nowhere to a spot that the day before was loaded with migrant Calliope Hummingbirds visiting the flowers along the road--it was the last place you would expect to see a hummingbird.  But there they were, zipping left and right from flower to flower and sitting on the barbed wire fence.  While I was amused with the hummingbirds I noticed the Cornell guys staring at the ground through their binoculars and wondered what in the hell they were doing.  I could have swore they were looking at dragonflies--no that couldn't be possible, there were Calliope Hummingbirds in the middle of the prairie--why would they be looking at dragonflies?

Red-veined Meadowhawk near Laramie, Wyoming

As it turns out, they were looking at dragonflies and the reason was simple, this species of "meadowhawk" was not found in New York!  A meadow huh? Meadowhawk? That's right they were dragonfly watching, and they knew the names of the dragonflies.  Now, I have always considered myself very aware of everything natural around me.  I knew there were different species of bees, butterflies, and dragonflies, but it had never occurred to me to look at them closely before.  I would take a photo if it were interesting, but aside form that, they were just sort of a side note to my time outdoors--like the flowers, trees, and rocks.  So now my interest was piqued, and for the remainder of the day as we made stops for birds the "dragonflying" (if we can call it that) continued.  I didn't think much of it at the time--I was in the midst of my Utah Big Year and when I got home it was the start of one of the best fall migrations I remember--dragonflies were cool but not as cool as the birds.  It was almost a year later when I was at Antelope Island watching a warbler along a creek when all of the sudden I really started noticing the dragonflies.  They were everywhere, and they were easy as hell to photograph.

Clockwise from top left: Lance-tailed Darner, Twelve-spotted Skimmer,

Western Pondhawk, & Saffron-winged Meadowhawk

This was all about the same time that I started to notice butterlfies a little more.  I used to give Colby a hard time because he would get caught up looking at a butterfly while we were birding--and now I was doing the same--damnit another field guide I have to pick up.  By the end of 2008 I had guides to both dragonflies and butterflies and while birding you were just as likely to catch me trying to figure out what kind of Fritillary I was looking at as you were to find me admiring the subtle plumage of a Brewer's Sparrow.

Clockwise from top left: Common Buckeye, American Snout,

Great Purple Hairstreak, and Queen

I now think about all the years spent in the midwest where I didn't pay much attention at all to the insects.  What did I miss?  What will I likely never have the chance to see again?  Why didn't I notice these things at the time?  Was it because I was so focused on bird?  More importantly, how did it take me so long to connect the dots, and realize that I wasn't just interested in birds, I also had an interest in other things with wings?  It is frustrating to think about, but I like to think that the last few years I have made the most out of it.  I am no master of ID when it comes to the non-avian flying creatures, but I give it a shot--just this weekend I spent a couple hours photographing butterflies while the birding was slow.

Clockwise from top left: Relict Fritillary, Western Sulphur,

Common Sootywing, and Greenish Blue

I can't imagine being able to identify every butterfly, dragonfly, or any other flying insect--there are just too many and some of the complexes make the empids look like a cake walk.  IF insects aren't your thing though, you can take another route--how about flying mammals?  I have always found bats fascinating--but harder than hell to photograph.  A couple years ago my wife's parents had dozens of these winged creatures flying over their neighborhood during the summer.  I took the opportunity to learn to shoot photos of moving targets in the dark.

Big Brown Bat

I definitely wouldn't say I am hooked on bats, but they are interesting and equally tough to learn.  So next time you find yourself out and about, and maybe the birding ain't so great, take a minute and see what other flying creatures might be nearby--you never know what you might find!

Is it a Fly is it a Bee? Strange weird things with wings!

You can check out all my other non bird related wildlife photos on my website through this link! If you notice anything not identified correctly, don't hesitate to let me know!