Dad is Like a Kid in a Candy Store!

"Dad is like a kid in a candy store with all those birds!" That's how my 27-year-old daughter described me Saturday when she and I returned home to family after spending about 30 minutes photographing birds at Kiwanis Park near the mouth of Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, Utah. She had just witnessed her dad's boundless enthusiasm for tracking down and photographing birds. Within minutes of exiting the truck with my daughter I was experiencing sensory overload--seeing and hearing birds calling from all directions. Which way should I go?  As I focused my attention on a tiny Brown Creeper working its way up to the top of a tree I noticed a juvenile Golden Eagle soaring in the sky above us. It was soaring between the two mountains forming the mouth of the canyon.  At the same time I was trying to decide if I should go after the Black-capped Chickadee, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Scrub-Jay, Northern Flicker, or Townsend's Solitaire--all of which were calling from different locations. While watching the eagle and listening to all the bird calls I heard something very clearly from behind me. "Dad! A woodpecker 'thingie' just flew onto that tree!" I looked up and saw a handsome male Downy Woodpecker with his bright red crown.

Male Downy Woodpecker at Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Male Downy Woodpecker Showing his Crown at Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

I had removed my Nikon 1.4x teleconverter from my lens before my daughter and I exited the truck because I suspected we'd be primarily photographing passerines (small perching birds) at close distances among the trees. Consequently, it was a stretch for my 300mm f4 lens to capture a nice shot of the soaring Golden Eagle, but I did my best to bridge more than 200 yards between us and the majestic hunter of the mountains. The cropped image below captured enough detail to reveal the iridescent gold feathers on the nape as well as the whitish tail with a dark terminal band and the two-toned under wings indicative of an young eagle. It's not a great image, but its a typical view and I love to see the eagles soar!

Juvenile Golden Eagle Soaring Above Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

I couldn't help but realize that my daughter was having an experience I had a couple of years ago when I stood in about the same spot one winter day and observed both a tiny Brown Creeper and a soaring Golden Eagle. One of our smaller and larger birds of North America in one experience.

While watching the eagle I heard a "chut, chut" sound coming from a nearby tree. It was a sound familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. I couldn't connect it to a species so I had to locate the bird. The tree was rather leafless but overgrown with wild branches, making it difficult to see what species of bird was responsible for the call. I saw a movement which clued me in to the general location of the bird and I was able to briefly see the bird's chest and head as it peered between some branches. It was a Hermit Thrush. Range maps for the Hermit Thrush indicate they should not be in Utah during winter months, but we do have them here year round. My Sibley app for my Android phone indicates that Hermit is typically the only "Thrush" (speaking specifically of birds with "Thrush" in their common name) that winters in North America.

Winter Holdover and Hiding Hermit Thrush at Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

I noticed several times that the Hermit would half lift and stiffen its wings as it made the "chut, chut" sounds. I captured this behavior in the image below. I'm very interested in understanding this behavior further. I wonder if it may be a reaction to a predator or other threat.

Winter Holdover and "Chutt"ing Hermit Thrush at Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Winter Holdover and Hiding Hermit Thrush at Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

I turned my daughter's attention to the call of a Townsend's Solitaire after capturing images of the Hermit Thrush. She then watched more of my birding-without-abandon style as I quickly moved down a snowy slope, across a thin layer of ice just inches above a still-flowing stream and then up another snowy slope to get to a better vantage point. I grabbed and pulled on a tiny little branch to stabilize myself as I went up the steep, snowy slope--all the while holding my camera and lens in such a way that my body would take the blow instead of the gear if I did slip and fall. My daughter told me afterward that the branch would not have supported me if that became necessary. The effort was worthwhile as I was able to position myself in the midst of several Solitaires as they foraged, danced in flight, and called back and forth to one another.

Townsend's Solitaire at Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Townsend's Solitaire at Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Townsend's Solitaire at Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Townsend's Solitaire at Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Our time was short and my daughter, who has grown accustomed to her warm winters in Phoenix, was getting cold so we hopped back into the truck and made our way home. I'll have to head back to the canyon soon and spend some more time with those birds because things were just warming up for the kid in the candy store when we had to leave.