A Critter-Filled Weekend While Golfing and Camping

I had a fun weekend ahead of me last Friday morning. It would include golfing and lunch for a work activity and camping with my twin sons. We would be enjoying some father-son time in the great outdoors around Timpooneke Campground in Utah County while our wives were enjoying some girl time at our home. I could picture the image below when I thought about a weekend in the outdoors.

Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

However, there were some minor details that required my attention at the crack of dawn Friday morning. All of which had to be done in a period of time that allowed me to get to the golf course twenty minutes from my home before an 8:45 tee time. We were unable to reserve our campsite in advance so I had to drive thirty minutes up American Fork Canyon, stake a claim on one of the first-come-first-served campsites, and pay the fee to the caretaker when he was officially available at 7 AM. I found an open site, set up an empty tent to stake our claim, and then paid the fee.

I noticed a rabbit running across the road ahead of me on my way out of the campground. I saw that its hind legs were huge and white so I realized it was a Snowshoe Hare, a very secretive hare that generally hides in thick mountain brush. I tried to stop and get an image of the hare while his large hind feet were still visible, but it got into the grass before I could do so. These hares transition between an all-white coat during the winter months and a brown-gray coat during the summer months. The white winter coat makes them extremely hard to find when there is snow cover in our mountains.

Snowshoe Hare in Summer Coat at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

I made it home without further distractions and quickly showered. I was making good time until I realized I had a tick free-loading on the back of my lower thigh. I had picked up an unwanted hitch hiker while in the mountains. A quick Google search confirmed it was a Rocky Mountain Wood Tick and not a Deer Tick which is known to carry Lyme Disease. I consulted Dr Google and his friend, WebMD for the proper way to remove a tick and followed those directions successfully, including the part about putting the tick in a Ziploc bag for later reference if needed. Here's a link on how to remove a tick. It's a good refresher as we go outdoors during the spring and/or wet summer months when they are thriving:

Click Here for How to Remove a Tick From Your Skin

I'm a little fascinated by nature and all of its critters and this post is about critters so here you go! This is the very beast itself. It was about a 1/4 of an inch long. The tiny nub up front is the part that was embedded in my skin.

Top Side of a Rocky Mountain Wood Tick

Bottom Side of a Rocky Mountain Wood Tick

The tick episode set me back a little in my time management, but I made it to the course right at 8:45. I teed off for the first time in over a year without a single practice swing and it was a solid drive, straight down the fairway. I can't say the same for many of the other swings during the morning, but golfing with coworkers was fun. We didn't really have serious golfers in our group so we simply had fun and enjoyed the spring weather. The course was situated in the foothills near Corner Canyon in Draper, Utah. We spent a bit of time chasing balls that we hit into the sagebrush and hillsides. While checking for a lost ball in the ruff near the putting green of hole #8 we discovered two Gopher Snakes that were both over four feet long. Another coworker and I retrieved one from the ruff and placed it on the putting green. I got on my belly and captured the image below with my phone camera. Another fun critter for the weekend.

Gopher Snake at South Mountain Golf Course in Draper, UT (over four feet long)

After enjoying lunch with my coworkers it was time to head home and make the drive up American Fork Canyon to our campsite. I stopped along the road to our campsite to capture and image of the ubiquitous Uinta Ground Squirrel, or Pot Gut as the locals call them.

Uinta Ground Squirrel at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Another common mammal in our mountains is the Red Squirrel. They are small for a tree squirrel with a body that is about 7" from head to rump and a tail that is about 5-6" long. This one appeared to be gathering nest material.

Red Squirrel at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

My sons and I set up camp and made some dinner. This was the view from the shade of our campsite Saturday morning as breakfast was being prepared.

Cooking Breakfast at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

We did some visiting, hiking, mountain biking, and exploring early Friday evening. As the sun was setting and the sky began to darken I led my sons on a search for Norther Saw-whet Owls. I had introduced them to Flammulated Owls before so we focused this time on the Saw-whets. We were successful at calling one in. It landed in tree right above our heads as I was whistling one of their calls. We got a light on it so my sons could see the unique little owl that was about 8" tall. Here is an image from a previous Saw-whet encounter I had in the same general location.

Northern Saw-whet Owl in Utah County, UT

We sat around the campfire for the rest of the night and then went to bed. The robins started singing around 5 AM, the resident Ruffed Grouse started drumming around 6 AM, and within moments it seemed that all the other birds of the forest were singing and calling. Nature called in more ways than one so I exited the tent for another day in the mountains.

After breakfast I stood on the road near the meadow shown in the very first image of this post and practiced some photography as Broad-tailed Hummingbirds came to and battled over the nectar of the flowers from a Twinberry Honeysuckle shrub.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

An American Dipper popped up from the running stream near the bush and posed briefly for me. These little birds behave like ducks as they dive under water to retrieve larvae. The water just rolls right off their backs when they emerge from beneath the fast moving water.

American Dipper at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

American Dipper at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

I was riding my mountain bike through the campground late in the morning and discovered a pair of American Three-toed Woodpeckers chipping bark from the trees of campsites 27 and 28, both of which were now empty as the campers who used them the night before had left. These are rare for the area so it was a very fortunate discovery for me. They were constantly in the shadows of the fir trees so the lighting was poor for my taste, but this turned out to be a solid image for documenting the rare sighting.

American Three-toed Woodpecker at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

American Three-toed Woodpecker at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

All in all it was a great weekend with coworkers, family, and interesting critters. I can't wait for what remains to be discovered during my next weekend.

Sunshine's Got Me Humming for Hummers!

I love this time of year. Spring is beautiful. After months of winter and overcast skies the sunny blue sky decorated with fluffy white clouds is priceless. Pink, white, yellow, and blue flowers are decorating trees, shrubs, lawns, fields, and meadows. The excitement for spring prompted me to pull out my hummingbird feeders, fill, and hang them this afternoon. I am humming for hummingbirds.

This is the view through my home office window now that I've hung my front porch feeder. I love our Utah mountains and canyons. I would love for the pink ornamental peach blossoms to hang around longer than the next strong spring wind.

The first hummingbirds to show up in my yard here in Utah County are usually Black-chinned, but I sometimes hear the trilling of Broad-tailed Hummingbirds before I see my first hummingbird of the spring.

Male Black-chinned Hummingbird at Feeder in Pleasant Grove, UT

Female (possibly young male) Black-chinned Hummingbird at Yard Feeder in Pleasant Grove, UT

Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird in American Fork Canyon Utah County, UT

Female Broad-tailed Hummingbird in American Fork Canyon Utah County, UT

The Black-chinned are seen throughout the summer and early fall, but the Broad-tailed tend to make their way up to higher elevations after a brief spring visit. I see them in my yard again a little later in the summer after they finish breeding and are making their way south again.

Fall Migration for hummingbirds actually starts during the month of August here in northern Utah. That's when I get the chance to see Rufous Hummingbirds. They tend to move north along the west coast in the spring migration and down the Rocky Mountain Range during fall migration. They are the feistiest hummingbirds when they make a temporary claim on my feeders during their fall migration southward. They will chase off all other hummingbirds that try to get some sweet water at the feeders.

Male Rufous Hummingbird Duchesne (Doo-shane) County, UT

Immature Male Rufous Hummingbird in Duchesne County, UT

Female Rufous Hummingbird in Pleasant Grove, UT

If you get too used to seeing the typical hummingbirds in northern Utah you may actually be sleeping at the hummingbird wheel when an uncommon species pays a visit. Last season I had several Calliope Hummingbirds visit my feeder. They are typically seen in our mountains. The males are obvious with they long, streaky-looking gorget feathers.

Calliope Hummingbird in Duchesne County, UT

Male Calliope Hummingbird in Duchesne County, UT

The female Calliopes might be passed off for a more common hummingbird without careful attention to their short tails. Their wing tips reach just beyond the tail tip. They look slightly hunchbacked when perched and they have a thin white line of feathers from the top base of the bill to the eye. They also have a buffy color on the belly and sides.

Another easily overlooked variation of a common Utah Hummingbird is the green-backed Rufous. Probably 95% of Rufous Hummingbirds have a rufous back (see the image of the male about six images above). I had a green-backed Rufous claim my backyard feeder last fall for a week or so. These look much like an Allen's Hummingbird (common along the California coast), but the tail feathers just on each side of the central feathers is often the distinguishing factor between the two.

Male Rufous Hummingbird (green-backed variation) in Pleasant Grove, UT

Male Rufous Hummingbird (green-backed variation) in Pleasant Grove, UT

The image below shows the notch in the two feathers on either side of the central tail feathers that is typical for Rufous Hummingbird. Allen's Hummingbirds do not show this notch and otherwise look very similar to a green-backed Rufous Hummingbird.

I am so ready for some hummingbirds to visit my yard! Hang a feeder and watch for some visitors.

Calliope Hummingbird: My Unexpected Visitor

I've been feeding hummingbirds in my Pleasant Grove, Utah yard for several summers now. I usually start seeing Black-chinned and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds (images provided below) arriving from Mexico around mid- to late April as a result of their spring migration. The Black-chinned remain common at lower-elevation yard feeders throughout the summer, but the Broad-tailed prefer to take up residence in the coniferous forests of our nearby mountains.

Fall is my favorite of the two hummingbird migrations through northern Utah. It begins around mid-July and lasts about six to eight weeks. I enjoy fall more because Broad-tailed and two more species of hummingbird can suddenly join the Black-chinned at yard feeders.  The most common of the two additional fall migrants is the Rufous (ruu-fuss) Hummingbird. I don't see them often in spring because they migrate, as do many other birds, in a clockwise pattern. They typically go up the west coat from Mexico toward the American northwest, western Canada, and the coast of Alaska in the spring and then down through the Rocky Mountain states in the summer (fall migration). It could be that flowers along the coast provide a great food source in the spring and the mountains are better to pass in the late summer season. Rufous are very territorial when they stake a claim on a yard feeder and often buzz or dive bomb the Black-chinned and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds who try to sip from "their" feeder.

The less commonly-seen hummingbird species during our summer in northern Utah is the Calliope (Ka-lie-a-pee). I usually see one a year by traveling a great distance to where one has been located by others. The Calliope is the smallest hummingbird in North America north of Mexico. It is about 3.25 inches long or anywhere from .5 to .75 inches shorter than the other hummingbirds I've mentioned. The male Calliope has a striking gorget (throat feathers) when the light hits it just right. I've positively confirmed the identity of one female Calliope so they are even more difficult to locate in my part of Utah. Perhaps their lack of a striking gorget is part of the reason they blend in with other female hummingbirds and go unidentified.

On August 1st I came home from work and was delighted to have a male Calliope at my front porch feeder. I captured some images that night and am sharing several of them now. I was sitting in a camp chair with a light between my knees trained on the feeder when I captured these images--gotta be creative and improvise sometimes. Because my perspective and the light source come from the same angle the colorful reflection from the bird's gorget is minimized in these images. The Calliope has been making appearances at my feeder for three days straight as of this post.

The long tongue is partially revealed in this image.

Male Calliope Hummingbird at Pleasant Grove, UT Feeder

Male Calliope Hummingbird at Pleasant Grove, UT Feeder

Male Calliope Hummingbird at Pleasant Grove, UT Feeder

The images below were captured last summer (2012) at a feeder in Tabiona, UT. These images allow you to see the gorget in more natural light.

Male Calliope Hummingbird in Tabiona, UT

Male Calliope Hummingbird in Tabiona, UT

If you want to have some fun experiences during spring and summer months and a talking point for visitors to your home, hang up a feeder or two. Mix one part sugar to four parts water and watch the birds come. Be sure the sugar is completely dissolved before putting it in your feeder. Sugar water can ferment in the hot sun so clean the feeder and change the water every couple of days to avoid mold and fermentation. If you heat the water to dissolve the sugar be sure to let it cool before putting it into the feeder. No one like to burn their tongue!

Images of the other hummingbird species mentioned in this post are shown below.  

Female Black-chinned Hummingbird Utah County, UT

Male Black-chinned Hummingbird St George, UT

The image below reveals a blue/purple border at the base of the gorget. It is more easily seen when in direct sunlight.

Male Black-chinned Hummingbird St George, UT

The male Broad-tailed Hummingbird below has some pollen showing at the upper base of the bill.

Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird Tabiona, UT

The Broad Tail of a Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird Utah County, UT

Female Broad-tailed Hummingbirds lack the gorget feathers of the adult male, but the rest of the plumage is similar to the male.

Female Broad-tailed Hummingbird Utah County, UT

Male Rufous Hummingbird Washington County, UT

Male Rufous Hummingbird Tabiona, UT

Male Rufous and Male Calliope Hummingbirds in Tabiona, UT

The full throat of the young male Rufous below will be completely covered in brilliant color when it becomes a full adult. What appears to be greenish lines on the throat will develop into fuller gorget feathers.

Subadult Male Rufous Hummingbird Tabiona, UT

Adult female Rufous Hummingbirds show a central spot of colored throat feathers.

Female Rufous Hummingbird Pleasant Grove, UT