First Species Photographed in 2013 Plus a Few More

Rather than put on my mental blinders, drive to a great bird habitat, and hope for a really cool first-of-the-year bird (which I've done on previous New Year Days), I chose to look out the kitchen window to see what ordinary bird might be visiting my feeders. I observed a lone Lesser Goldfinch.

I saw other birds during the morning and along a short drive, but the very first species to present itself for a photo-op was American Crow. My good birding friend, Eric Peterson, and I came across a small flock that was frolicking in some freshly-fallen snow in a junior high school parking lot.  American Crow is a bird I see in Utah about three or four times a year and they are generally in flight while I'm driving on a freeway or other busy road when I do see them so it was not a bird I expected to have in my first images of 2013.

Crows are very intelligent birds. Check out some cool facts and information on American Crows shared by Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology by clicking HERE.

American Crow in Snow at Canyon View Jr High in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

American Crow Foraging in Snow at Canyon View Jr High in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

American Crow Foraging in Snow at Canyon View Jr High in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Eric and I eventually spent some time at the Provo City Cemetery in Provo, Utah chasing after a mis-guided Northern Parula that has been seen multiple times in the past week and then again hours after we missed it and left.  Some you get and some you don't. However, we did see a small flock of Red Crossbills, which I see maybe once a year in Utah so finding some on day one was a good omen for a new year of birding. We managed to photograph a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Red-breasted Nuthatches to finish our first bird outing of the year.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Red-breasted Nuthatch in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Red-breasted Nuthatch in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Ending the Year With a Sharpie in the Neighborhood

Well, yesterday's birding went well enough that my daughter wanted to go out again this afternoon to try using the Nikon D5100 DSLR camera she got of Christmas. We hopped into the Tacoma for the second day in a row and barely made it out of the driveway when my raptor radar went off. I caught a quick view of the back side of an accipiter perched in my neighbor's backyard tree as we passed his home.  Based on the shape I suspected a Sharp-shinned Hawk, North America's smallest hawk. The thought of simply passing on an opportunity to get a close view of a raptor was way too painful so I pulled over and captured a few images. My daughter was getting used to the "spot and stop" mode of driving that takes over when a birder is behind the steering wheel. Getting a close look at a Sharp-shinned Hawk right in 'da hood was a great way to end another year of birding.

I've posted the images below to show various angle's of the bird's head. Rufous barring on the chest and belly, orange/red eyes, and gray crown and back clearly made it an adult bird. I wanted the sun behind me so I captured only front views.  You can see typical traits that separate the Sharp-shinned from the Cooper's Hawk. The Sharpie shows a high-centered, barrel chest, small/short head relative to the body size (beware that Cooper's sometimes slump and look short-headed), the dark nape (back of neck) as opposed to a pale nape for a Cooper's Hawk, and the outer tail feathers being about equal in length to the central tail feathers as opposed to shorter outer tail feathers with longer central tail feathers for a Cooper's. The white terminal band on the tail feathers is also very narrow on Sharpies compared to more of a prominent white band for Cooper's. If I had to guess I'd call it a male based on the size being about 10-11 inches, the small end of the scale for an accipiter. Females can be several inches larger than males. It also lacks the rounded outer tail feathers often seen on female Sharp-shinned Hawks.

Adult Sharp-shinned Hawk Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Adult Sharp-shinned Hawk Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Adult Sharp-shinned Hawk Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Adult Sharp-shinned Hawk Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Adult Sharp-shinned Hawk Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

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.

"Hey! Over Here!", Said the Ruby-crowned Kinglets

Three years ago on December 13th (thank you eBird for easy record keeping) I knocked on my friend's front door and then glanced at a small shrub as I waited for someone to come to the door. It was winter and snow was falling gently. The nearby mountains and foothills had been covered in snow for a few days. I just happened to look at the right shrub at the right time to see a very small bird flitting its wings and moving nervously through the interior of the shrub, just inches off the ground next to me. When it jumped from one small shrub to another I got a glimpse of a bird I had never seen before. I made some mental notes, visited briefly with my friend on his doorstep, and then went home quickly to search for the ID of the tiny little bird in my only field guide at the time. I was looking for a tiny but stocky greenish bird, with a narrow, pointed bill, white around the eye, and white stripes in the wings. I also heard it make a harsh "chit, chit" sound several times as it moved about so I could use that as an identifier as well. I had begun my birding in earnest only a couple months earlier so life birds (ones I was seeing, or at least noticing, for the first time) were popping up regularly, especially as the seasons changed and winter pushed some birds from the north and down from the local mountains. I discovered that I had just observed life bird #56 (at least since I started recording my sightings in eBird several years ago)--a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet on River Lane near Palmyra, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are about 4.5 or so inches long and packed with loads of nervous energy.  I learned that well the first time I tried to photograph one. They do not hold still. The one above provides a nice profile and shows typical field marks like the ones I observed with my first one, but I also like how the image shows its brown feet contrasting with its black legs. They are common in wooded areas, range from north in Alaska and all over Canada during the summer to the southern states and into Mexico in the winter. They are present year round in Utah so I hear and see them often.  They come foraging for food around valley homes in the winter like the one I first discovered. I heard one "chit, chitting" yesterday from a pine tree as I walked up to my office building for work, prompting today's post. I kind of felt like there was more to see of Kinglets after my first encounter because I didn't see a ruby crown at the time.

Last December, almost like an annual winter tradition, I found myself following a small flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets through Tonaquint Park in St George, Utah. One bird in particular was cooperative and displayed his ruby crown.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (with crown revealed) at Tonaquint Park in St George, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (with crown revealed) at Tonaquint Park in St George, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (with crown revealed) at Tonaquint Park in St George, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (with crown and proud little chest revealed) at Tonaquint Park in St George, UT
(Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (with crown revealed) at Tonaquint Park in St George, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

As I was photographing the cooperative Kinglet above I found myself ignoring the mobbing sounds of other Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Black-capped Chickadees. There seems to be something about naming these small birds after things on their heads. Based on my experience with them I could lump them in a group called "the owl finders." I turned from my cooperative subject after getting what I thought would be some nice images and realized that the other kinglets and chickadees had located a roosting Western Screech Owl for me. The owl was snug against the trunk of a pine tree, standing on alert as a result of being harassed by all the little guys. This was not a regular roost because there was no wash (typical white owl poo) or pellets present below the roost. The image below gives a feel for how well hidden the owl was at the time. I probably never would have noticed the owl if the tiny little birds, especially the kinglets, didn't start squawking at it so loudly and flying all around it as if to say, "Hey, camera guy! Over here! Look at this one!"

Western Screech Owl Hidden, Yet Revealed by Kinglets and Chickadees, in Tonaquint Park in St George, UT
(Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Western Screech Owl in Tonaquint Park in St George, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Western Screech Owl in Tonaquint Park in St George, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)