I Can Haz Blog http://corystokes.com The places I go and things I see posterous.com Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:11:18 -0800 January Meadowlark and a Rock Wren (just cuz Wrens are the best) http://corystokes.com/january-meadowlark-and-a-rock-wren-just-cuz-w http://corystokes.com/january-meadowlark-and-a-rock-wren-just-cuz-w

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:59:20 -0800 Sharp-shinned Hawks in the yard http://corystokes.com/sharp-shinned-hawks-in-the-yard http://corystokes.com/sharp-shinned-hawks-in-the-yard
We had juvenile and adult Sharp-shinned hawks in our yard this week. The adult took a junco as prey and consumed it on the front walk right outside our front door. As a bird watcher it was both terrible and fascinating to watch. Observing the juvenile a few days earlier was much more peaceful  and gave us a good opportunity to closely study the markings, size and behaviors of a Sharp-shinned. It was a great way to really learn how to better distinguish this little fury from the Cooper's Hawks we sometime see around here as well. It was amazing to get up close and extended opportunities to see both juvenile and adult birds within days of each other in the exact same spot - all without leaving my warm living room.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:47:01 -0800 Learning to photograph raptors in flight http://corystokes.com/learning-to-photograph-raptors-in-flight http://corystokes.com/learning-to-photograph-raptors-in-flight
I marvel at nature photographers who can get action shots of animals. I struggle just getting a bird sitting on a branch in focus. The raptors were so active today on Antelope Island, I decided to just try my hand at getting some flight shots. By pure luck I ended up with these shots (Rough-legged hawk soaring and a Northern Harrier taking to the air). My first self-learned lesson in raptor flight photos - don't photograph the bird, photograph the spot of sky where the bird WILL be and you just MIGHT actually end up with the subject in the frame. The next lesson will need to be how to focus on an in flight bird (tips welcome). I'll never be a Jerry Ligouri (whom I had the pleasure of meeting on a roadside a couple of weeks ago), but I'll just be happy to eventually capture some decent representation of the inspiring sight of a hawk in flight.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:06:07 -0800 Common Goldeneye http://corystokes.com/common-goldeneye http://corystokes.com/common-goldeneye
Rather than shopping the day after Thanksgiving we headed out birding with Tim Avery. In a pond next to the city dump this great little Common Goldeneye gave me a great look (I love the mirror reflection. A Rough-legged hawk sat nice for me too. We got 4 new life birds: Red-breasted Merganser, Horned grebe, Cackling goose and a Greater White-fronted goose. We never would have picked out those geese without Tim's expert eye.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:39:00 -0800 I've been to the desert http://corystokes.com/ive-been-to-the-desert http://corystokes.com/ive-been-to-the-desert
We avoided the November cold and grey in Salt Lake City by heading south to St. George, Utah. A couple of days in this warm western desert on the Joshua Tree Road and Snow Canyon State Park gave me such an appreciation for stark beauty, the play of light on the desert and the abundance of life out there. We picked up 5 new life birds: Greater Roadrunner, Canyon Wren, Cactus Wren, Crissal Thrasher and Gambles Quail.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:07:21 -0800 Mojave Desert Birds - Cactus Wren and Road Runner http://corystokes.com/mojave-desert-birds-cactus-wren-and-road-runn http://corystokes.com/mojave-desert-birds-cactus-wren-and-road-runn
Picked up 2 new life-birds today on the Joshua Tree Road in extreme southern Utah.

- Greater Roadrunner
- Cactus Wren (one step closer to my dream of seeing every wren!)

Also saw:
- hundreds of White-crowned Sparrows
- House Finch
- Rock Wren
 - possible Bush Tits (just a quick look)

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:11:20 -0700 Townsend's Solitaire http://corystokes.com/townsends-solitaire http://corystokes.com/townsends-solitaire
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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Sun, 18 Sep 2011 16:28:12 -0700 Blue-headed Vireo, Barn Owl and Thousands of Phalaropes http://corystokes.com/blue-headed-vireo-barn-owl-and-thousands-of-p http://corystokes.com/blue-headed-vireo-barn-owl-and-thousands-of-p
A Blue-headed Vireo got all the birders at Antelope Island excited today. It was a new life bird for us and a nice compliment to the life-bird Cassin's Vireo we saw last week. The Barn Owls came out and gave a nice showing. The thousands of birds around the island in September never cease to impress me and we usually pick up something new each year.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:11:27 -0700 Summer morning in Utah's Mountains http://corystokes.com/summer-morning-in-utahs-mountains http://corystokes.com/summer-morning-in-utahs-mountains

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:04:18 -0700 Curlews and Ibis http://corystokes.com/curlews-and-ibis http://corystokes.com/curlews-and-ibis
A hot August day on the Great Salt Lake had the Long-billed Curlews and White-faced Ibis cooling in the shallows, gorging on insects and I'm not quite sure what that Ibis is doing in the last shot, but I love the colors.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:24:18 -0700 After 40 years living in Utah, I finally go in the Great Salt Lake http://corystokes.com/after-40-years-living-in-utah-i-finally-go-in http://corystokes.com/after-40-years-living-in-utah-i-finally-go-in
Photo

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:27:00 -0700 Fall 2011 Migration Staging Begins on the Great Salt Lake http://corystokes.com/fall-2011-migration-staging-begins-on-the-gre http://corystokes.com/fall-2011-migration-staging-begins-on-the-gre
THOUSANDS of shorebirds this morning on the Great Salt Lake. There were just too many gulls to count with Willets, Black-necked Stilts and Avocets mixed in. Flights of White Pelicans and White-faced Ibis would glide overhead. We picked up a new life-bird today - Grasshopper Sparrow (worn adult and a juvenile)
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Thousands of shorebirds


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Black-necked Stilt and Franklins Gulls

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Black-necked Stilt and White-faced Ibis

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White-faced Ibis & Ring-billed Gull

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Willets

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Great Blue Heron (note the clouds of brine flies... fuel for migrating birds)

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Eared Grebe

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Loggerhead Shrike

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White Pelicans

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Grasshopper Sparrow

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Grasshopper Sparrow (juvenille)

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:12:23 -0700 Bobolinks and Ring-necked Duck. 2 New Life birds http://corystokes.com/bobolinks-and-ring-necked-duck-2-new-life-bir http://corystokes.com/bobolinks-and-ring-necked-duck-2-new-life-bir
This past weekend we finally had days warm enough to enjoy a day in the Heber Valley. It turned out to be a chance to see 2 birds we'd never seen before. A flock of funky little Bobolinks gave a goof show over the farm fields. Later we checked out the Jordanelle wetlands and happened to catch a RIng-necked duck floating through the reeds - not uncommon, but new to us. New birds are always fun, but I have to admit that my favorite moments were watching a pair of Sandhill Cranes calling  to each other and spending a minute just listening to a Grey Catbird sing and sing. Drab look, great song.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Sun, 12 Jun 2011 12:00:00 -0700 American Bison Herd with Calves http://corystokes.com/american-bison-herd-with-calves http://corystokes.com/american-bison-herd-with-calves
It's a long cry from the days of thousands of American Bison covering the plains, but these pictures of the Antelope Island herd ( a few hundred) with their spring calves conjures a glimpse of what those days might have looked like. Wild lands, wild life and wild beauty must be preserved.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Sun, 05 Jun 2011 16:46:54 -0700 Long Eared Owl, Bird Babies, Buntings. Spring Birding at its Best. http://corystokes.com/long-eared-owl-bird-babies-buntings-spring-bi http://corystokes.com/long-eared-owl-bird-babies-buntings-spring-bi
Spring (what there was of it) is ending. Migration winding down. Today we ventured out and ended up seeing a new life bird, a Long-eared Owl. This is the sixth owl species we've seen on Antelope Island (others were: Great Horned, Barn, Short-eared, Burrowing and Northern Saw-whet owls). 

The cold, wet Spring kept birds around our yard, so we were able to see several Western Tanagers and a great afternoon watching a couple of baby Lesser Goldfinches and their mother. Lazuli Buntings are everywhere and I can't resist taking hundreds of pictures. Even when they are just first-years with messy plumage,they're still so striking. When we finally got some warm weather the Barn Swallows all laid out to catch some sun. It looked like a day at the beach. At first I thought they were a bunch of dead birds, but they are just lazing away in the sun.

Cutest bird of Spring 2011 has to go to the baby Killdeer we spotted running around on the side of a road.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Sat, 21 May 2011 19:41:00 -0700 Moab Utah Redrock and Wetlands http://corystokes.com/moab-utah-redrock-and-wetlands http://corystokes.com/moab-utah-redrock-and-wetlands

UPDATE: The Matheson Wetlands Preserve in Moab, Utah burned just 3 weeks after we visited and took several of the pictures in this post. What a horrible loss. There were many birds nesting in the area that burned. 

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I spent my birthday checking out the Matheson Wetlands Preserve and birding along the Colorado River in Moab Utah. I've been to Moab a few times, but not since taking up birding. It really adds a whole new dimension to a very mystical place. I was hoping to see a canyon wren - heard one several times, but never could locate it. 

The wetlands and Mayflower Canyon had a surprising diversity of birds including:

  • Spotted Towhee (photo)
  • Wilson's Warbler (photo)
  • Western Tanager (photo - and favorite bird)
  • Lark Sparrow(photo)
  • Juniper Titmouse
  • Green-tailed Towhee
  • Willow Flycatcher
  • Cedar Waxwings
  • House Wren
  • Rock Wren
  • Western Kingbird
  • Scrub Jay
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Western Wood Pewee
  • Bushtit
  • Bullock's Oriole 
  • Black-chinned Hummingbird
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Cooper's Hawk

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Tue, 17 May 2011 15:56:00 -0700 May Means Buntings, Warblers and... More Snow? http://corystokes.com/may-means-buntings-warblers-and-more-snow http://corystokes.com/may-means-buntings-warblers-and-more-snow

One of my favorite Spring birding spots is the temple stone quarry up Little Cottonwood Canyon near Salt lake City. Over the weekend we encountered many Lazuli Buntings in the area as well as Black-headed Grosbeaks. Returning today I found the mountain tops covered in a layer of new snow and the cold, wet weather keeping the birds down. I was able to spot Virginia's Warblers, Orange-crowned warblers, chipping sparrows and Yellow-rumped warblers all in the same tree. A few Spotted Towhee were hanging around as well.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:59:23 -0700 Birds of Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve and Antelope Island http://corystokes.com/birds-of-great-salt-lake-shorelands-preserve http://corystokes.com/birds-of-great-salt-lake-shorelands-preserve
Song Sparrow
Marsh Wren
Vespers Sparrow
House Finch
Great Horned Owl

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:42:00 -0700 Wounded Cooper's Hawk Captured and at Rehab http://corystokes.com/wounded-coopers-hawk-captured-and-at-rehab http://corystokes.com/wounded-coopers-hawk-captured-and-at-rehab

Injured_hawk
This week we came home from work to find a Copper's Hawk sitting in our yard - HOW COOL! As we watched her, we realized that she couldn't fly and was obviously injured. We put out a call on the local birding email list for help and within a few minutes a guy who had worked with Hawk Watch International came over to help us capture the bird. The pursuit ranged through three neighbor's yards and included using a long pole to get her out of a tree. We finally cornered her by a fence and threw a towel over her. Upon inspection we saw that she had been shot through her wing. Who is shooting birds in my neighborhood? We called the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah and they said keep her in a box overnight with no food or water so they could operate in the morning. She was doing very well the next morning when I took her to the wildlife center. She's absolutely beautiful with piercing red eyes. I can't believe anyone would intentionally harm this creature. She should recover from her wound just fine. We need to check with the wildlife rehab center to find out how long she'll have to be captive and healing. I can't say enough about the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah - just amazing people who deserve every good thought and donation that comes their way. Get well soon little Copper's Hawk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:51:51 -0800 A Slow Day Birding Beats any Day at Work http://corystokes.com/a-slow-day-birding-beats-any-day-at-work http://corystokes.com/a-slow-day-birding-beats-any-day-at-work
An uncommonly warm February Day was just the excuse I needed to take a day off and de-stress by looking at birds. Unfortunately, not many birds thought it was a nice day. A Loggerhead Shrike showed up for a few seconds and I knew where to go looking for a Barn Owl (and found two!) - not a great shot because I really had to bend and zoom in to see them. Even a common Black-billed Magpie looked especially handsome today. Actually, Magpies are one of my favorite birds to watch. They'd be exotic if I lived somewhere else and only saw them on a visit to Utah.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1273775/cory.jpg http://posterous.com/users/groAkl6sO Cory S CBS Cory S