12 May 2014 - Owlets!

Today, I gave myself a free pass. No responsibilities. Get out and have some fun. What did that mean?  Antelope Island. Yesterday the causeway reportedly had thousands of migrants, including six species that I have yet to see. Apparently they all moved north this morning. Sheesh. 

Black-bellied Plover

However, there were hundreds of black-bellied plovers, many willets, some smaller peeps--still working on those IDs--most likely small sandpipers such as Baird's or Least. 

The causeway also had lots of avocets, black-necked stilts, and thousands of eared-grebes with a few ducks thrown in for good measure. 

I was hoping to see the burrowing owls again, but they were not in sight. I did see lots of Loggerhead Shrikes. 

The brine flies were out in abundance and the shrikes were taking advantage of it. 



A week ago, I saw the baby Great Horned Owl sitting in the nesting box. Today he was up in the rafters of the barn and still looking very fuzzy. Doesn't look as though he has enough wing feathers to fly. 

Underneath the rafter I found a handful of owl pellets. I brought some home, and opened a couple others on the spot. 

You just never know what you'll find. In this case there were lots of feathers and little bird bones. It seems similar to being on an archeological dig.

Two of the best things about the island in spring are the Meadow Larks (great color and beautiful song) and the Horned Lark. Today was full of sightings of both birds. 

 

On the island, I was having a sunny, blue sky day. Looking east at the Wasatch Front, you could see a storm being pushed along the mountains from the north. 

I was able to wait until it passed by, then I took back roads home, following behind the rain. I really didn't want to be on the freeway, with rain and rush-hour traffic. 

The highlight of the back roads was seeing this Sandhill Crane family. 

Taking the back roads also allowed me to check on the other Great Horned Owl nest. One of the babies was still in the nest. He was very busy stretching and flapping his wings. Don't think he'll be there  much longer. The other two were still in the tree and so hard to see. But I found all three. 

Flapping baby still in nest

 2nd baby

 3rd baby

Surprises. 
I know that swallows make mud nests. I hadn't really given much thought to how they get the mud until I saw this. 

Well. There are surprises, then there are surprises. I have seen a lot of weather vanes, but this was a first. It appears to be an actual gun, not a metal cut-out or wood replica. Very odd.