29 January 2016 - Geckos

Today, I had a different kind of adventure. The Utah Natural History Museum has a new exhibit on geckos. It is the first time they have had an exhibit featuring live animals. I went and learned a lot about geckos. 

The most interesting thing, or scary, depending on your point of view is that biologists are breeding new varieties of geckos for color and size. They are calling them Art Geckos. It takes 30 generations to get a new gecko, and in gecko generations, that isn't all that long. Apparently the Leopard Gecko is sought after in the pet trade and through inbreeding and selected breeding they have made a number of new color morphs of leopard geckos. There is now an albino morph first created in 2005, 

a tangerine morph created in 1996,

a striped morph created in 1991,

and finally a supergiant morph created in 2000.  It is about twice the size of a normal leopard gecko. 

Another surprise was how tiny some of the geckos are. A few were smaller than the little anoles (we called them chameleons) that you could buy for 50 cents at the local five and dime store. 

I liked the really colorful ones like this Peacock Day Gecko. It is about 5 inches long. 

Also found out that most geckos are nocturnal so those that come out in the day are called Day Geckos. 

Gold Dust Day Gecko               Lined Day Gecko

I'm pretty sure this is the Neon Day Gecko, but don't quote me. 

Giant Day Gecko

In addition to the colorful geckos, there were some that were masters of camouflage. This Western Banded Gecko can blend right in with the little rocks. His legs almost look transparent and too spindly to hold him up, but he could really move out in a hurry. 

This is a Gliding Gecko. Not only does he blend in with bark and rocks, he is something like a flying squirrel in that he doesn't fly, but has webbed feet and there is extra skin on his sides and legs that he can spread to act like a cape when he glides.  

It was a wonderful exhibit with lots of info including all the different kinds of feet and eyes. Scientists are trying to develop new adhesives based on gecko feet. 

Here are a few of the many shapes of feet. 

Like snakes, geckos don't have eyelids. They use their tongue to wipe their eyes.

If this exhibit comes to a museum near you, go! They are beautiful and amazing creatures. 

Because it was the opening day, they had gecko cookies to help celebrate. Yum!

22 January 2016 - White on white and protective coloration

The last six weeks have been snow-filled. Today I was out birding on snow-packed dirt roads. The snow pile on the side of the road is higher than the ranch fence, you can see the tops of the posts sticking over the snow. 

I passed two pick-up trucks that were stuck on the side of the road. I think I need to put a shovel and a big bag of cat litter in my car--just in case. But, even so, it has been mighty pretty around here. 

Yesterday I drove up to Midway. I was looking for a Long-tailed Duck (found it) but it was cold-- ten degrees and everything was covered with hoar frost. The frost was amazing but disappeared rapidly the minute the sun touched it.  

I suddenly realized why someone might want a flocked Christmas tree. It is quite beautiful when done by Mother Nature. 

These photos come with the bittersweet sentiment of 'Wish you were here.'  When the sun hits the ice crystals the resulting shimmer and glisten is mesmerizing, I want everyone to see it in person. 

 

This winter I have had to modify some assumptions. I always liked late fall and winter because it is easier to spot birds without leaves on the trees.  Well, sometimes.  But because I have become a bit obsessed this year, I've discovered that really isn't the case. Even without the foliage for cover, birds can blend right in. 

With the 20/20 of hindsight I wonder how many birds I haven't even noticed, or looked right at and didn't see. It occurs to me you might look at these pictures and think, I could have seen that, but remember, the birds have been zoomed in here. They are a lot further away in the wild. 

In December I was looking for a Brown Thrasher, a rare migrant for this area. Here is my first look. 

After 20 minutes of standing in the middle of a river, water up to my calves, he finally popped out for about 10 seconds before he dove into the next clump of reeds. That is known as skulky behavior. 

I am learning to scan for an odd bit of color, or shadow. In this case, the white-crowned sparrow turned his head so I caught the black and white stripes. 

This next bird was deep in the brush. I got really good looks through the binoculars, but every time I raised the camera he was behind branches. I persevered because this White-throated Sparrow was a life bird for me. Fortunately I was able to catch the tiny flash of yellow on his head. 

Even a bird as large as a Great Blue Heron can blend right into rocks and water. 

  

Owls.  I made four trips up to a reservoir looking for this Long-eared Owl.  The fourth try worked for a number of reasons. It was a foggy, gray day, but as I was scanning the brush a couple of things happened. First, the sun broke through the fog. Second, the owl turned his head so his yellow face was toward me and he opened his eyes. If the sun had not lit up his face and golden eyes I'd have missed him. Every time I moved the binoculars, it took a while to find him again. This was a victory!

Here is my last example. A Sharp-tailed Grouse. His body is about the size of a large grapefruit. Under the brush he almost disappears.  

Out in the open, the coloration still blends. 

This is also a new bird for me and it was my second trip to the area to find him. 

These are just a few examples, but let me tell you, it keeps your head on a swivel and wears your eyes out. But fun? Oh, yes!

CLS:  (Captain's Log Supplemental for those of you who are not Star Trek junkies)

We have had a lot of snow this year. The last four days were warmer--38 to 40 degrees--and the snow in the yard melted some, down to about 17 inches. This morning, Jan 24, woke to another seven inches of wet heavy snow. It even took a tree down. Not happy about that. 

8 January 2016 - The Rich Terrain of Winter

I am wild about the landscape of Utah. There are so many different terrains and they are gorgeous no matter what season it is. I have met people who detest some of this land, especially parts around the Great Salt Lake claiming it is bleak, gray and boring. (Insert interobang here!) I imagine these are the very same people that find driving I-80 across Iowa and Nebraska just as bland. I would that they could only open their eyes and see the splendor in front of them. 

My sister, mother, grandmother and aunt were artists, and my grandmother and sister often worked in watercolors so I tend to think in terms of palettes. Here are some examples of Utah in November, a season when people often complain about lack of color and how drab the drive is along the lake on I-80. 

Really look at these. Imagine that you have to create a stripe down the side of each photo with all the colors you see in order from light to dark.  Each one would have at least five and perhaps as many as twenty shades of yellow varying from a whitish straw hue to deep gold. Then there are oranges, reds, blues, greens and browns. In this format the small photos do not do justice to the landscape. It is breathtaking. The subtle variations of color are magical and mysterious changing with the whims of light and breezes. When you are standing right on top of this, there are even more colors that begin to pop out at you. 

I cannot understand how anyone could find this bleak or boring. 

Many bushes around streams sport bright colors of bark that light up the fall and winter landscape.

Another perk of stopping to admire the landscape is you get an opportunity to appreciate protective coloring. This coyote blends right into the surrounding vegetation. I didn't see him until he turned his head and that black nose visually popped out of the brush. 

I would like to tell the world to slow down. Everyone is in such a hurry to get where they are going, not to mention being so connected to their phones, earbuds and other technology that they do not see the beauty that surrounds them. Stop. Look. Listen. 

Look. The terrain may seem desolate and empty but even a quick look reveals it is full of life. Coyotes, jackrabbits and pronghorn antelope frequent these areas. 

Northern harriers glide over the tops of the phragmites looking for small mammals, birds and reptiles.  Sometimes they fly so close to the vegetation on the marshes that their wings brush the seed heads on the reeds and grasses. There is a great phrase that describes their hunting method: foraging on the wing. 

Surprises abound. A quick glance at the side of the road may show you nothing but dried up foothills. 

A longer look reveals a herd of sheep is moving through the range with the help of a shepherd and his dogs. 

If you pay attention you could find a flock of wild turkeys scratching for food under the sage brush.

You might see a bald eagle fly over some open water. This causes panic among the sitting waterfowl and yields views of ducks you could not even see until they rise in mass. 

The bare trees make it easy to spot owls, hawks, eagles and the occasional porcupine. 

Here is a juvenile bald eagle on the left with an adult on the right. Had the trees been leafed out, they would have been hidden. But first you need to look. 

Listen. There is music when a breeze sweeps over the winter-browned grasses. Grassy seed heads make a swishing sound. 

The stiffer stalks such as these rustle and sometimes rattle in the wind. 

Dry leaves scrape over pavement sounding much like the soft scrabble of little mouse feet. 

Birds don't sing this time of year, but they emit soft chirps to each other. With a little practice you can distinguish the finches from the sparrows from the chickadees and more. 

It is a big glorious world out there--all the time. Go forth and see things!