All Day Birding

I got to go on a field trip with Utah County Birders. My sweet husband held down the fort at home so I could go. He is so sweet to me and I appreciate how he encourages me and supports me. I do the same for him.

So this was my turn. It ended up being an all day birding trip from morning to night. We went East in Utah to Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, Pelican Lake Wildlife Management Area, and Starvation Reservoir State Park.

I got to see some first of the year birds and...

see my lifer dance?

I got to see an American Bittern for the first time. One of my nemesis birds. I've heard bitterns before but I've never seen one.

And this is about the look I got of it:

If you look really closely at the stick in the middle of the other sticks in the center of this picture, that is the bittern sticking its bill up in the air. It is a common pose in which to find those birds.

It took forever for the patient birders to point it out for me. But I saw it. Yay!

Other highlights of the trip:

Several first of the year birds including mountain bluebirds and pinyon jays.

Porcupine. Not a bird but always fun to see.

Lots and lots of loons. I never thought I'd say this phrase, "Oh, it's just another loon," but I did on this trip.

Also lots of sandhill cranes. At one stop there were 25-30 sandhill cranes that we could see.

Ospreys are always fun to see (especially when they're carrying fish. This particular osprey was not carrying a fish but I saw others that were).

A nicely posed Loggerhead Shrike on the way out.

It was a good trip. I love this community of birders.