Yes. Yes, we did. But we've got a challenge to finish. We did not get a "Road Trip!" picture on this one, though, because every time we thought about it, we forgot about it when we could have done it.
When we went to Daggett County and Uintah County
in May, we were only able to get so many birds in Duchesne County on the way back. Sooo... we made a special trip the morning of Saturday, October 24, to get those missing birds.
First of all we stopped at the Bridal Veil Falls Overlook so I could jump out quickly to 1) see the falls with the Fall colors and 2) get a look at where the rock slide happened the day before.
I couldn't see the trail from my vantage point but I wondered if some of the rocks I was looking at on the hill were more fresh, if that makes sense. There is evidence of many rock slides over the years. There is a reason the trail is closed during avalanche season from November 1-May 1.
Anyway, moving on.
We've decided there are better places to bird in Duchesne County than where we planned to go that day. Parts of
Mirror Lake Highway. The area around
Hanna. We didn't know how it would be going into those areas with how late in the year it is and we had already planned a Duchesne trip with certain stops before thinking of those other locations.
Anyway, we stopped at a viewpoint just past the county line which was pretty but didn't get any new birds for the county, although I think I saw a belted kingfisher flying but can't be 100% sure so I didn't count it. I needed less birds than the rest of the challenge seekers so I figured I'd get my birds anyway, even without a kingfisher.
I did find out later that a friend saw a kingfisher that day (somewhere else) for the first time. She had been searching for them for years. Yay.
We stopped at Pinion Ridge rest area because that's a spot that's good for birds because of the trails behind the building. No luck until after a bathroom break and we were sitting inside the building when Jeremy spotted a bird through the window. We went outside and in quick succession got three birds for our list- mountain chickadee, brown creeper, and juniper titmouse. Hurray.
Juniper titmouse
We kept driving and to make a long story short, we ended up getting the last of our birds (and then some) on the other side of Duchesne city near Lake Boreham (aka Midview Reservoir).
Mountain bluebird (female)
The highlight of the trip was a field full of sandhill cranes. So many. It was wonderful.
click on that second picture to see a good amount (but not all) of the cranes in the field
It was early afternoon by that point so we drove home and I took a nap while Jeremy made us Hungarian food for
National Food Day (October 24). I love my husband. He's so nice.
We had cucumber salad with cucumbers from our garden and Rakott Krumpli (layered potatoes). We threw in some homemade wheat bread and had Fanta (which is popular in Hungary). I do like Hungarian food. I love my husband even more.
I will mention that the day before, October 23, was
Mole Day. Jeremy was sitting on a chair in the kitchen and I couldn't easily get past him so I made a joke about burrowing under him like a mole to get out. Yeah. I'm cute.
