Catch of the Day

 

Quality of the picture's not great because I zoomed in with my phone but one day while I was driving, I saw a turkey vulture sunning itself on top of a tall pole. I had to turn around and turn around again so I could pull over and snap a few quick pictures. It had its wings fanned out in that position for a long time. At first it looked like a statue but there are no statues of birds on poles like that on that street.

Have I mentioned I love birds? 

Kokanee Salmon

This year we wanted to see kokanee salmon at the fish trap at Strawberry Reservoir since we missed them last year (we did get to see a few last year at Jordanelle Reservoir but not as many as we usually see at Strawberry). 

We figured September 4 was a good day since it was also National Wildlife Day and Turkey Vulture Day. We definitely saw some turkey vultures while we were out. Here is a list of other wildlife we saw: osprey, red-tailed hawk, grasshopper, a fuzzy caterpillar who fell off a ledge while Jr. was trying to get a picture of it. It's okay. It fell to the grass below. The timing was just funny. We also saw elk crossing signs but I don't think those count as wildlife.

Unfortunately there weren't too many salmon. Not many in the stream going up to the fish trap. Only a few above the fish steps/ladder and we didn't see any swimming into the fish house. Some years we've seen a lot. This year the water level was so low in the stream- who knows? We did have fun spending time as a family, though.

After we saw a few in the fish trap, we went farther downstream and did see a few more (still not a lot, though).

It was also World Beard Day. I didn't get a specific picture of Jeremy showing off his beard even though we talked about it. Oh well.
When we got home we ate fish sticks because... fish.

What?

Labor Day 2020

We got the kids up early again to go on a birding trip for Labor Day on September 7. We wanted to drive up Mirror Lake Scenic Byway. This is a place Jeremy and I have both gone on birding field trips in the past. Unfortunately with things as they currently are, birding field trips are not possible in the same way. We're encouraged to go out on our own to work on this year's challenge without meeting in big groups.

We stopped by Bridal Veil Falls on the way through the canyon because that early in the morning, there weren't many people there. Very easy to keep a turkey vulture's wing-length away from people. 

Speaking of turkey vultures, we stopped in Heber at the historic Wasatch Stake Tabernacle. It seems every time we drive through Heber, this building has turkey vultures sitting on it, sometimes spreading their wings. Wouldn't it be fun to juggle with the turkey vultures on the building in the background? So I did.

They look so small but they're really such big birds. Jeremy discovered that not only were they on the building but there were a bunch in the trees nearby.

There was also a hot air balloon flying in the sky nearby. Those are always neat to see.

We had fun taking pictures. That's when we realized this was going to be a somewhat relaxed trip and not a "we need to get to this certain point by this time" trip.

We had certain places we wanted to stop to look for specific birds but whatever and wherever else we stopped would be good, too. That's how Jeremy saw a black-throated gray warbler when we stopped at a random picnic area with a little pond. I saw it as it flew but didn't get a good look at it like Jeremy did. Poor Nichole missed it altogether.

She did get to see the Clark's Nutcrackers and Canada Jays, though, which were two of the birds we specifically made the trip for.

There were plenty of other things to see besides birds.

Chipmunks and squirrels.

Everyone got to see a pika (except Jet but he's young enough we don't count him with "everyone" when we see something).

  Of course there was beautiful scenery with mountains and lakes everywhere.

 And juggling at an elevation of over 10,000 feet? That's cool.

I really enjoyed this trip with my family.

We did hit Labor Day traffic on the way home- lots of stop and go traffic from Heber to Deer Creek Reservoir. And driving past Bridal Veil Falls again? I'm sure glad we stopped that morning.

We were all exhausted by the end of the day but it was worth it.

What?