Author: Jack Greene

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Rough-legged Visitors

Rough-legged Visitors: Rough-legged Hawks, Buteo lagopus Courtesy US FWS Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Illustrator
Rough-legged Hawks
Courtesy US FWS
Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Illustrator
I’m so ready for snow to cover our lower canyons which allows me to ski near our canyon home! I’m not alone on this wish. Thinking of those little furry critters that use snow to protect them from hungry predators- hawks, owls, coyotes, fox, cats, etc. With the grasses lying low to the ground, the small mammals- primarily mice and meadow voles, their cover has been blown and until enough snow falls giving them shelter, they are at the mercy of those with claws, beaks, and fangs.

Rough-Legged Hawk, Buteo lagopus, Courtesy US FWS
Rough-Legged Hawk
Buteo lagopus
Courtesy US FWS

Young Rough-legged Hawk with black belly and lighter head Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer Young Rough-legged Hawk with black belly and lighter head
Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer

Rough-legged Hawk on Power Pole Courtesy US FWS John and Karen Hollingsworth, Photographers Rough-legged Hawk on Power Pole
Courtesy US FWS
John and Karen Hollingsworth, Photographers

Additionally, enough snow- 6 inches or more, offers excellent insulation from extreme low temperatures. This subnivean (below the snow) world is alive with activity from those who don’t have the luxury of hibernating in a burrow beneath the ground. The aerial predators, and members of the canid and feline families, would agree with those who wish for a snow-free valley – easy pickings!

A most a spectacular avian winter visitor, the rough legged hawk, spend their breeding season in the far north- Canada and Alaska. With the loss of our Swainson hawks that spend their winters in Argentina, it does the heart good to see their replacement rough legs move in.

The Rough-legged Hawk spends the summer capturing lemmings on the arctic tundra, tending a cliffside nest under a sun that never sets. Found globally across northern latitudes, it occurs in both light and dark forms.

The name "Rough-legged" refers to the feathered legs. Joining them are the Ferruginous Hawk and the Golden Eagle, the only American raptors to have legs feathered all the way to the toes.

“These hawks may take an occasional small bird or two when the opportunity presents itself. But small mammals and birds aren’t the only source of food for these beautiful arctic raptors. Rough-legged hawks will scavenge and feed on leftover duck carcasses if and when the need arises, especially when rodents are scarce.

Rough-legged hawks aren’t really adept at capturing live ducks, especially on the wing, but they will scavenge waterfowl carcasses during the sometimes very cold and brutal winters here in Utah.” From the “Bear River Blogger”, which I highly recommend.

Rough-legged Hawks have been shown to hunt more in areas experimentally treated with vole urine than in control areas. They may be able to see this waste (as American Kestrels can), which is visible in ultraviolet light, in order to find patches of abundant Prey.

Despite a strong affinity for rodents, Rough-legged Hawks were perceived as a threat to poultry up until the early 20th century. Being approachable birds that spend their time in open spaces, they were vulnerable to hunting by farmers. It’s now illegal to shoot raptors and most other wild birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Thus, I’m expecting to encounter some of these glorious raptors who will be taking advantage of our snow-barren fields laced with rodent urine, as I saunter through them during our Christmas Bird Count this Saturday.

This is Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society, and Wild About Utah and it’s Wild Roughlegs!!

Credits:

Images: Courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service, All noted with links below:
Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Illustrator: https://www.fws.gov/media/rough-legged-hawk-1
https://www.fws.gov/media/rough-legged-hawk-0
Tom Koerner, Photographer, https://www.fws.gov/media/rough-legged-hawk-soaring
John and Karen Hollingsworth, Photographers, https://www.fws.gov/media/rough-legged-hawk-power-lines

Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Shalayne Smith-Needham, https://upr.org/,
Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections and
J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin.
Text & Voice: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading Links: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Wild About Utah Pieces by Jack Greene, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/

Rough-legged Hawks Are Scavengers, Too., BearRIverBlogger, October 13, 2023, https://bearriverblogger.com/rough-legged-hawks-are-scavengers-too/

Rough-legged Hawk, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rough-legged_Hawk/id

Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, US Fish & Wildlife Service, US Department of the Interior, https://www.fws.gov/law/migratory-bird-treaty-act-1918

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Leaves have fallen and are falling- it’s Fall!!

Fallen Leaves Courtesy Pixabay, Ivabalk, Contributor
Fallen Leaves
Courtesy Pixabay, Ivabalk, Contributor
Leaves have fallen and are falling- it’s Fall!! Their beauty, crunchiness, and odors excite my senses.

Consider the leaf, these lovely little solar collectors! How can any device imagined by the human brain collect light energy from the sun and convert it to food and oxygen while sequestering carbon? A tall order, even with AI! Yet, the humble leaf does it all! By capturing photons of light and utilizing the photosynthetic process, magic occurs!

In brief terms, the light excites electrons in the leaf’s chlorophyll which move through the electron transport chain producing needed energy to build glucose (food) from carbon dioxide and water absorbed from earth’s atmosphere. The glucose molecules along with phosphates, nitrates, and other chemicals are used to build infinite numbers of other molecules, essential for life to occur. Hope that was brief enough!

Yes, I have fallen in love with leaves- from waving grasses to majestic tree leaves. While raking leaves in my yard, I’m smitten by their beauty and functionality, and hope not to strain my back! Leaves from our Freemont cottonwood tree offer pyramids of gold with undulating leaf margins- exquisite! One can easily make a teepee from them, or other possibilities depending on where your imagination takes you. Our aspen trees sprinkle gold coins in between.

Aspen leaves have a special designed petiole, or leaf stem. Rather than the usual round shape, it is flattened which allows it to flip upside down when struck by wind. This makes it doubly efficient at capturing sunlight with both top a bottom receiving light. Chlorophyll is also found in the bark, hidden behind the white dust covering. Wet the bark and the green chlorophyll become visible.

We have many conifers in our yard, whose specialized leaves in the form of needles perform the same function. Their tiny surface area and wax-like coating are excellent adaptations for reducing transpiration (plant evaporation). This allows them to maintain their leaves through the extreme drought of winter’s cold temperatures and frozen ground, whereas broadleaved trees would soon dehydrate if their leaves were not dropped.

We have many other broadleaved trees on our landscape- box elder, green ash, rocky mountain maple, cherry, and river birch. Thus, we are blessed with a myriad of leaf shapes, colors, and texture. I enjoy all varieties- an artist’s delight! One we’re missing is Gamble oak, which was abundant in our N. Ogden backyard. These are a subspecies of the eastern white oak, as the Rocky Mountain bigtoothed maple is a subspecies of the eastern sugar Maple.

Utilitarian uses of leaves add more to the enjoyment, excellent mulch, compost, and piles for the grandkids to frisk in! Leaving some of them on the lawn in a shredded (mowed) condition is good nourishment for the grasses.

A healthy medium sized maple tree has around 100,000 leaves. That’s a lot of solar collectors! How many blades of grass in the average lawn? I leave that one up to you dear Listener!

Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society, I’m wild about every leaf I know- even poison ivy!

Credits:

Images: Courtesy Pixabay, ivabalk, contributor, https://pixabay.com/photos/autumn-fallen-leaves-the-fallen-2882733/
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Friend Weller, https://upr.org/ and Anderson, Howe, Wakeman.
Text:     Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading Links: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Wild About Utah Pieces by Jack Greene, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/

Hicks-Hamblin, Kristina, Composting Autumn Leaves: How to Use Leaves for Compost and Mulch, Gardener’s Path, Ask the Experts LLC., August 30, 2020, https://gardenerspath.com/how-to/composting/leaves/

Yard & Garden Updates, USU Extension, https://extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden/updates/

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Winter Birds

Red Crossbill, Courtesy US FWS, David Menke, Photographer
Red Crossbill
Courtesy US FWS
David Menke, Photographer
Fall bird migration is well underway! Our winter residents and migrating dropins are now beginning to populate our feeders and lower landscapes. So what sweet treats will decorate our feeder this year? We’re always hoping for a few surprises like eastern blue jays,
perhaps a gray crowned rosy finch, or green tail towhee. The old standbys never disappoint- juncos, various finch species, red breasted nuthatch, black capped & mountain chickadees.

A Black-capped Chickadee, Courtesy & Copyright Stephen Peterson, Photographer
A Black-capped Chickadee
Courtesy & Copyright
Stephen Peterson, Photographer

A Mountain Chickadee, Courtesy & Copyright Stephen Peterson, Photographer A Mountain Chickadee
Courtesy & Copyright
Stephen Peterson, Photographer

Swainsons Hawk, Buteo swainsoni, Courtesy Patrick Meyers, US NPS, Photographer Swainsons Hawk
Buteo swainsoni
Courtesy Patrick Meyers, US NPS, Photographer

Rough-Legged Hawk, Buteo lagopus, Courtesy US FWS Rough-Legged Hawk
Buteo lagopus
Courtesy US FWS

Snowy Owl, Bubo-scandiacus, Courtesy US FWS, Alex Galt, Photographer Snowy Owl
Bubo-scandiacus
Courtesy US FWS
Alex Galt, Photographer

Our winter birds are primarily seed eaters and berry eaters. Some exceptions are the woodpecker clan that attack our suet block, as do many of the seed eaters, and of course the raptors, who love to eat my feeder birds.

One non-feeder song bird that always brightens our day is the American dipper on our backyard creek. These little bundles of joy, or Rocky Mountain miniture pinguins if you prefer, do fine without our winter treats. They are full of joy swimming in freezing waters to pursue their prey- insect larva, small fish, and crustaceans. I’ve known them to sing their beautiful river song in the height of whiteout blizzards.

Many raptors have headed south, especially the Swainson hawks for which virtually the entire N. American flock winters in Argentina. Others move into our valley from further north- rough legged hawks, occassional snowy owls, snow buntings, and rarely a great gray owl, all raising spirits and engendering excitement by our birding community.

We’ve had but one green-tailed towhee in the 38 years we’ve resided in Smithfield Canyon. This delight acted unsure of where it was supposed to be. Skulcing, timid, it would steal in hesitant of its next move, where its spottoed towhee cousin was at ease, sure of its footing as it gobbled seed from the deck.

Being from the midwest, eastern bluejays elicite a flush of Michigan memories. Haughty and eye popping beauty, they too are less sure of their place and act quite timid and flighty at the feeder, quite opposite from their racous behavior back home.

We were blessed by immature Harris sparrows during our first three winters here. These elegant sparrows wear a striking black necklace, whick disppears with maturity. Will they ever return?

A tiny raptor brought great excitement. We noticed a Northern pygmy owl sitting comfortably 5 feet from our window, hoping to surprise a finch or junco. Fortunately for the songsters, it was discovered and the alarm sounded. Following 15 minutes of waiting, its patience subsided and it disappeared, never to be seen again!

Last winter we saw our first wild turkeys on the deck. Curious and comical, they would gaze in our living room window, wishing they had access to its contents. We learned even turkeys can be quite elegant, as they paraded on our deck railing.

Occasionally, great flocks of evening grosbeaks bless us with their startling beauty and abundance. We have yet to see gray crowned rosy finch or red crossbills. Perhaps this will be the winter!!

This is Jack Greene, for Bridgerland Audubon Society, and wild for Utah’s winter arrivals!

Credits:

Pictures: Courtesy US FWS,Photographers noted below each image
Contains Sound: Courtesy Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon Society/Utah State University Sustainability

Additional Reading:

Jack Greene’s Postings on Wild About Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/

Black-capped Chickadee, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/id/

Mountain Chickadee, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Chickadee/id

Red-breasted Nuthatch, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch/id

Northern Pygmy Owl, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id

Swainson’s Hawk, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Hawk/id

Rough-legged Hawk, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rough-legged_Hawk/id

Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray-crowned_Rosy-Finch/id

Snowy Owl, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Owl/id

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My Fishing River Otter

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer
River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer
Many years ago on a gorgeous fall day, I was standing on the bank of Green River in the Split Mountain campground in Dinosaur National Monument. I was visiting the site for our upcoming Utah Envirothon competition to assess the lay of the land and all it contained- plants, wildlife, soils, and aquatics. These were the main areas covered in the competition, so I would report back to my Logan high students on what local knowledge they might be tested on.

Humpback Chub Gila Cypha Courtesy US FWS, S Nev. FWO
Humpback Chub
Gila Cypha
Courtesy US FWS, S Nev. FWO

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Blue Lake National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Ted Narveson, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Blue Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Ted Narveson, Photographer

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Barbara Wheeler, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Barbara Wheeler, Photographer

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Tim Holman, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Tim Holman, Photographer

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Mike Budd, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Mike Budd, Photographer

I stood mesmerized by the beauty of the tranquil setting and glowing cottonwoods dwarfed by rainbow colored cliffs. The spell was suddenly shattered by a large aquatic mammal swimming nearby. Thinking it was a beaver, I awaited the telltale slap of its tail as it neared my position. Suddenly it began swimming wildly in a river backwater immediately in front of me. A river otter! This was my first sighting of a freshwater otter. I had seen many much larger marine otters on the west coast lying on their backs in kelp forests using rocks to crack open shellfish.

River otters had been nearly extirpated from Utah and recently reintroduced from 1989-1992, all of which doubled my excitement! As the otter accelerated, a fin emerged about a dozen feet in front of the predator. A large fish and strong swimmer, it led the otter on a wild, zigzag chase in the backwater. Finally, the otter captured the exhausted fish- an endangered humpbacked chub! It hauled out with a fish dinner on a flat boulder protruding from the water no more than 20 feet from where I stood. It cradled the large fish in its arms prepared to deliver the death bite through the head when it suddenly realized my statuesque presence.

Startled by my presence, it allowed the humpback to flip loose and return to the water. The otter was immediately on it, but the fish surged from the calm backwater to the main river channel current and disappeared. I was stunned by what happened next. The otter returned to the flat rock where it had held the fish, looked directly at me, and hurled what had to be a stream of otter profanity toward me! Me Me Me Me!!! (repeated several times) I have yet to fully recover from the insults!

River otters are important as indicators of healthy aquatic environments. They have a low tolerance for polluted water and require an abundant prey population. Due to their secretive nature, wide ranges, and low densities, otter populations are difficult to monitor. Currently, there is not a population estimate for Utah. Knowing where they are located is vital to managing this species. Recreationists can help with their management by reporting any sightings.

River otters primarily eat fish, but are also known to prey on small mammals, aquatic birds, crayfish and insects.

Now I must revisit the Disney film “Flash, the Teenage Otter”, to get reacquainted with this playful, highly intelligent and comical relative!

Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I’m forever Wild About Utah’s River Otters & Humpback Chubs!

Credits:
Images Courtesy US FWS, photographers marked with each image
Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Lyle W Bingham, Webmaster, and Jack Greene, Author, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Jack Greene’s Postings on Wild About Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/

Flash, the Teenage Otter

Filmed almost entirely at a Wisconsin game preserve, this episode of “”Walt Disney Presents”” was based on a book by Emil Liers. The program chronicles the early life and adventures of two otters, Flash and Fleta, and their close-knit family. Upon reaching their rebellious teen years, Flash strikes out on his own, experiencing all manner of exciting and life-threatening exploits, especially when coming in contact with that predatory species known as Man. But as the “”teaser”” to this episode tipped off a week in advance, Flash is ultimately and happily reunited with his loved ones. “”Flash, the Teenage Otter”” was released theatrically in 1961. –more–

Flash the Teenage Otter, The Wonderful World of Disney, [Review above from] TheTVDB.com, A Whip Media Company, https://thetvdb.com/series/the-wonderful-world-of-disney/episodes/245964
See also:
Liers, Emil, An Otter’s Story, The Viking Press, April 3, 1953, https://www.amazon.com/Otters-Story-Emil-Liers/dp/0670529753

Humpback Chub, , Utah Species, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, https://fieldguide.wildlife.utah.gov/?species=gila%20cypha

Northern River Otter, Utah Species, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, https://fieldguide.wildlife.utah.gov/?species=lontra%20canadensis