Wild About Utah

March 5, 2018March 4, 2026

State Symbols

Most people could probably name the state bird or the state tree, but what about the state gem? The state grass? State fruit? Do you know why they are important to Utah? Here are just a few of Utah’s State Symbols that you might not have known.

Topaz was named Utah’s state gem in 1969 because of its abundance on Topaz or Thomas Mountain in Juab County. In this area, perfect topaz crystals can be found and collected. This semiprecious gem can also be found in Beaver and Toole counties. Topaz can be found in a variety of colors, but in the Thomas Range it is known for its sherry hue. When exposed to sunlight, amber colored topaz will often become clear. Topaz collecting is free and open to the public in most areas and could be a great way to get to know Utah a little bit better.

Utah’s state grass was selected in 1990 to be Indian Ricegrass. As you might suspect, indian ricegrass was given its name because of the significance in Native American life. This tough bunchgrass was a common food source and was absolutely crucial to survival when the corn crop failed.

Indian Ricegrass Courtesy US National Park Service — Indian Ricegrass
Courtesy US National Park Service

It can be found in wet and dry areas throughout the West. Long ago this grass was important for Native Americans; now it is important in fighting wind erosion and grazing cattle.

The cherry did not become the state fruit until 1997 when a group of second graders did their research and petitioned for the fruit to be recognized. Cherry was discovered to be the most economically beneficial fruit for Utah when compared to other fruits like peaches and apples. Both sweet and tart cherries are grown commercially in Utah. Utah is the only state ranked in the top five cherry producing states for both types of cherries.

US Cherries for sale in Korea Courtesy USDA — US Cherries for sale in Korea
Courtesy USDA

The cherry is native to Asia, but flourishes in Utah’s environment.

The state insect might be a little easier to guess than the state grass and state fruit. Utah is known as the beehive state, so naturally our state insect is the honeybee. When settlers first arrived in Utah they called it Deseret which means honeybee. Some native bees are listed as endangered species, but many Utahns have become “backyard beekeepers” to help these bees survive.

Honeybee Extracts Nectar Courtesy NASA ClimateKids — Honeybee Extracts Nectar
Courtesy NASA ClimateKids

Bees might seem insignificant, but are actually the unsung heroes of the world’s food supply. Growing bee friendly plants or becoming a beekeeper yourself are great ways to help Utah’s honeybee thrive.

No matter where in the state of Utah you are, you can learn more about these plants, animals, and rocks and see them in action. As a Chinese proverb says, “Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.”

This is Aspen Flake and I am Wild About Utah.

Credits:
Photos: Courtesy US NPS and US FWS
Audio: Courtesy and Copyright Kevin Colver
Text & Voice: Aspen Flake
Additional Reading & Listening

State Symbols, as found on OnlineLibrary.Utah.gov, https://onlinelibrary.utah.gov/research/utah_symbols/

Utah as found in StateSymbolsUSA.org: https://statesymbolsusa.org/states/united-states/utah

Gorman, Steve, U.S. Lists a Bumble Bee Species as Endangered for First Time, Scientific American, A Division of Nature America, Inc., Jan 11, 2017,
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-lists-a-bumble-bee-species-as-endangered-for-first-time/

Hrala, Josh, 7 Bee Species Have Been Added to The US Endangered Species List, ScienceAlert.com, 3 OCT 2016, https://www.sciencealert.com/seven-species-of-bees-have-been-added-to-the-endangered-species-list

Insects: Bees in trouble and agriculture decline, Endangered Species International, Inc. https://www.endangeredspeciesinternational.org/insects6.html

Ingraham, Christopher, Believe it or not, the bees are doing just fine, Washington Post, October 10, 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/10/10/believe-it-or-not-the-bees-are-doing-just-fine/

February 26, 2018March 4, 2026

Project FeederWatch

There are several programs where citizens can report their observations of nature to science organizations who need their data. Today, I refer to “Project FeederWatch” hosted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the premier institute for the study of all kinds of wild birds.

View or download Project Feederwatch materials from feederwatch.org Courtesy Project Feederwatch — View or download Project Feederwatch materials from feederwatch.org
Courtesy Project Feederwatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The main goal of the program is to combine the interests of backyard bird watchers with the needs of professional ornithologists. By making simple, standardized counts of the birds in their yards and reporting them to the database, citizens are contributing directly to the scientific understanding and monitoring of bird populations. Our observations help those scientists study changes in the distribution and abundance of feeder birds over time. And people of all ages and experience levels can contribute to actual research by participating in Project FeederWatch.

Observation sites can be as large as two tennis courts, or as small as a single feeder. Make sure the site is easily seen through your windows, then just use that same site all season. You simply observe the birds that come to that site for two consecutive days each week. And your counting time can be less than an hour, or more than eight hours, depending on your personal choices.

The scientists want data collected only during winter months, so in 2018 the reporting time ends April 13.

Record and report the largest number of each species you see at any one time during the two days to avoid double-counting birds.

When the observation season is completed, you can learn the numbers and distribution of various species and see how your yard compared to others who have been observing throughout the United States and Canada.

A couple of tips to get you started: Place your feeder in a quiet area where they are easy to see and fill. It is best to have them around 10 feet from natural cover such as trees and shrubs. This provides them cover and discourages cats and squirrels from leaping to the feeders. Buy fairly large feeders so you don’t have to fill them so often. The best all-around attractant is black-oil sunflower seeds due to its high fat content and it is easy for small birds to handle and crack open. Suet, or cakes of beef fat containing a variety of seeds, is another great choice for attracting insect-eating birds such as woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches. The cakes are placed in small cages to hold the suet while birds enjoy the feast. If you can provide grit (sand, very small pebbles, or ground eggshells) the birds will appreciate it since they use that in their gizzard to basically “chew” the seeds. Water is essential for birds even in winter, but you may need to provide a birdbath heater to keep ice from forming. And NEVER use anti-freeze since it is poisonous to ALL animals. Keep your cat indoors. You can also prevent birds crashing into windows by breaking up the reflections on the glass with netting or other decorations.

And if, one day, while you’re enjoying a melodious chorus of bird songs that suddenly go silent, you may have a visiting Cooper’s or Sharp-Shinned Hawk hunting for lunch.

For more information, and how to register, go to feederwatch.org

This is Ron Hellstern and I’m Wild About Utah!

Credits:

Images: Courtesy & Copyright Project Feederwatch, feederwatch.org
Audio: Courtesy and Copyright Kevin Colver
Text: Ron Hellstern, Cache Valley Wildlife Association

Additional Reading

Project Feederwatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://feederwatch.org/

Feederwatch Handbook & Instructions, Project Feederwatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://feederwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Handbook.pdf

Instruction summary, Project Feederwatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://feederwatch.org/about/how-to-participate/instructions/

Detailed Instructions, Project Feederwatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://feederwatch.org/about/detailed-instructions/

HOMESCHOOLER’S GUIDE TO PROJECT FEEDERWATCH, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.birdsleuth.org/398/

Beyond Penquins and Polar Bears, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Funded by NSF, February 2009, https://beyondpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/issue/arctic-and-anarctic-birds/project-feederwatch-integrating-real-time-science-and-math

February 19, 2018December 19, 2020

The Language of Ravens

Language of Ravens: Ravens in Bryce Canyon National Park — Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Bryce Canyon National Park
Courtesy US National Park Service
And found on Wikipedia

I was three days downriver and hadn’t seen a soul since shoving my canoe away from the boat ramp outside of town. The only sounds accompanying my solitude were the white noise of rapid water and the echoes of thoughts pin-balling around my mind—that is, until the third morning when, stooped over the small, blue roar of my cook stove, I was startled by an unfamiliar sound. It was a dry heave and the snap of a twig to my imagination at first, before I turned on my haunches to face the raven. But when I saw its eyes reflecting my own, set within a Victorian ruffled collar of frosted ebony feathers, the sounds became a gesture, an announcement of the bird’s presence.

At first, it was only the eyes I could track—deep, watery, and of a midnight hue, darker even than the feathery blanket they peered through. I didn’t respond quickly enough, I suppose. The raven blinked first, hopped toward the cold charcoal of last night’s fire and scooped a piece into his beak—not intending to eat it I’m sure; there was no tilting of the head as to swallow it. And after the first unpalatable bit was cast aside, another was scooped and cast in the same fashion. Then another. Four or five times before I realized what the raven wanted—my oatmeal, of course. As I turned back to my stove, there came the sound again, an ‘Urp!’ and a click of the beak.

The languages of birds in general are vastly complex and nuanced. And the language of ravens is supreme among them. In the unassuming journal Psychology Today, Avian Einsteins blogger and bird author John Marzluff dissects the reasons why. “A complex social lifestyle, long lifespan, and songbird brain provide the motive and machinery a raven needs to remain the most eloquent of avian orators,” Marzluff explains. The clucks, trills, haaas, and quorks common among all ravens are, in and of themselves, amazingly contextual and referential, used in varying sequences and settings to convey different meanings. And according to Marzluff, “New, useful, and intriguing noises can be memorized…and imitated as near perfect renditions,” to be “incorporated into a growing and individual repertoire.” This capacity for continued song learning not only makes raven language one of the most complex in the Animal Kingdom, but it also allows them to engage us humans.

My raven had given up scattering charcoal chips across the sand and had taken to watching me spoon oatmeal into my mouth as I stared back at him. Sat atop my cooler, hunched against the cold, January wind blowing up the canyon, I must not have been a menacing sight to the raven. Every few seconds, it hopped several inches forward toward me and clicked its beak, just as it had done when we first met. Then came the ‘Urp!’ again.

I would relay this experience several weeks later to a colleague and teacher of avian ecology. “It’s a begging behavior,” he would tell me. I was starting to figure this out for myself that morning—however late. I could tell the raven was getting frustrated with me, my relative intelligence coming into question within those midnight black eyes.

Our eyes kept finding each other. Only then did the ‘Urps’ and clicks stop. I was clearly not the first of its human encounters, but this was the first acquaintance I’d ever formally made with a raven. It was both thrilling and unsettling. I thought of Poe, shuddered, and looked away, back to my breakfast which was finally getting cold. I didn’t look at the raven anymore.

He left in disgust, I think, with a parting scoff. I turned at the gesture’s remarkable humanity, a familiar emotion translated between species. And I swear, as he banked into the river bend, he turned his head to glare back at me with those watery midnight eyes.

This is Josh Boling, writing and reading for Wild About Utah

Credits:
Photos: Courtesy US FWS, US NPS
Sound: Courtesy ESA and Popular Culture via YouTube
Text: Josh Boling, 2017

Sources & Additional Reading

Raven Sounds:

Max Ushakov, A huge raven making weird sounds in front of a crowd at the Tower of London., YouTube.com, July 14 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7jgjovK5lY

ESL and Popular Culture, Raven ~ bird call, YouTube.com, Dec 12, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDv_PlrBg14

Common Raven, Animals, National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/c/common-raven/

Bird Note, How to Tell a Raven From a Crow, Oct 22, 2012, Audubon, https://www.audubon.org/news/how-tell-raven-crow

https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/raven_intelligence

Ravens, Arches National Park, National Park Service – NPS.gov, Last updated: February 8, 2017, https://www.nps.gov/arch/learn/nature/ravens.htm

Common Raven, Zion National Park, National Park Service – NPS.gov, Last updated: January 31, 2016 https://www.nps.gov/zion/learn/nature/raven.htm

February 12, 2018January 1, 2019

Our Winterless Winter

Drought conditions across the United States as of January 2, 2018. Moderate drought (peach) expanded in size across Arizona according to the first United States drought monitor of 2018. Overall, much of the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States is in some form of drought. Climate.gov map, based on data from the National Drought Monitor project. Courtesy: NOAA Climate.gov Data: NDMC — Our Winterless Winter: Drought conditions across the United States as of January 2, 2018. Moderate drought (peach) expanded in size across Arizona according to the first United States drought monitor of 2018. Overall, much of the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States is in some form of drought. Climate.gov map, based on data from the National Drought Monitor project.
Courtesy: NOAA Climate.gov
Data: NDMC

I’ve been in this lovely valley over 30 years and have never experienced such a balmy January, and now February. The thaw began January first and never ended. As an avid cross country skier, I fear my days of low elevation skiing have ended over a month early.

And I’m well aware that my home state of Michigan is having an epic winter of extreme cold and snow. While we westerners are crying global warming, those across the Mississippi are saying “bring it on!”
So what do the computer models tell us about these phenomena as they predict our future in a warming climate? Our jet stream is acting might wimpy and limpey these days, which was what the climatologists saw coming in their modeling. I will attempt a brief explanation.

The jet streams are high-altitude, racing rivers of air that can influence the path of storms as they track over North America from the Pacific Ocean. The jet streams meander and shift from day to day, but during La Niña events, they tend to follow paths that bring cold air and storms into the Upper Missouri River Basin. Map based on original graphics from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. Courtesy NOAA — The jet streams are high-altitude, racing rivers of air that can influence the path of storms as they track over North America from the Pacific Ocean. The jet streams meander and shift from day to day, but during La Niña events, they tend to follow paths that bring cold air and storms into the Upper Missouri River Basin. Map based on original graphics from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
Courtesy NOAA

The jet stream is highly impacted by the temperature differences between the poles and the mid latitudes where we reside. The greater this difference, the more robust the jet stream. The poles have been warming at a crazy rapid pace- several times faster than the lower latitudes. This has reduced the temperature differences which has two profound effects on the jet stream. First, with less energy to move it along, it stalls out so to speak and its patterns linger longer over our continent. Thus the prolonged extreme warm temps in the west, and prolonged cold in the east. A month ago my son living in Atlanta, GA called to say he was walking his dog in a foot of snow, a new experience for that southern boy!

Jet streams also "follow the sun" in that as the sun's elevation increases each day in the spring, the average latitude of the jet stream shifts poleward. (By Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is typically found near the U.S. Canadian border.) As Autumn approaches and the sun's elevation decreases, the jet stream's average latitude moves toward the equator. Courtesy NOAA — Jet streams also “follow the sun” in that as the sun’s elevation increases each day in the spring, the average latitude of the jet stream shifts poleward. (By Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is typically found near the U.S. Canadian border.) As Autumn approaches and the sun’s elevation decreases, the jet stream’s average latitude moves toward the equator.
Courtesy NOAA

The second effect is the deep trough that allows the cold to reach well into those once toasty southern states. These sags can be shown with a jump rope. As you slow the energy, or rate of whip moving the rope, it begins to sag, creating a deeper, slower moving trough that even I can leap over!

So our western part of the jump rope is stuck in an inverted trough (the upward swing of the rope), creating a high pressure system that has dominated our state and much of the west with very warm temps and very little precip. This does not bode well for our ski industry nor our water supply, which is locked in our scant snow pack.

Many students from around the state have been working on a resolution with their state legislators which addresses this climate weirding. Bill HCR7 now resides in the House Natural Resources Committee, where it will probably be heard before you hear this. It may even have been on the House floor by then, and on to the Senate. The students are filled with hope that our state leaders will hear their testimonies in behalf of a future we all wish them to have.

This is Jack Greene and I’m Wild about Utah!!

Credits:

Images: Courtesy NOAA
Text: Jack Greene

Sources & Additional Reading:

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/features/missouri-river-flood-drama-likely-took-direction-la-ni%C3%B1a

Emma Penrod, Some Utah lawmakers deny climate change, but OK a bill recognizing its impacts after hearing pleas from students, Salt Lake Tribune, Feb 15, 2018 https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/02/15/some-utah-lawmakers-deny-climate-change-but-ok-a-bill-recognizing-its-impacts-after-hearing-pleas-from-students/

Emma Penrod, Some Utah lawmakers deny climate change, but OK a bill recognizing its impacts after hearing pleas from students, Salt Lake Tribune, Feb 13, https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/02/13/wary-of-saying-humans-are-responsible-utah-lawmakers-postpone-vote-on-two-climate-change-resolutions/

Rebecca P. Edwards, Concurrent Resolution on Environmental and Economic Stewardship, Utah State Legislature, HCR007