Pat and Painted Buntings

A Rusty Blackbird has been seen at Fish Springs NWR. It was first observed during Fish Springs CBC last weekend. It was seen again and photographed today. I saw a post on the Utah birds website and was immediately excited to see it was from my buddy Pat.  Pat wanted to get a group together to see the Rusty Blackbird. The idea of birding again with Pat made me think of the first time, and only time, I have birded with him...

Written 8/14/2007 in a letter to two of my best friends.

I wanted to see a Painted Bunting being seen at Fish Springs,Utah! If approved, it will be the first documented sighting of the Painted Bunting in Utah! A very exciting species but Fish Springs is a bit off the "main road". You guys know the place. Two and a half hours of driving on poorly maintained  desert dirt roads. Out in the middle of nowhere. Remember to bring extra gas and water. OK, you get the idea. But,  I have no more birding friends  in Utah (Miss you guys!). So I did what any birder would do. I planned to go alone. In my car. Without  4 wheel drive. Seems rational.  Doesn't it? 

I didn't end up going alone. I went with Pat and some  guy with a Utah name I cant remember. I met Pat on the Internet (probably the only time I will get to say I meet a guy on the Internet). Nate insisted that going alone with a man I didn't know was NOT a good idea. I said, " Hes a birder"and left it at that.  When I finally met pat and his friend I laughed. They were wonderful! Birders are a great group of people.

Pat, a talker,  spent the trip to Fish Springs telling stories.  He reminded me of my Grandpa Dan;  barrel chested, with laughing eyes, and an appreciation for a good story.  Of course, Pats stories were all clean;  my grandfather had an appreciation for the other. Pat spoke of listening to Louise L'Amour speak, caves and rock collecting, and going to Indian ruins before they were protected as National Parks, and like my Grandfather all of Pats stories were centered around Utah.  I loved hearing the history he was witness to. 

Pat drove the dirt road, to Fish Springs, like a bat would fly out of hell (I only peed my pants a little bit!). It was predawn; dark and poring raining. I was concerned that the rain would make the fine dirt of Utah's west desert into slippery goo. I wasn't wrong to be concerned. I sat next to him in the passengers seat of his white and slightly rusty Jeep Cherokee. A calm expression on my face. Absently  commenting here and there regarding his story. The whole time secretly wondering about Pats mental capacity. How coherent was he?  How were his reflexes? Did he take any major prescriptions? Did he take them this morning?  The sound of pounding rain, the water splashing against the sides of the car, mud flinging from the tires,  his cheerful chatter and my occasional response pounding in my head.  I somehow kept my composure as we flew down the dirt road. I only  squeaked a little bit when we slipped off the road into a small ditch going 70 miles an hour; somehow getting back on the road before hitting a dirt berm. 

Once at fish springs the rain stopped. We drove the where the Painted Bunting was last seen; one of the only tree'd areas in the region; the landscape mostly composed of sage brush. This area, loosely known as the picnic area, contained four cottonwood trees.

We were in the middle of a pressure change and were concerned that the Bunting had left. We desperately  searched the four trees but nothing was active. No little warblers. No finches. Nothing! Pat saw a pair of Great Horned Owls roosting in two of the four trees and I felt certain that the Bunting was now the main product in a great horned owl pellet.

We sat for hours. Observing any activity we imagined.  Looking at one tree and then the next. Until we looped back and did it again. Finally one of us suggested leaving to another area of the reserve to look for a Cackling Goose. No one had a spotting scope.  It felt hopeless. It was. 

We  continued around the reserve observing any species identifiable without a spotting scope. Snowy Egrets, Mallards, unidentifiable gull species, and White Faced Ibis. It was pretty dead and we were fairly sedated due to the lack of sleep and excitement. We came around a corner of a large pond. In the pool of water by the side of the road was a Reddish Egret! The second sighting ever  seen at Fish springs. We did an emotional flip and were ecstatic! 

We still had not seen our target bird and went back to the picnic area to look again. It was noon and hot but we were still determined and made plans to stay till it cooled off. I sprawled on a picnic table underneath one of the owls and watched it watch me while I ate a cliff bar that expired a year ago. A  peanut butter cliff bar that old does NOT taste like peanut butter. It tastes like dirt. To make matters worse the texture of the cliff bar supported my taste buds.  I was hungry and ate the whole thing. 

It was past noon. We had watched every movement the four trees had to offer for two hours. The weather began to cool. A soft wind blew high  in the trees canopy. The bird activity began to pickup; Yellow Warblers, House Finches, Great tailed Grackles, a Grey Flycatcher, and the Painted Bunting returned. 

On a side note: Pat drives slower in dirt roads, during dry weather, in the light. I made it home safely.