An easy and comfortable fit

Yesterday a friend (Beth) and I went birding at Antelope island. Beth normally resides in Omaha (A word I like to say out loud every chance I get) but she is in town for the holidays and a wedding. I felt lucky that I got to enjoy her company while she was in town.

Beth and I share a passion for Antelope Island, so when she comes into town we usually agree its the place we would like to go. Following our traditions, I picked her up at the 2600 exit in Bountiful after filling my cup with HOMEMADE CHAI (thats right Ern, its back!!!!). We then drive to the island. The car filled with our constant chatter as we describe our lives, what our kids are up to, what makes us happy and fulfilled. We can even talk politics and religion; her opinion although different than mine always compliments how I feel. I  think, Beth and I talk best when driving and I blame carpooling to the University of Utah for three years. Making it an easy and comfortable fit.

As expected, the Island was quite. A white fog filled the sky, meeting the white-coated earth at some undetectable point. We saw a few birds and a coyote as we drove in. Most notable though, was what we did not see; gulls.

As we entered the island, we opted to break tradition and go to the ranger station. Noting the gang of chuckars in the rocks just north of the ranger station and seeing a rock wren just before entering the building. Some things never change. We wandered the ranger station, noting new books on the shelfs, checking out the brine shrimp tank,  enjoying the local artists photographs that line the wall, and speaking to the ranger about any recent and fun bird sightings. We then headed to the Ranch.

On the drive, we saw a pair of flickers and an accipiter in a riparian area, a few bison grazed and horned larks flitted at the road side. The coolest thing we saw was a porcupine sitting in a tree. ( I did not take any pictures this trip.... so I drew a picture of what it looked like.) Cool huh!

This sighting got me thinking about porcupines and so I did a little research. The porcupine we saw was the North American Porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum. Described as a large rodent ( I would have added "pooky" before rodent.) that lies in Alaska, Canada, and much of the northern and western contiguous United states. It is also said to be common in Utah but this is the first time I have ever seen one. Another interesting thing I read is that "the quills usually lay flat against the body unless the porcupine suspects danger". As you can see in my wonderful drawing the quills in the porcupine, we saw, were raised. Which makes me wonder, were Beth and I in danger of being quilled?

After watching the porcupine do a whole lot of nothing, we drove on to the ranch. The ranch is a huge riparian area with a fresh water spring that attracts many song birds. At the spring we saw Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, and many American Goldfinch's who must have had social bath time; they were all wet and puffy and preening like mad. We also saw 5-6 Virgina rails wandering in the open spring.  Seeing so many rails in an open area, without fear of us watching them a short distance away (5 ft) is a bit odd. Rails, in general, are quite abundant but are rarely seen.

Overall the day was perfect and my only regret (if I need to have one) is not taking any photos. Course, sometimes its nice to enjoy the scenery without the pains of trying to capture it. Plus, not having a photo of the way cool porcupine allowed me to hone my Photoshop skills. YeeaaaH!