A quicky: Bushtit style

Noun 1.  quicky - hurried repair 

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A string of e-mails:

Me: "B-tit weekender?" 

Beth: "I'm game.......there are spotted owls!!!!!   I can squeeze it in."

Me: "I can go for a quickee this weekend. How about you?"

Beth: "possibly, let me work on it and I'll call you" 

 ...and the next thing I knew, I was sleeping on a strangers floor in Ceder City.

Me looking for the owls. Thanks Beth for the photo!

Beth and I got up early in Ceder city and headed for Zions NP. The owl has been seen within a short section of the Angels Landing trail referred to as refrigerator canyon.  This section of trail winds through two parallel cliff walls and contains a small old growth forest. The prefered habitat of the Spotted owl.

We wandered down the trail pausing to look at every tree and every branch of every tree. Along the way:

• We enjoyed the nest of a House Wren. The excited calls of its young each time the hurried parent entered the nest. 
• We learned the "chink, chink, chink, chink" calls of the Virginia Warbler and wondered at when we last saw them. 
• We ignored the weird looks from other hikers as they wondered about our strange behavior. Move 5 feet. Look at a tree. Listen. Listen. Repeat. 
• We were interrupted by an excited man who wanted to know if we are watching the "tiny, bright, yellow birds?". When I told him we were looking for an owl, expecting him to be impressed, he shrugged and went his way. I did not tell him but, it was obvious he had witnessed his first yellow warbler. 
• We did NOT see the owls. 

So we returned for a second try with plan B: look at the rock wall.  After a few minutes of Plan B, Beth found an owl sitting in a small cave. Out of sight from the trail.

Northern Spotted Owl; Zions NP

 Its mate and young was not seen while we were there.
We then finished the climb.

On the way down we spotted this beauty:

White lined sphinx moth caterpillar; Zions NP

I love being able to throw a last minute trip together. Thanks Beth for sharing in the adventure. I think that this quicky was a bit painful to both of us and our families but it was well worth it. Now on to Lava hot springs and Bear lake!