Hey everyone!!! We are in the final 2 work weeks of our contract here at Anderson Cove. Not much new has happened with us over the last 3 months, but I’ll clue you in on the highlights over the next several posts.
Let’s start with the birds, specifically the ones in our “yard”. Yes I’m still feeding birds but it’s the cool visitors to the park that have been the most fun.
We have the typical “feeder birds” like chickadees, finches, and grosbeaks.
Utah has 3 different kinds of hummers that frequent our area: Broadtails (they sound like George Jettson’s car when they fly) black-chinned, and rufous the late comers to the party. They showed up only about a week ago.
We haven’t seen very many blue jays, but another member of the Jay family LOVES the park. Ok they LOVE campers who leave food out on their tables. They are very comical to watch when raiding tables. They are big enough that they can carry off whole bags of chips, but their favorite has to be graham crackers. We find the empty packets all over the campground.
On one of our morning cleaning rounds in May, I found this Scalloped Oak Moth warming itself on the door of one of the bathrooms. Isn’t it cool? It is the only one I saw the entire time we have been here.
However, when we were out hiking one day I took a picture of a pretty butterfly and caught something unexpected in the picture. I didn’t notice it until I got home and looked at the pictures on the computer. Check out the upper left corner of this picture.
Do ya see it? A stick that doesn’t look like it belongs on the tree to which it is attached? Well it isn’t a stick at all. It is a Scalloped Oak Moth caterpillar. I found a better picture on Wikipedia.
CREEPIEST caterpillar I have ever seen!!! It is huge!!!
There are TONS of mice at the park. The cats that were apparently here last year and kept the population under control are not here this year. As a result there are lots of mice and that has drawn aerial predators to the park.
What we are sure are Cooper’s Hawks, but some have argued they are Sharp-shinned or even Red-tailed Hawks, have been seen all over the park.
Our favorite visitors for staff, campers, and the Forest Service is our family of Great Horned owls. When we got here the babies were so small and fluffy barely 8 – 10 weeks old. (Pic taken May 20th)
One day one of the babies fell out of the tree and was chased by an over enthusiastic camper trying to get video of the baby. By the time we intervened it was too late. The baby was driven too far from the nest. The forest service took that baby to a sanctuary.
Rarely did we see Mama. We could hear her but visually locating her was tough. John managed to get a good picture of her. She just blends in to well.
Dad however wasn’t quite as shy and provided plenty of photo-ops for the campers.
It didn’t take long for the baby to become really agile at hopping around the branches of the tree. She is probably the most photographed owl in Utah at this point. (Pic taken May 28th)
She get’s it honestly though. Dad is real ham and would often hangout with baby in the early evenings when the campers would come to take pictures. (Pic taken June 2nd)
But alas….all children grow up. Based on the baby’s size (females are bigger than males) and markings (female markings are darker than males) it has been determined that our baby is a Girl. It felt like a long wait. (Pic taken July 16th)
She has been flying since the end of June and now does all of her own hunting. We don’t see the owls as much any more now that the baby is grown, but we hear them every evening. It seems like we are all ready to be moving on.
Hello you all rom Ray and Mary Ellen. It has been a while since I have seen one of your posts. This is a good one. You mention Utah – where are in in Utah?
We did not go back to Yellowstone this year. We are in Northern Vermont, on an island in Lake Champlain. At the Apple Island Resort. I am the Guest Services Manager and ME is working in the office and the general store. It has been a good, cool and wet summer. We are now counting the days it seems until the next adventure. Don’t know where, probably South Texas.
But first a trip to Florida for our son’s wedding in late October. You all be good and keep those posts coming. You can follow ours on Facebook – Arayspeer@gmail,com.
Ciao,Ray
Hi Ray Hi Mary Ellen. We are in Huntsville, a little town about an hour north of Salt Lake City. Anderson Cove is located on the Pineview Reservoir. We are heading to Yellowstone when we are finished here. Then we will be heading to Sidney Montana to work the sugar beet harvest and then down to NC to await the birth of our 5th grandchild. Maybe we will see you down the road.
Hi all from Danny & Karen! We are down to the last 2 weeks of our volunteering gig at Baca National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado. We will be heading south to Junction, TX for our next gig. We will be working at an RV park helping to run the office a some maintenance. Sounds like everyone has had a good summer! Happy Travels!!!!
Karen
While we were on vacation I told Carl it’s been too long since we heard from you and we came back today to your post. What great pictures! We are glad all is well and look forward to the next post.
All is well and we are looking forward to spending time next summer on the East Coast and seeing all of our peeps! Hope you had a great vacation.