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Completing the Ptarmigan Set


After returning home from Alaska (there will be some belated posts from that trip), I had to work for a couple of days before heading off to NE Utah where my wife and I were meeting up with our son – Aidan – and his girlfriend – Sara, who live in Colorado. This was not a birding trip but one of our goals was to hike up to the summit of Leidy Peak in the Uinta Mountains. I selected this peak because the round-trip hike is only five miles, which my wife and I can easily manage. By pure coincidence, it also happens to be the only easily accessible location for White-tailed Ptarmigan in Utah. As in California, the Utah population of this species is introduced but has been established for many years.

After spending a night in Vernal, we drove up to the trailhead through a mix of meadows and aspen and coniferous forests. The weather forecast was decidedly unpromising although the worst of the weather was not supposed to arrive until late morning. At the trailhead, I had a brief look at a Gray (Canada) Jay but it was already quite windy, which made seeing any small birds in the forest difficult. As we headed up the mountain, Sara and Aidan suggested we take a shorter steeper route up and then possibly return by the original trail we planned to take. Given that the new route took us up a scree slope with scattered snow patches, which were ideal habitat for the ptarmigan, I had no objection. More importantly it was on the lee side of the mountain. A descending hiker had told us the wind was gusting up to 50 miles per hour at the summit.

White-tailed Ptarmigan

As we climbed slowly (we were almost at 12,000 feet) up the slope, I started to do some playback of ptarmigan calls. Eventually, I heard one calling back and Aidan soon spotted it top of a rock. We clambered a bit higher and soon had the characteristically great looks at this tame species. The talus slopes also held the odd American Pipit and Rock Wren.

As we neared the top of the mountain, only about 100ft below the summit, the wind speed began to increase seemingly by 10 mph every 20 feet higher we climbed. It then started to snow, with the driving snow stinging our faces. We quickly decided that the last 200 yards to the summit were not going to be worth it and turned back. By the time we reached our vehicles, the wind was also increasing at the car park too and we decided to abandon our plans to sleep there. Instead, we headed back down to Vernal and booked a campsite in the Dinosaur National Monument.

Maybe it's not so bad that some 'birds' went extinct

The next morning, we headed over to the fantastic Quarry Exhibit Hall where you can see dinosaur fossils in situ in the rockface.

Sauropod Fossil

After that we drove across the border into Colorado to the town of Dinosaur, where we had lunch before saying goodbye to Aidan and Sara. Remy and I then drove back to Vernal, killing some time in Jensen trying, but failing, to find a Common Grackle since we were too early to check-in to our motel.

Early the next morning, I headed back to Jensen and birded the Stewart Lake Wildlife Management Area. Although the lake was totally dry due to very poor snowfall the previous winter, riparian birding was pretty good with multiples of Gray Catbird, Willow Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Chat, Lazuli Bunting and Blue Grosbeak. I returned to Vernal to check-out and Remy and I began the long drive to Capitol Reef National Park.

Chimney Rock, Capitol Reef NP

Cassidy Arch, Capitol Reef NP

Capitol Reef had plenty of the spectacular scenery that Utah is rightly famous for and we enjoyed a few scenic hikes to arches and canyons. On Tuesday morning, Remy had to work remotely, giving me the chance to bird both some areas of juniper forest and higher up in montane conifer and aspen stands. I was able to see a nice selection of montane species including Pinyon Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, Dusky Flycatcher, Green-tailed Towhee and Macgillivray’s Warbler.

Our last two nights were spent at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, which is famous for its slot canyons. We squeezed our way into Spooky Canyon, which was quite an experience. After reading about navigational difficulties on the trail to the Zebra Slot Canyon and the fact that there was usually quite deep water at the entrance, we decided just to head straight home on the last morning – a ten hour drive that at least started out with some more spectacular scenary.

Metate Arch, Grand Staircase Escalante NM

Spooky (Slot) Canyon, Grand Staircase Escalante NM

 

 

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