ML612134603
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
- Sounds
- Song
- Playback
- Not specified
Observation details
Exact count. Heard multiple birds at every stop I made. What a journey this was. I started out the night walking from Salamander Flat CG to Timpooneke CG (~2 miles) where it first got dark enough around 2145. I found a calling FLOW that gave 8 hoots before thunder clapped over head. That was the end of that. I started walking back down and the rain started. Not too bad though. Then it started raining hard enough that I put my camera in my backpack. Then it started dumping on me. Thankfully I was less than 100 m from the Mt. Timpanogos North Trailhead, so I dashed under the eaves of the parking lot bathroom to wait it out for about 30 minutes. It slowed enough that I started the walk back to Salamander Flats, but even when the rain stopped completely, it was dead silent along Alpine Loop Road, despite multiple stops to listen for even distant birds. I did hear a Common Poorwill when I got to Salamander Flat, but no FLOW even with the dry skies. I wondered if they needed some time to recover from the thunderstorm so I decided to get some shut eye at 2345. I woke up in my tent at 0200 with no alarm, so I decided this was my moment. I was dead tired but the FLOWs were non-audibly calling me, communicating with my soul. I drove up to Cascade Scenic Drive to try my luck there since Alpine Loop had performed so poorly for me. I instantly heard several at my first stop, but they were all too far. Rain showers came and went, I was constantly jumping in and out of the car to stay dry. Ain't nothing gonna break my stride. I slowly worked my way down the road making a few more stops and seeing FLOW silhouettes, but I couldn't get them in my light. They were testing my faith in the birding gods. I decided to make one more stop before giving up entirely. As soon as I stepped out, I heard one right by the road. I got him in my light but he was very jumpy. I saw him well enough to see how gray he was though, that was improvement over silhouettes. It started raining again. Of course. I waited it out in my car and when it stopped, I jumped back out to find the owl was still on the edge of the road. I got my light on him again and I quickly realized he wasn't jumpy because of the light, he was hungry! He was constantly darting after insects, scarcely staying on any perch for more than two seconds. It felt like I was watching a giant nocturnal RCKI. Maybe with all the rain he was trying to maximize his time in the dry periods. Somehow, I managed to get an out of focus photo. Mission accomplished. I made it back to my tent at 0445, excited to catch up on sleep. But a ground squirrel decided to climb onto my tent at 0620 and scared the life out of me. It was heavy enough that the canvas sagged so it felt like the squirrel had jumped into my lap. That fight or flight response from me meant I wasn't going to get any more sleep.
Technical information
- Recorder
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 879.69 KB