Feb 19, Mindful Birding Through a Camera Lens

Audubon Education, Community Events

Mindful Birding Through a Camera Lens: White-breasted Nuthatch Teton Splendor Field Trip Courtesy & Copyright Meg Kast, Photographer

White-breasted Nuthatch
Teton Splendor Field Trip
Courtesy & Copyright Meg Kast, Photographer

Mindful Birding Through a Camera Lens:
Immerse yourself in the world of birds with your camera, or without should you choose! Bridgerland Audubon board member Meg Kast will enthrall us with her bird photos and how they came about. Meg is an outstanding young photographer and recently attended a “Mindful Birding” workshop in Colorado where her camera was a hit! If you have some photos you wish to share, please bring them on a thumb drive.

February 19, 7 pm
Logan Library
285 N Main Street
Logan, UT 84321

Definitions:

Audubon Defines “Mindful Birding”:
Mindful birding combines mindfulness practices with the joy of observing birds. This practice is gaining popularity due to the health benefits of slowing down and immersing yourself in nature. Mindful birding can be done almost anywhere and requires little experience and equipment for participants, making it a great way to introduce new people to the joys of being outdoors with birds!

Birdability Defines “Mindful Birding”:
Mindful birding, also known as ‘slow birding’ or ‘casual birding’, is birding quietly, intentionally and gently, with the aim of deeply engaging with and enjoying the birds and nature around you. For many folks with accessibility challenges, this is the best way for them to go birding (rather than rushing around and checking off lists). Please remember, though, that there is no wrong way to go birding! https://www.birdability.org/mindful-birding

Background:

Meg Kast:
https://www.instagram.com/megs.wildlife.photography/reel/DEwPbNrOxv-/
https://www.instagram.com/megs.wildlife.photography/
http://facebook.com/megs.wildlife.photography1

Adams, Jill U, Birding With Benefits: How Nature Improves Our Mental Mindsets, Audubon Magazine, Winter 2019, https://www.audubon.org/magazine/winter-2019/birding-benefits-how-nature-improves-our-mental

Yuhas, Daisy, Five Ways to Connect With Nature and Boost Your Mood No Matter Your Schedule, Audubon Magazine, Fall 2024, https://www.audubon.org/magazine/five-ways-connect-nature-and-boost-your-mood-no-matter-your-schedule

Greene, Jack, Mindful Birding, Wild About Utah, November 18, 2024, https://wildaboututah.org/mindful-birding/
on UPR: https://www.upr.org/show/wild-about-utah/2024-11-18/wild-about-utah-mindful-birding
Mindful Birding Through a Camera Lens
Mindful Birding, The Morrissey Family Foundation, https://www.mindfulbirding.org/

Jan 25, Birding with Bridgerland Audubon at First Dam

Field Trips, ,

Birding with Bridgerland Audubon at First Dam: Barrow’s Goldeneye, (Bucephala islandica), Courtesy US FWS, Donna Dewhurst, Photographer

Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)
Courtesy US FWS, Donna Dewhurst, Photographer
One of the species that may be seen
Saturday January 25, 2025
Birding with Bridgerland Audubon at First Dam.

 

Many unique species of waterfowl visit the mouth of Logan Canyon in winter due to the ice-free water. Cackling geese, mergansers and displaying goldeneyes can be found here as well as American dippers, eagles and more. We may visit the nearby Hydropark and USU Water lab sites as well.

Meet at the southwest corner of the Smith’s Marketplace (750 North Main Street, Logan) parking lot at 8:00 AM to carpool to our destination from there. We will plan to return around 10:00 AM.
Trip leader Dawn Holzer (dawnholzer80@gmail.com, 801-718-1578)

***** Future Events *****

January 25 – First Dam and USU Water Lab
February 22 – Trapper Park and Logan River Icon Trail
March 22 – Wellsville Reservoir
April 12 – Sue’s Pond – Logan River Wetlands and Shorebird Playa
May 17 – Third Dam/Spring Hollow
June 21 – Bud Phelps Wildlife Management Area
July 19 – Tony Grove
August 23 – Amalga Barrens
September 27 – Benson Marina and Railroad Trail
October 25 – King Nature Park and Green Canyon
November 22 – Hyrum Reservoir and State Park
December 6 – Lundstrom Park Trail

***** Background, First Dam *****

eBird:
Checklist for First Dam: https://ebird.org/printableList?regionCode=L353707
Recent Checklists for First Dam: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L353707/recent-checklists
Media Images for First Dam: https://media.ebird.org/catalog?regionCode=L353707
Birding with Bridgerland Audubon at First Dam

First Dam Reservoir, Places to Bird in Cache County, Utah Birds, http://www.utahbirds.org/counties/cache/FirstDam.htm

Signed waivers required for all participants. Complete form, print results and bring printed waiver to meeting point.

Background
First Dam and its surroundings, with so much open water, have traditionally been the first place to visit in the year. The Stilt recorded the following from 2009: “First Dam is sure to offer up Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes as well as other wintering waterfowl.”

eBird reports the following First Dam sightings as of 7 January 2025.
Check out eBird for additional sightings:

Species Name Count Date Observer
Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus 1 7 Jan 2025 Bryant Olsen
Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia 1 2 Jan 2025 Dawn Holzer
Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos 1 1 Jan 2025 Dawn Holzer
>Common Raven Corvus corax 4 1 Jan 2025 Dawn Holzer
House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus 3 1 Jan 2025 Dawn Holzer
Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus 1 1 Jan 2025 Linda Sargent
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon 1 1 Jan 2025 Linda Sargent
Gadwall Mareca strepera X 1 Jan 2025 Cullen Clark
Common Merganser Mergus merganser 2 1 Jan 2025 Cullen Clark
American Coot Fulica americana X 1 Jan 2025 Cullen Clark
Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus 1 1 Jan 2025 Cullen Clark
American Dipper Cinclus mexicanus 1 1 Jan 2025 Cullen Clark
Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum X 1 Jan 2025 Cullen Clark
Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii 4 1 Jan 2025 Toni Proescholdt
Canada Goose Branta canadensis 150 1 Jan 2025 Toni Proescholdt
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 90 1 Jan 2025 Toni Proescholdt
Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris 1 1 Jan 2025 Toni Proescholdt
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula 3 1 Jan 2025 Toni Proescholdt
Barrow’s Goldeneye Bucephala islandica 4 1 Jan 2025 Toni Proescholdt
Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus 2 1 Jan 2025 Toni Proescholdt
Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis 10 1 Jan 2025 Toni Proescholdt
Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia 1 1 Jan 2025 Toni Proescholdt
Additional Taxa (2)
Greater/Lesser Scaup Aythya marila/affinis 1 7 Jan 2025 Bryant Olsen
Domestic goose sp. (Domestic type) Anser 5 1 Jan 2025 Mike Fish

Dec 14, Cache Valley (Logan) Christmas Bird Count

Community Events, Field Trips

Cache Valley (Logan) Christmas Bird Count

Join us for the CBC on December 14th!

Cache Valley Birders,

Christmas Bird Count Join the Christmas Bird Count You can add to a century of citizen science data by signing up for a count near you Photo: Camilla Cerea/Audubon audubon-camilla_cerea_cbc_5
Christmas Bird Count
Join the Christmas Bird Count
You can add to a century of citizen science data by signing up for a count near you
Photo: Camilla Cerea/Audubon
audubon-camilla_cerea_cbc_5

Saturday, December 14th 2024 will be the 69th year of the annual Christmas Bird Count for the Logan, UT count. First begun in 1955, The Logan Christmas Bird Count is our Chapter’s contribution to the world’s largest, oldest citizen science project on Earth. Please join us.

We can use beginners as well as experienced birders to find owls, falcons, and odd ducks, even feathered ones. Contact Val Grant, 435-757-9519, or Hilary Shughart hilary.shughart@gmail.com, for more information or to join the Count! With your assistance and a wink from Mother Nature, we could break 100 species – again!

Count Reports
2015
2015 Preliminary Report
2014
2014 Preliminary Report
2013
2013 Report
2012
2012 Christmas Bird Count Report
2012 Christmas Bird Count Summary Spreadsheet 1991-2012
2011
2011 Cache Valley Count Report
Summary: Cache Valley Counts 1991-2011 (pdf)
Summary: Cache Valley Counts 1991-2011 (HTML)

Dec 5, ECONET Canal Road PIPELINE PROJECT PUBLIC MEETING, 5:30 p.m. Logan City Hall

Community Events, EcoNet, , ,

FIRST DAM TANK PIPELINE PROJECT
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 5:30 PM
Logan City Hall Conference Room
290 North 100 West
or Join the webinar:
https://bit.ly/FirstDamTankMeeting

Learn about the First Dam Tank Pipeline Project which will construct a 10-million gallon water tank, a transmission line to the west side of Logan, and Canyon Road improvements.
The project will:
Improve city-wide water quality and delivery.
Meet State requirements for water system capacity.
Meet current and future drinking water and fire suppression needs.
Contact the Project Team
Phone: 435-258-7302
Email: logantank@jub.com
For additional project information visit the Capital Projects page: https://www.loganutah.gov/…/public…/capital_projects.php

+Logan 1st Dam Tank Transmission Line Alternative Summary with map of 7 alignments:
https://cms9files.revize.com/loganut/departments/pubworks/engineering/CanyonRoadAlignmentMemo_11262024%20(1).pdf

+See also the independent Canyon Road Coalition perspective as explained in the online petition:
Opposition to Canyon Road water line project
https://www.change.org/p/opposition-to-canyon-road-water-line-project

The information contained in this page is provided on an “as is” basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness.

ECONET: Environmental News for Cache, Rich, Box Elder, and Franklin Counties. Sponsored by the Bridgerland Audubon Society.
To subscribe or unsubscribe send an email with subject heading “ECONET” to hilary.shughart@gmail.com
Protecting the nature of Utah for people and wildlife.

Bridgerland Audubon Society
PO BOX 3501
Logan, UT 84323-3501
435-213-3668
https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/econet/