I was lucky enough to get a chance to spend a few hours with Clark Monson, Associate Professor of Geology at Brigham Young University Provo, and avid falconer. Professor Monson has been enamoured of birds of prey since he was a very young boy and has spent his life training and breeding various species of raptors. While I have had a lot of experience in handling and husbandry of raptors, I rarely have the opportunity to see them in the wild, so a day in the field was very exciting and educational.
We began our morning in Provo Canyon looking for a Sharp-shinned hawk nesting site that Monson has being keeping an eye on for several years. Raptors from the genus Accipiter, which include Sharp-shinned hawks, Cooper's hawks, and Goshawks, have similar behaviors when it comes to mating, nesting, and hunting. Accipiter breeding pairs will almost always build their nests in a conifer and will use the same nest or relative area for generations. Stands of conifers surrounded by deciduous trees are very reliable sites to search for nests and this was exactly the kind of location we hiked to on Thursday morning. Up a well made trail and then off the path, up an old road (probably used for ATVs) that had been overgrown by oak shrubs. We finally made it to a small grove and he pointed out an old nest he had found years ago and then proceeded to climb an adjacent tree to an active Sharp-shinned nest to see if the pair had succeeded in laying any eggs.
The male and female burst out of the tree when they heard us approach but stayed close by vocalizing back and forth. Monson counted five eggs and estimated they would hatch in the next two weeks. We stayed only a short time longer then departed, not wanting to stress the parents more than we already had. He continued to show me places where small accipiters could be observed hunting (such as the overgrown ATV road where there was lots of sunlight where small songbirds would be hunting insects)
(the trail up to the nesting site)
We made our way through the canyon and out to Deer Creek Canyon where the state has made an effort to co-exist with the increasing osprey population. Utah is one of the driest states but boasts a healthy osprey presence at every substantial water source in the state. Osprey will nest at the top of broken off trees out in the open and in their absence will use utility poles with cross pieces that support their massive, symmetrical nests. Many utility companies and state agencies will tear down these nests and erect nearby platforms for the osprey to nest, which the raptors can not resist using. Osprey are more colonial than other birds of prey and will nest rather close together near a water source since they are strictly fish-eating birds. For this reason we were able to see many active osprey nests that surrounded the reservoir. It made me really happy to see so much community effort to support and co-exist with the local wildlife. Check out some of the pictures! (reeeeallly wishing I had a long lens right now!)
In a couple of them you can see the female peeking out at us from the nest :)
I also got some footage of a female circling the nest and vocalizing, short but I love hearing their vocalizations.
I loved how symmetrical and neat the nests looked. Professor Monson routinely checks these platforms and will reinforce them with metal so that they can continue to support the massive nests that get added to each season. This last osprey nest had a web camera set up next to it so I included the link below if you'd like to check out more osprey nesting action :)
We finished off the afternoon checking kestrel boxes the professor had set up around the area to see if they were active and spotted a Swainson's hawk and a peregrine falcon (another reason why I need a telephoto!)
It was such a privilege getting to spend time learning from a long time and knowledgeable enthusiast from the wildlife world. I have so much more to learn but it's all these little thrills that keep me going. Nothing beats a good adrenaline rush.
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