Celebrating International Migratory Bird Day @ Grand Teton National Park

Moose, WY (36 degrees, rain, snow, grapple, sunshine, hail)

Park Ranger Andrew Langford led an all day bird watching caravan which stopped at seven hot spots within Grand Tetons National Park (CT Visitor Center, Antelope Flats, Sawmill Pond, String Lake, Jackson Lake Dam, Oxbow, and Christian Pond)  His wife, Patty, kept accurate records of the sightings which will be reported to Partners in Flight - an international conservation program.  Their goal is to help reverse dwindling populations of migratory birds by bringing attention to factors that contribute to worldwide decline.  We decided to join the caravan and hoped to see some new birds along the way.

Western Bluebird

It started off so beautifully with the sighting of this Western Bluebird.  They were flitting all around us and were so easy to spot due to their beautiful blue color.  

Peter Langford (behind him is the Snake River)

Peter was an excellent spotter and gave us such great information about the birds we were seeing.  In addition, he can identify calls very easily.  His normal post in the park is at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center.  

Our second stop at the Antelope Flats was along an area known as Mormon Row and a popular photograph stop.  We saw a Swainson's Hawk for the first time.  The picture does not bring out his great features since for  the most part we had very cloudy conditions.  

Swainson's Hawk

The weather was mercurial.  One minute there was sunshine, followed by snow and hail.  The ranger laughed and told us there were really one three seasons in the Tetons-winter, after winter, and awaiting winter.  

Our third stop was Sawmill Pond.  We hoped to see a Great Gray Owl but he was not hanging out today. However, we saw some Cinnamon Teals up close. In the past we had seen some but only in a spotting scope at a great distance.  They are really a very colorful duck.  The Barrow's Goldeneye was interesting too.  Did you know I really like ducks?

Barrow's Goldeneye

Cinnamon Teal

Our third stop at String Lake was snow covered and certainly a very chilly spot.  In the summer, however, this is a great place to swim.  Again our Ranger promised eventually we would have warmer temperatures. But with the warmer temperature comes much greater crowds.

The Jackson Lake Dam overlook was so pretty today.  The blue skies highlighted the mountains and we lingered here for quite awhile.  We saw two new birds for us here - Townsend Solitaire and Western Grebe.

At this point we only had a few member left with our group.  The weather was changing quickly and we even had a brief period of hail. The ranger called it grapple. That's a new word for us.  :)

The Oxbow stop was definitely a hot spot for birds. We were surprised to see Double Breasted Cormorants here and a White Pelican with a bright beak. If they migrated from Florida like us, I bet they are shocked by the cold weather too.

Our last stop was a hiking trail out to Christian Pond.  Bear spray is recommended due to this being a favorite spot for them too.  It was very scenic, however, we could not get out to the lake due to snow pack. We were treated to a somewhat visible view of a Wilson Snipe.  This almost never happens with this bird because it blends in so well with its surroundings.  

Wilson Snipe

If you are interested in the complete list of the birds seen on our International Migratory Bird Day, just send me an email.  We enjoyed this opportunity provided by the park tremendously.  Andrew is an excellent ranger and if you visit Jenny Lake this summer be sure to attend his interpretive talks.  We saw 55 different species and added ten birds to our life list.  What a great day!