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JULY/AUG 2017 NEWSLETTER OF GREAT SALT LAKE AUDUBONwww.greatsaltlakeaudubon.org
INSIDE
BIRDS ‘n BITES will take a summer break. Programs resume in September.
Board Highlights...............................................page 2 Membership Information..................................page 2Pelicans on the Great Salt Lake........................page 3Calendar of Events............................................page 4-5Alton Tyrone Harrison......................................page 6Changes, Changes.............................................page 7
Summer Family Program: Wednesday, July 5th, 5PM—8PM, Nests and the Rest!, Sugar House Farmer’s Market at Fairmont Park,
1040 E Sugarmont Drive, SLCStop by our booth at the Sugar House Farmer’s Market! The first Wednesday of every month of the market is Family Night, full of fun for all ages. At Great Salt Lake Audubon’s booth, you can discover how birds build nests. You can also build your own kid-sized nest out of found natural items, and learn what to do if you find a baby bird. It’s sure to be a hoot!
Jerry Liguori Nomination
Jerry Liguori, internationally known raptor expert who resides here in Salt Lake was awarded 2017 Birder of the Year by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) at this year’s Great Salt Lake Bird Festival. He was jointly nominated by Great Salt Lake Audubon and HawkWatch International. Here was the nomination:
Great Salt Lake Audubon and HawkWatch International wish to nominate Jerry Liguori. Jerry Liguori is a raptor conservation biologist and has studied hawk identification throughout North America since 1984. After seeing a Tur-key Vulture in flight on a visit to Hawk Mountain in 1983, Jerry was hooked! Since then, he has written two books, Hawks at a Distance, Hawks from Every Angle, and coauthored a third, The Crossley Guide: Raptors. He has written more than 30 articles on raptors.
In 2016 Jerry with Brian Sullivan of Cornell launched the highly rated mobile app, HawkWatch International’s Identification Guide to Raptors. The app features high-quality videos and photos of all 34 North American birds of prey. Videos include voiceovers that aid users in understanding nuanced flight behaviors, giving them the opportuni-ty for side-by-side comparison of observed flight behavior in the field with what they see on the app. They intended an interactive experience for people.
Jerry has been involved with HawkWatch International since 1998 when he worked at the Sandia Mountain Raptor Migration Site in New Mexico. Since then he has continued to support HWI by providing photographs, volunteer-ing at migration sites and helping train crew members. He is currently archiving his photographic collection for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Jerry has spent much of his time sharing his passion for raptors with others. He is always willing to respond to emails with photos asking for identification help. Jerry has led hundreds of field trips across North America, and presented numerous raptor ID workshops. Thousands of people are better birders because of him.
We believe that Jerry Liguori qualifies as an outstanding candidate for this prestigious award.
2 The Pelican
THE PELICANNEWSLETTER OF GREAT SALT LAKE AUDUBON
Printed on recycled paper.
Mission Statement: Great Salt Lake Audubon is dedi-cated to protecting and enhancing habitat for wild
birds, animals and plants, and to maintaining healthy and diverse environments for wildlife and people
throughout the state.
GREAT SALT LAKE AUDUBON DIRECTORYwww.greatsaltlakeaudubon.org
OFFICE152 W. Burton, Suite J, SLC, Utah • (385) 313-0608Send correspondence to P. O. Box 520867, SLC, UT 84152-0867
OFFICERSPresident, Heather Dove.......................................801-201-3637 Vice President, Ray Smith....................................801-532-7384Secretary, Heather Griffiths.............................. 435-213-6565 Treasurer, Kandy Richards................................. 801-599-7410
BOARD OF DIRECTORSTerm Ending 2018Ian Batterman........................................................920-360-0805Term Ending 2017Karin Kirchhoff................................................... 801-793-0484 Anne Terry............................................................361-649-2430Heather Griffiths.................................................. 435-213-6565Term Ending 2016Nancy Sakahara.....................................................801-487-4025
COMMMITTEE CHAIRSFinance. ............................................................OPENNewsletter Editor, Heather Griffiths.................. 435-213-6565Education, Anne Terry...........................................361-649-2430Field Trips, Ian Batterman....................................920-360-0805Fundraising............................................................OPEN Social Media Editor, Heather Griffiths..................435-213-6565 Hospitality, Bob & Darlea Stack............................801-487-3792 Membership, Heather Dove ..................................801-201-3637 Programs, Karin Kirchhoff.....................................801-793-0484 Publicity, Rollie and Martha Westman...................651-308-2717 Conservation, Deb Drain......................................801-455-4353 Volunteer Hours, Barb Eastman.............................801-671-8932 Website, Heather Dove & David Druker................801-201-3637
Submission Guidelines: Original articles and photos arewelcomed. The editor reserves the right to choose and edit as needed. Email articles to [email protected]. The Pelican is published 6 times a year. Submission deadline for the September/October issue is August 10, 2017.
Three ways to join or renew your membership:
1. Great Salt Lake Audubon-only membership is $30 a year. All dues support local education, advocacy, habitat restoration, field trips, newsletter publication, and more. (See membership form on page 8 of The Pelican). Local membership is very important, as GSLA is primarily self-supporting.2. A new membership to National Audubon Society (NAS) costs $25, with renewal of $35 after the first year. Benefits include the quarterly national magazine and automatic membership in GSLA. Most of your dues support environmental campaigns at the national level. As a new NAS member, you will receive a courtesy subscript to our newsletter, The Pelican, for one year. Thereafter, if you wish to continue to receive The Pelican, please join Great Salt Lake Audubon. 3. You can join both GSLA and NAS if you wish to support both local and national activities.
BOARD HIGHLIGHTS MAY/ JUNE by Heather Griffiths
Great Salt Lake Audubon has been very busy staying active in local conservation efforts by attending nu-merous Great Salt Lake Alliance meetings and writing comment letters to Utah representatives to preserve our beautiful habitat. Please make your own voice heard to save the Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by writing athttps://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=-DOI-2017-0002-0001
The comment period ends July 10, 2017.
If you’re looking for ways to stay engaged with lo-cal conversation efforts, Great Salt Lake Audubon would love to have you as a volunteer. Please contact GSLA President Heather Dove at [email protected] to see how your skills and knowledge can help protect the precious habitats we all love.
Thank you to those who attended the May Birds n’ Bites meeting where we introduced the Board of Di-rectors to our members and were able to recruit a few new volunteers to help with the organization.
3JULY/AUG
Pelicans on the Great Salt Lake By Claire Prasad, Westminster College Biology major and student researcher at Great Salt Lake Institute
Every spring, up to 20,000 American White Pelicans flock to Gunnison Island in the Great Salt Lake. They remain there for a few months, laying eggs and raising young, before they migrate to warmer climates in the autumn. At first glance, the island may seem like a strange place to raise young—it is far away from the marshes on the eastern shore where the pelicans fly to catch freshwater fish. However, Gunnison Island is per-fect for pelicans because of its isolation from humans and predators such as coyotes and foxes, until recently. Low water levels have caused a land bridge to form from the mainland to Gunnison Island in recent years. The pelicans so far have not been deterred, and luckily the land bridge is only present for a few months of the year. However, some researchers are concerned that predators may gain access to the island. In an at-tempt to document possible predator activity, researchers from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Great Salt Lake Institute, and MesoWest installed trail cameras on Gunnison Island this spring. But that was not the only reason for the trip to the island. In addition to trail cameras, researchers installed a time-lapse camera overlooking Lambourne Bay, a popular choice for nesting pelicans on Gunnison Island. From the camera, researchers hope to study pelican ar-rival and departure times, nesting patterns, and other behaviors. The camera takes a picture every five minutes, so there will be thousands of pictures to analyze. Great Salt Lake Institute hopes to recruit volunteers to help study the multitude of pictures, a project which will reveal valuable information about the unique birds. Another way that interested volunteers can help is by searching for pelicans with leg bands and wing tags. Every year, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) rounds up hundreds of juvenile pelicans to place tags and bands on the birds. These tags are used to track the migration and survivorship of the birds. Pelicans tagged at the Great Salt Lake have green wing tags. If you spot a pelican with a tag, note the location, date, and tag code. In addition, try and get a picture of the bird! Then, send the information to reportband.gov or email John Neill at [email protected]. With increased sightings of the birds, researchers at UDWR and Great Salt Lake Institute hope to gain information about migration habits, survivorship, and behavior of the pelicans. In addition, more measurements will occur this summer when juvenile pelicans are banded. The additional measurements will establish the size of the banded juvenile pelicans. These measurements, along with bird resights, will help determine survivorship of banded pelicans. Pelicans are a unique part of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem, and increasing our knowledge about these charismatic birds will help us protect the space they live in. For additional information on the pelican project, and to view pictures from the “PELIcam”, please visit: GSLPELIproject.org
Photography submitted by Jaimi Butler
The Pelican 4
Great Salt Lake Audubon, www.greatsaltlakeaudubon.org(385) 313-0608
Calendar of Events including Field Trips for July/August 2017Beginning birders and nonmembers are always welcome.We encourage carpooling on our field trips. Contributions to drivers for gas money would be appreciated. Be sure to call the field trip leader to confirm that arrangements are still as published.
Physical Difficulty:EASY - little or no walking, smooth paths.MODERATE - 1 mile or more, possible rough terrain.DIFFICULT - extensive walking which could include rough terrain and significant changes in altitude.Despite our best efforts, ratings for the field trips are still somewhat subjective. Please consult with the leaders.
****PLEASE NOTE: EXPECT FIELD TRIPS TO LEAVE ON TIME SO ARRIVE 5-10 MINUTES EARLY TO ARRANGE CARPOOLS.****
Wednesday, July 5, 7AM— MODERATE Mountain Dell Rec. Area, Parley’s Canyon Leader: John Middleton Come and join us for our monthly bird survey. We’ll meet by 7AM in the parking lot just west of REI on 33rd South and 3285 east for a morning of birding. Call John (801-322-2171) if you plan to attend.
Wednesday, July 5th, 5PM—8PM, Summer Family Program: Nests and the Rest!, Sugar House Farmer’s Market at Fairmont Park, 1040 E Sugarmont Drive, SLCSee front page for details.
Saturday, July 8th, 7:30 AM to NOON— EASY, MOD-ERATE, DIFFICULTBrighton Bird CountLeaders: Jeanne LeBer & Ray SmithPlease join Great Salt Lake Audubon for our annual Brighton Bird Count. We will meet at 7:30 AM at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon in the parking lot adjacent to the Silver Lake Visitor Center. Birders can select one of three birding options: 1) Silver Lake (easy walk), 2) Lake Solitude (moderate hike), 3) Twin Lake (strenuous hike). Novice to expert birders are welcome to participate and a potluck lunch follows at noon. Bring a dish to share and your own eating utensils, plate, and cup. GSLA will provide cold drinks. To carpool, meet in the parking lot at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon by 7am and then proceed to Silver Lake. Please call Jeanne LeBer or Ray Smith at (801-532-7384) if you plan to attend.
Monday, July 24, 6AM—EASYInland Sea Shorebird Reserve (Kennecott’s Mitigation Wetlands)Leader: Bryant OlsenWe have obtained permission to do a monthly bird survey of the Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve from Rio Tinto/Ken-necott Utah Copper. This is seldom open to the general public and features all of the familiar Great Salt Lake wetland habitats and birds that we usually have to travel farther north to find. Who knows what new birds we can document for Salt Lake County out there? We will also ex-plore areas around Lee Kay ponds, the International Center and Saltair/Marina, depending on time and where birds are being reported. We meet at Sugarhouse Park at 6am to carpool. PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED as there is limited space on these field trips. Call or email Bryant if you plan to attend. (801-498-0362; [email protected])
Wednesday, July 26, 7:30 AM to NOON— EASY Farmington Bay followed by areas north for those interestedLeader: Bryant OlsenMeet in SW corner of Sugarhouse Park by 7:30AM to carpool OR meet at 8am at the GSL Nature Center on Glovers Lane in Farmington (I-15 exit 319 in Centerville, then Frontage Rd north 4 miles to Glover Lane overpass OR I-15 exit 322 in Farmington, then backtrack 2 blocks on Frontage Rd to the overpass). After birding “The Bay” for the morning, anyone interested can continue birding northward with Bryant. Destinations will likely be Kay-sville Ponds or Antelope Island depending on what birds are being seen. Call or email Bryant if you plan to attend (801-498-0362; [email protected]).
Wednesday, August 2, 7AM—MODERATE Mountain Dell Rec. Area, Parley’s Canyon Leader: TBDCome and join us for our monthly bird survey. We’ll meet by 7AM in the parking lot just west of REI on 33rd S and 3285 E for a morning of birding.
5
Great Salt Lake Audubon, www.greatsaltlakeaudubon.org(385) 313-0608
Calendar of Events including Field Trips forJuly/August 2017
JULY/AUG
Saturday, August 19, 7:30AM—EASYJordan River Migratory Bird Reserve Leader: Maureen WilsonJoin us for a field trip to the Jordan River Migratory Bird Reserve and see how GSLA’s years of restoration work has helped Utah’s birds. Our past two field trips to this area have had quite a lot of interesting birds, so this one should be great as well. We will meet at 7:30AM at the SW corner of the Sug-arhouse Park for carpooling. There will be one water crossing, so wear boots or be prepared to get wet. Contact Ian Batter-man at (920-360-0805) or [email protected] to let him know you are coming.
Saturday, August 26, 7:30AM—MODERATEYellow Fork CanyonLeader: Ian BattermanDown in the Southwestern corner of Salt Lake County is Yel-low Fork Canyon, a wonderful hiking spot and a unique area for birding in the county. Here you will find a mix of mountain and desert species that in many cases can only be found in the more arid areas of the state. This hike is in a dry area with a slight incline, so please remember decent hiking shoes, sun-screen, and water. We will meet at the West Valley Target on 5600 West at 7:30AM to arrange a carpool. Please contact Ian Batterman at (920-360-0805) or at [email protected] if you are interested.
Monday, August 28, 7AM—EASYInland Sea Shorebird Reserve (Kennecott’s Mitigation Wetlands)Leader: Bryant OlsenWe have obtained permission to do a monthly bird survey of the Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve from Rio Tinto/Kennecott Utah Copper. This is seldom open to the general public and features all of the familiar Great Salt Lake wetland habitats and birds that we usually have to travel farther north to find. Who knows what new birds we can document for Salt Lake County out there? We will also explore areas around Lee Kay ponds, the International Center and Saltair/Marina, depending on time and where birds are being reported. We meet at SW corner of Sugarhouse Park by the pond at 7AM to carpool. PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED as there is limited space on these field trips. Call or email Bryant if you plan to attend. (801-498-0362; [email protected])
Wednesday, August 30, 7:30AM to NOON—EASYFarmington Bay followed by areas north for those inter-estedLeader: Bryant OlsenMeet in SW corner of Sugarhouse Park by the pond at 7:30AM to carpool OR meet at 8am at the GSL Nature Center on Glovers Lane in Farmington (I-15 exit 319 in Centerville, then Frontage Rd north 4 miles to Glover Lane overpass OR I-15 exit 322 in Farmington, then backtrack 2 blocks on Frontage Rd to the overpass afternoon Birding Option. After birding “The Bay” for the morning, anyone interested can continue birding northward with Bryant. Destinations will likely be Kaysville Ponds or Antelope Island depending on what birds are being seen. Call or email Bryant if you plan to attend. (801-498-0362; [email protected])
Wednesday, September 6, 7:30AM—MODERATE Mountain Dell Rec. Area, Parley’s Canyon Leader: TBD Come and join us for our monthly bird survey. We’ll meet by 7:30AM in the parking lot just west of REI on 33rd South and 3285 east for a morning of birding. Call John (801-322-2171) if you plan to attend.
Join our email listWe regularly send out event reminders, action alerts and legislative updates via email. If you would like to receive this important info, send an email request to Heather Dove at [email protected]. GSLA does not share your email information with any persons or organizations.
Photography submitted by Jaimi Butler
6 The Pelican
Alton Tyrone Harrison1/15/1942-6/3/2017
Our friend, fellow environmental advocate, and former GSLA Board Member, Ty Harrison passed away peacefully Saturday, June 3rd, 2017 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Ty was born in Murray, Utah and raised in the community formerly known as Crescent, Utah. Growing up on the family farm, his grandmother, Sarah Lovina Harrison, instilled in him a love of plants and nature. This propelled him to a long and distinguished career, teaching in colleges & universities around the country, most recently as professor and professor emeritus at Westminster College of Salt Lake City, Utah. Ty graduated from Jordan High School and went on to earn a B.S. in Botany at the University of Utah, an M.S. in Botany at UCLA, and a Ph.D. in Biology at Stan-ford University. Although mechanically & technologically challenged at times, his love of learning was infectious, and there are many who recall immersive learning experiences with him, in the classrooms of academia, the wild, & the urban.
Many communities are reaping the benefits of Ty’s foresight and efforts, to preserve and restore natural habitat and open space nearby, and within their borders. They will continue to benefit for generations to come.
“The Ty Harrison Endowment for the En-vironmental Center” is being established in Ty’s memory at Westminster College.
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” -John Muir (Also, read “A Tribute to Ty Harrison” on Ella Sorensen’s blog www.elladibbleso-rensen.com)
JULY/AUG 7
GSLA thanks the voters of Salt Lake County for their support of the Zoo, Arts & Parks program.
Changes, Changes…By Heather Dove
As is always the case with volunteer organizations, we have had a changing of the guard in a few key positions.
Janet and Guy Frost have rotated off the Finance Commit-tee after having served more than two terms. Janet served almost continuously as our Treasurer since 2012. She was instrumental in getting all our financial records clear and up to date, and helped us untangle the very complicated ac-counting that came with the 20 year history of the Jordan
GSLA announces a Grant Program
The GSLA Board is pleased to announce the creation of a GSLA Grant Program. Qualifying applicants will be a non-profit or-ganization with 501 (c)(3) status or a governmental/non-profit educational institution (i.e., university, school district, elemen-tary school, etc). Successful applicants will demonstrate that their project aligns with the GSLA mission. Grants will have an upper limit of $1000. The application period will be open twice a year: applications will be due Sept 1st and March 1st. GSLA will announce the successful applicants by mid October and mid April, respectively. For those interested in applying, check back on our website. We expect to have links to the details of the program and an application form posted by early
August.
River Migratory Bird Reserve. She also very conscientiously completed our yearly taxes, certifications and ZAP grant applications – all big jobs that require considerable time and brain power. Guy provided key guidance in maintaining a healthy and legal financial state. Both Janet and Guy volunteered for many other jobs in addition to finance and could always be counted on to pick up the slack when we had a paucity of help. Janet also volun-teered on the Education Committee, helping to plan and put on several family and educational events. We will miss their energy and wise counsel and oversight.
Susan Ogilvie, our longtime Administrative Assistant, has retired from the position after 8+ years. Susan played a critical role in regularly picking up our mail, taking in and processing deposits, keeping QuickBooks records up to date, sending out thank you cards and letters to donors and providing some wonderful planning, design and artwork for our social events.
We are fortunate to have found some terrific replacements for these important positions. Kandy Richards, who has 10 years of experience working with non-profit finance and accounting, has taken on the Treasurer position. Valarie Stewart recently retired from a government job and graciously agreed to take on the Administrative As-sistant position. Both Kandy and Val proved to be quick studies and have efficiently picked up where Janet and Susan left off.
The GSLA Board extends a very big thank you to Janet, Guy and Susan, and a very warm welcome to Kandy Richards and Valarie Stewart!!
Photography submitted by September Smith
The Pelican 8
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