Outdoor notebook: Bison get a checkup in preparation for move to Book Cliffs

State wildlife officials captured 40 bison using net guns fired from helicopters during a relocation effort on the Henry Mountains near Lake Powell. The bison, which were captured Jan. 15 and 16, were then given a heath checkup and prepared for transportation to the Book Cliffs in northeastern Utah. Thirty bison were moved from the Henrys to the Book Cliffs last winter.

 

Winter Festival

Ogden City is holding the first annual Winterfest celebration Feb. 12-13. Free snow activities will be held for all ages. Concerts, contests, carving competitions, ski races and snowboard rail jams will be scattered throughout downtown Ogden. Entertainment throughout the two-day extravaganza includes a toboggan parade, a polar bear swim, Warren Miller film festival, cross-country and downhill ski races, igloo building and snowshoe, ski and snowboard demos. The commencement of the annual event will take place in conjunction with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. All events are free and open to the public. Visit winterfest.ogdencity.com, call 801-629-8284 or e-mail staceyolsen@ci.ogden.ut.us for more information.

Bison Roundup

are transported from Ute Tribal lands to Public Lands on the Book Cliffs. www.sltrib.com/outdoors ... cowboy roundup western lasso outdoors nature ...

The Kids' Nature Book: 365 Indoor/Outdoor Activities and Experiences (Williamson Kids Can! Series)

Williamson Publishing Company

List Price: $12.95
Price: $10.36
You Save: $2.59 (20%)

Product Description

Shore to desert, country to city,exciting nature activities await discovery from beneath th smallest rock to the vast sky above.
With a full year of "nature-nurturing" activities, Milord lauches kids on a lifelong love affair with the natural world.

The Bumper Book of Nature: A User's Guide to the Great Outdoors

Crown

List Price: $29.99

Product Description

When was the last time you climbed a tree? Picked blackberries? Held a snail race? Made maple syrup candy, an old-fashioned quill pen from a bird feather you found, or a plaster cast of an animal track?  If the ­answer is "can't remember" or quite possibly ­"never," The Bumper Book of Nature will inspire you to get outdoors and enjoy the very best kind of free entertainment for you and your family.
     Who wouldn't love to discover a colorful butterfly ­hibernating in a woodshed for the winter or look at a ­snowflake under a magnifying lens? In warmer weather, why not explore rock pools by the seaside, pick wild ­meadow flowers (and then fry up elderflower fritters!), or go on a city safari?
     Whether you live in the heart of the city, the suburbs, or the deepest countryside, The Bumper Book of ­Nature will bring out the child in you with its treasure trove of offbeat, playful nature activities arranged by season. With lovely full-color illustrations as well as related trivia, quotes, and bits of poetry, it's a wonderful keepsake as well as a one-of-a-kind field guide.

Birdscapes: A Pop-Up Celebration of Bird Songs in Stereo Sound

Chronicle Books

List Price: $60.00
Price: $37.80
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Product Description

Get ready for the most ground breaking entry to date in the best-selling Birdsongs series (more than 400,000 copies sold!). Birdscapes delivers an immersive birding experience never before seen, or heard in any book. For the eyes: seven elaborately engineered, full-color pop-ups portraying dozens of bird species in diverse North American habitats, from the Alaskan Tundra to a Southeast swamp. For the ears: extended recordings of the birds' calls and songs in stereo from the collection of the world-renowned Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. For the serious birder: scientifically accurate illustrations of the birds and moving text about their fragile ecosystems. This beautifully crafted volume is a visual and audio delight! 3.00 inches tall x 10.75 inches long x 13.00 inches wide
Product Description
Get ready for the most groundbreaking entry to date in the bestselling Birdsongs series (more than 400,000 copies sold!). Birdscapes delivers an immersive birding experience never before seen--or heard--in any book. For the eyes: seven elaborately engineered full-color pop-ups portraying dozens of bird species in diverse North American habitats from the Alaskan Tundra to a Southeast swamp. For the ears: extended recordings of the birds' calls and songs in stereo from the collection of the world-renowned Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. For the serious birder: scientifically accurate illustrations of the birds and moving text about their fragile ecosystems. This beautifully crafted volume is a visual and audio delight!

"Pop-up books aren't just for kids anymore! This multimedia experience transports you to seven natural habitats in North America and immerses you in the birds and their songs. --Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation, National Audubon Society

"Birdscapes is a delight for the eyes and the ears--a tour of North America's bird-rich ecosystems, rendered as seven lavishly detailed, three-dimensional landscapes, and brimming with choruses of authentic bird songs and calls." --Scott Weidensaul, author of Living on the Wind and Of a Feather


An Interview with Miyoko Chu, Director of Communications at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Q: When did you first become interested in birds?

A: When I was 11, my father and I rescued some pigeons from a poultry truck in San Francisco's Chinatown. I spent a lot of time in the backyard coop, watching the pigeons as they courted and raised their young. It was amazing to realize all this drama was playing out with wild birds everywhere, too, and to have the opportunity to study it.

Q: What's your favorite bird song and why?

A: My favorite song is that of the Scott’s Oriole, featured in the desert scene of Birdscapes. Hearing that clear, bubbling melody in the desert is an unforgettable experience.

Q: What was the best thing about working on Birdscapes?

A: It was exciting to go from the ideas and bird lists for each soundscape to seeing and hearing this three-dimensional product as it emerged from the minds of the artists, editors, and sound engineers. It was incredible to see the artists' sketches transform into complex and ingenious pop-up scenes, and to experience how precise recordings for each bird were blended to evoke the soundscape.

Q: Have you visited all of the seven different bird habitats featured in Birdscapes?

A: Of the seven habitats, I'm most familiar with the desert, where I studied birds during 1995-2000, and the eastern deciduous forest, which is right outside my office window. I have visited the Great Plains and Pacific evergreen forests. I have not been to the Arctic, a southern swamp, or a seabird colony. In writing those scenes, I benefited from the insights of my colleague Gerrit Vyn, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s audio production engineer, who selected the recordings, including some that he had recorded on recent expeditions to these habitats.

Q: Which habitat in Birdscapes did you enjoy writing about the most and why?

A: Actually, there were two that I enjoyed the most--for completely opposite reasons! I loved writing about the desert because I had spent so much time there, and remembered the sights and sounds so vividly. And it was great fun to write about the seabird colony because that was something I had never experienced before—and I was completely surprised by what I learned. Whether an individual seabird's voice or thousands, the sounds are awe-inspiring, and the birds have such an interesting lifestyle as they all cram on to a bit of rock for the breeding season.

Q: Are you a daily birder or a weekend birder?

A: I'm an opportunistic birder! I'm always watching and listening for birds around my house and neighborhood. But in between work and spending time with my family, my focused birding these days happens irregularly, on the spur of the moment. My office at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology overlooks Sapsucker Woods, so I sometimes slip outside to look for birds after getting an email alert about a good migration day, or when I notice people outside my window pointing up at the trees.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for beginning birders?

A: Invest in a pair of binoculars and practice becoming comfortable with them. It will open up a whole new world, enabling you to see many more birds than you may have even realized were around you before. Spend time getting to know the different kinds of birds you see, the reasons for their behaviors, and the many kinds of sounds they use throughout the year.


Excerpts from Birdscapes

Click on each image below to see a larger view of the page.


More to Explore


Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song


Bird Songs From Around the World

The Backyard Birdsong Guide: Eastern and Central North America

The Backyard Birdsong Guide: Western North America


Stokes Hummingbird Book

Hachette Book Group

List Price: $13.49

Product Description

Large color photographs and range maps. Information on how to select the proper feeders, what to use in them, when to put them up, and when to take them down. Amazing facts about hummingbirds. Guidelines for photographing them.

American Wonders - National Parks of the West

Image Entertainment

List Price: $19.99
Price: $17.99
You Save: $2.00 (10%)

Product Description

Journey with us as we explore America's amazing National Parks of the West. We'll visit such majestic spots as the Grand Tetons of Yellowstone, Californian treasures Yosemite and Big Sur, the phenomenal Grand Canyon, and many, many more magical spots amongst America's vast western landscape.