My name is Kate Hunter, Director of Education at Stokes Nature Center, and I love all of the trees of the Cache National Forest. But there’s one that’s always intrigued me-the Mountain Mahogany.

But unlike the tendrils of a pea plant, these trees don’t need other supports, they have extremely dense, sturdy wood. The wood of mountain mahogany actually sinks in water. This density of the wood makes it hard to count the rings as the rings are packed closely together, but scientists can use microscopes to date these trees and have discovered that they can grow to be quite old. The oldest Mountain Mahogany measured is estimated to be 1,350 years old, making it one of the oldest known flowering plants.

So far, I’m hoping you’ve found the same interest in this tree as me, whether for its twists or for its ability to withstand the tests of time. But you don’t necessarily have to travel the slopes of our national forests to connect with this tree, you can find its siblings in your garden. Although the evergreen curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany might seem like its closest relatives are the junipers or pines or even the Mahoganies of the African Savannah. This tree is actually part of the rose family-a family of plants that includes roses, apples, peaches, pears, and more.

The next time you find yourself among the Mountain Mahoganies of the slopes, hopefully you find yourself with just as much appreciation for this tree as myself.

My name is Kate Hunter and I’m Wild About Utah.

Credits:
English Version: Kate Hunter, Education, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Spanish Version: Carlos Ramos, Facilities, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Images: Courtesy USU Extension,
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin as well as Courtesy & Copyright Anderson, Howe, & Wakeman
Text: Kate Hunter & Carlos Ramos, https://logannature.org/staff
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Kate Hunter https://wildaboututah.org/author/kate-hunter/
Wild About Utah Pieces by Carlos Ramos https://wildaboututah.org/author/carlos-ramos/

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany in the Landscape, Cercocarpus/ledifolius, Center for Water-Efficient Landscaping, Extension, Utah State University, https://extension.usu.edu/cwel/research/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany-in-the-landscape

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany, Cercocarpus/ledifolius, Natures Notebook, a project of the US NPN (National Phenology Network), https://mynpn.usanpn.org/npnapps/species/Cercocarpus/ledifolius

Curl-Leaf Mountain Mahogany, Cache Valley Native Plants, https://www.cachevalleynativeplants.com/product-page/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany, Native Utah Plants, Provo, UT, https://utahplants.com/products/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany

The post Mountain Mahogany appeared first on Wild About Utah.

Probablemente hayas visto este árbol si has caminado por las montañas del norte de Utah; solo puedo describir nuestra caoba de montaña como retorcida.

Incluso el nombre sugiere una torsión, ya que nuestra variedad más común es la caoba de hoja rizada.

Las ramas de la caoba de hoja rizada se enroscan mientras crecen hacia arriba, como los zarcillos de una planta de guisante o una enredadera que intenta encontrar algo de lo cual sujetarse.

Esa cualidad retorcida de las ramas también se encuentra en las semillas.

Estos árboles producen semillas ligeras y plumosas que se enrollan sobre sí mismas como un espiral o un sacacorchos, lo que les ayuda a perforar la tierra.

Siento afinidad con estos árboles retorcidos cada vez que subo una montaña y me encuentro con bosques de estas caobas, ya que a menudo yo también me siento igual de retorcida y alterada por la cantidad de resoplidos y jadeos que doy al encontrármelos.

Pero, a diferencia de los zarcillos de una planta de guisante, estos árboles no necesitan otros soportes; tienen una madera extremadamente densa y resistente.

La madera de la caoba de montaña de hecho se hunde en el agua. Esa densidad hace que sea difícil contar los anillos, porque están muy juntos, pero los científicos pueden usar microscopios para fechar estos árboles y han descubierto que pueden llegar a ser bastante viejos.

Se estima que la caoba de montaña más antigua medida tiene 1,350 años, lo que la convierte en una de las plantas con flores más antiguas que se conocen.

Hasta ahora, espero que hayas encontrado en este árbol el mismo interés que yo, ya sea por sus torsiones o por su capacidad para resistir el paso del tiempo.

Pero no necesariamente tienes que recorrer las laderas de nuestros bosques nacionales para conectar con este árbol; puedes encontrar a sus parientes en tu jardín.

Aunque la caoba de montaña perenne de hoja rizada podría parecer emparentada más de cerca con los enebros, los pinos o incluso con las caobas de la sabana africana, en realidad este árbol forma parte de la familia de las rosáceas, una familia de plantas que incluye rosas, manzanas, duraznos, peras y más.

La próxima vez que te encuentres entre las caobas de montaña de las laderas, espero que sientas tanta admiración por este árbol como la que siento yo.

Soy Carlos Ramos y estoy loco por Utah.

Créditos:
Versión en inglés: Kate Hunter, Education, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Versión en español: Carlos Ramos, Facilities, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Imágenes: cortesía del USU Extension y Lyle W. Bingham, fotographia
Audio destacado: Cortesía y derechos de autor J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin y Cortesía y derechos de autor Anderson, Howe, & Wakeman
Texto: Kate Hunter & Carlos Ramos, https://logannature.org/staff
Lectura adicional: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Lectura adicional:

Artículos “Wild About Utah” por Kate Hunter https://wildaboututah.org/author/kate-hunter/
Artículos “Wild About Utah” por Carlos Ramos https://wildaboututah.org/author/carlos-ramos/

El caoba de montaña de hoja rizada en el paisaje [Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany in the Landscape], Cercocarpus/ledifolius, Center for Water-Efficient Landscaping, Extension, Utah State University, https://extension.usu.edu/cwel/research/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany-in-the-landscape

Caoba de montaña de hoja rizada [Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany], Cercocarpus/ledifolius, Natures Notebook, a project of the US NPN (National Phenology Network), https://mynpn.usanpn.org/npnapps/species/Cercocarpus/ledifolius

Caoba de montaña de hoja rizada [Curl-Leaf Mountain Mahogany], Cache Valley Native Plants, https://www.cachevalleynativeplants.com/product-page/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany

Caoba de montaña de hoja rizada [Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany], Native Utah Plants, Provo, UT, https://utahplants.com/products/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany

The post Caoba de Montaña appeared first on Wild About Utah.

When the calves saw us coming, holding bottles full of warm milk, they let out what sounded to me like joyous noise. And once the calves got hold of the three-inch nipples, they sucked with so much enthusiasm that I had a hard time hanging on to the bottle.

I found the whole experience deeply satisfying, and even a bit romantic. In no time I found my own job feeding calves and doing the morning milking at a small dairy farm in Benson.

By the 1980s most dairies came equipped with vacuum-powered suction cups that imitated the squeeze of a hand milker. My job was to let in five cows on each side of what we now call the milking parlor, and tug on the rope that drops some tasty grain into each cow’s feed bowl.Then I washed the teats with the warm water hose and attached the suction cups.

All the cows had names, and I soon learned them by their udders. This made it a bit awkward later when I had to go find a cow that the vet wanted to see. I had to walk through the herd, bent over the waste, peeking under the cows until I found the right udder.

All this was over 40 years ago, so you can imagine how I perked up when I heard that some of the valley dairies were switching to robot milkers. I jumped at the chance to visit USU’s new robotic setup.

Each of the cows at the USU dairy farm was wearing an ID necklace, so when she stepped into the milking chute, the robot knew exactly who was there. Immediately, the precise amount of grain she was allotted dropped into the feed bowl.

The robot moved under her udder and went to work. With the aid of its camera the robot scrubbed each teat between its wet rotating bristle brushes. The robot then realigned itself and raised a suction cup up and attached to the teat. Three more realignments, and soon all four suction cups were attached and milking the cow.

The robot was reporting its progress on a screen diagram documenting the exact amount of milk coming out of each teat. The computer was clicking along, not only reporting the cow’s performance, but also comparing it to the previous day’s. Any unexpected measurements, and the computer shot off a message to the manager’s computer telling him he better check on that cow.

I must admit I was a bit dazzled by the efficiency of the whole set up. Looking around the milking chute, I could see five cows milling around the entrance to the chute patiently waiting their turn to get milked.

Most cows voluntarily came through the chute three times a day. The top cow was currently giving 17 gallons of milk a day.

Every Monday morning, Aggie Ice Cream sends its milk truck to the USU Dairy to pick up its weekly allotment of 9000 pounds of milk.

For those of us whose happy place is Aggie Ice Cream, we now know that the journey of milk from the cow to the ice cream cone begins out on the highway near Wellsville, where two robots are milking 45 Jerseys and 65 Holsteins.

This is Mary Hears, and I’m wild about Utah.

Credits:

Images Courtesy Pixabay, https://pixabay.com/photos/ice-cream-summer-cornet-cone-scoop-770994/
https://pixabay.com/photos/calf-cow-moederzorg-cows-meadow-5047986/
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © Freesound, https://freesound.org/people/spurioustransients/sounds/513565/?#comments & Anderson, Howe & Wakeman,
Text: Mary Heers, https://cca.usu.edu/files/awards/art-and-mary-heers-citation.pdf
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah, Mary Heers’ Postings

Aggie Ice Cream, https://www.usu.edu/aggieicecream/

Teichert, Bronson, Dairy Robotics and Economics: New Milking Barn at USU Changes More Than Equipment,S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Utah State University, https://qanr.usu.edu/cultivate/spring18/dairy-robotics

From Cow to Cone: Utah State University, Holstein Association USA, Inc.

The post Milking Cows – Then and Now appeared first on Wild About Utah.

This time of year, sunrise brings a raucous symphony of sound as a couple dozen species of birds raise their respective voices to attract mates and stake out territories. Nights are much quieter, of course, as most songbirds doze off in the darkness, conserving energy and avoiding nocturnal predators like snakes and raccoons. But in May, the midnight stillness on Indian Creek is broken by the loud calls of a unique songbird, the yellow-breasted chat.

Other Utah birds that are active at night include the aptly named black-crowned night heron. It may be seen in marshy areas at dawn or dusk, waiting by water’s edge to ambush prey animals such as fish, frogs, worms, mice and snakes. They can sometimes be seen during daylight hours – for example, at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – but they tend to spend their days resting in dense bushes or trees.

Another nocturnal bird is the common poorwill, which breeds on dry, rocky slopes. You may never see one, as they blend in well with the ground they nest on, but you might hear the distinctive “poor-willip” call of the males, especially on a warm night at moonrise.

One songbird that sometimes sings at night is the Northern Mockingbird, famous for its mimicry and variety of songs. These striking gray birds are more common in southern Utah, but they’ve been found on Antelope Island, and my wife and I have seen a pair of mockingbirds at the very tip of Promontory Point, near where the railroad causeway heads west across the Great Salt Lake.

Then there’s the yellow-breasted chat. As the name suggests, chats boast a conspicuous deep-yellow breast, along with a long tail, and a greenish head with white spectacles, eyebrows and mustache. For many years, the chat was thought to be the largest warbler in North America – weighing twice as much as other common Utah warblers like the yellow warbler or the yellow-rumped warbler. But recent genetic analysis suggests that this species is actually quite unique – in fact, the only member of its own family.

Chats can be hard to see, as they tend to skulk in dense foliage. But they definitely can be heard. Their wide vocal repertoire includes whistling and cackling, meowing and cawing, chuckling and rattling, squawking, gurgling, and popping. Like the mockingbird, some chats may even mimic other songbirds.

So why sing at night? The advantage is that there’s less noise competition. Night-calling males in search of a mate can cut through the auditory chaos of springtime, with songs that carry far from their perch and increase the chance that they’ll be heard by a male-seeking female. The disadvantage, of course, is that predators can hear them, too.

It’s a tradeoff that the chat has evolved to make, and one that has enriched my nights, camping under the cottonwoods.

I’m Mark Brunson, and I’m wild about Utah both day and night.

Credits:

Images: Courtesy US FWS, https://www.fws.gov/media/yellow-breasted-chat-felsenthal-nwr
Courtesy US FWS, Lee Karney, Photographer, https://www.fws.gov/media/black-crowned-night-heron-13
Great Horned Owl and Chick, (Bubo virginianus), Courtesy US FWS, George Gentry, Photographer
Western Screech Owl, (Megascops kennicottii), Courtesy & Copyright Lu Giddings
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/, J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin as well as Friend Weller, https://upr.org/
Text: Mark Brunson, https://www.usu.edu/experts/profile/mark-brunson/
Additional Reading: Mark Brunson, https://www.usu.edu/experts/profile/mark-brunson/ & Lyle Bingham, Bridgerland Audubon Society

Additional Reading

Mark Brunson’s archive: https://wildaboututah.org/?s=brunson

Cook, Horace P. 1935. The song of the yellow-breasted chat. Wilson Bulletin 47(4):21. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4191&context=wilson_bulletin

Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Yellow-breasted chat. All About Birds. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-breasted_Chat/overview

Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2011. Birding by Night. All About Birds. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/birding-by-night/

National Audubon Society. Black-crowned night heron. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/black-crowned-night-heron

Utah Birds. Northern Mockingbird. http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/ProfilesL-R/NorthernMockingbird.htm

Ward, M. P., Alessi, M., Benson, T. J., & Chiavacci, S. J. (2014). The active nightlife of diurnal birds: extraterritorial forays and nocturnal activity patterns. Animal Behaviour, 88: 175-184.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347213005320?via%3Dihub

The post Birds calling in the night appeared first on Wild About Utah.