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Roxana Orellana, left, and Maggie Thach keep their eyes peeled during their recent adventure of bird watching with the Great Salt Lake Audubon.
         
About Novices in Nature
     
         
    Roxana Orellana, a Honduran raised in Minnesota, and Maggie Thach, a Californian of Vietnamese-Cambodian descent, came to Utah ready to experience all it has to offer.
    In a periodic series, they'll try various outdoor sports and recreation with an eye toward offering a primer to other novices.               
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OQUIRRH MOUNTAINS -- Getting up at 7:30 on a Saturday morning is not something we're used to, especially if the reason to get up that early is to go bird watching.
    With coffee in hand and sleepy eyes, we met up with the Great Salt Lake Audubon in the parking lot of the Sandy REI on a recent Saturday and then played a rousing game of follow-the-leader - about seven cars long - to our birding destination.
    We struggled deciding what to wear, we didn't know what equipment we needed and we didn't have a clue how the trip was going to unravel
    But on our first field birding trip at least one thing was clear: We were going to see birds.
    What wasn't so
Novices in Nature: Bird Watching
clear was the road up to Yellowfork Canyon in the Oquirrh Mountains. We ended up getting lost and holding up the group.
    Perhaps we broke the first rule of birding etiquette by being late, but we were pleasantly surprised to be welcomed by such a friendly and laid-back bunch.
    Ed Leite, the group's leader, was happy to lend us two pairs of binoculars. We fumbled around with them before adjusting them to our eyes. We were amazed at how clear they were. Both of us have such poor eyesight that we entertained the option of using binoculars on a daily basis.
    The calls of various birds seemed to attract everybody's attention. They all turned their heads almost in synchronization, knowing exactly where the sounds were coming from. Both of us, on the other hand, almost got whiplash trying to locate the point of interest.
    It felt like everybody was in on a secret and both of us were out of the loop. We were the only ones to ask questions like:
    "What are we looking for?"
    "What was that bird?"
    "What makes a raven different from a crow?"
    The Audubon members were great and they were not only happy to answer our questions, but they even entertained our queries about why cats like to chase birds.
    We became so at ease that Maggie gave some of the members nicknames. DeeDee became Chick-a-deedee and the spelling of Roberta turned into RoBIRDa. Before too long, after seeing the usual birds that come around this time of year, we were on a search for the elusive golden-crowed kinglet.
    The pattern of walking, stopping, listening and looking intensified. Every few steps, we were enamored by any small sound.
    We saw our first mountain blue jay and Western scrub jay. We saw a juniper titmouse and a couple of mallards. We saw an abundance
Bird watching

    Birding Tips
    Look at birds: Get out and don't just see a bird but look at it. The more you look at it, the more details you'll remember.
    Go birding with other birders: Going out in the field with someone who knows more than you, someone who can help you improve your identification skills. Another birder can help you learn skills on where to look, how to move and how to use your equipment.
    Study your field guide at home: When out, concentrate on the birds. When you get home, look at your field guide using the observations you made during your outing.
    Bird your yard: You can attract birds to your yard by putting out feeders, birdbaths, and the type of landscaping on the yard.
    Keep notes on what you see: Documenting can help you remember details.
   -- Source: National Geographic Birding Essentials
   
    Birding Essentials
    Enthusiasm -- the basic requirement for birders.
    Binoculars -- For young families, parents can start their children with a pair of home-made binoculars by taking two empty toilet paper tubes, taped together, with a string attached to each side. The device will work as an automatic focus for young birders. Once a person has shown enough interest, it's time to introduce a pair of binoculars. Entry-level binoculars can range from $49 to $79. The next level can cost as much as a couple thousand dollars. Once you are serious and become more of a field birder, you'll want to get the best optics money can buy. Do your research and understand what kind of optics will work best with your birding interests.
    Field guide -- The field guide will help you identify what you're looking at, how and when. They can range from $9.95 to $60. Most cost about $20. Some suggestions include Birds of North America by Kenn Kaufman, The Sibley Field Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley and National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America.
   -- Source: Bill Fenimore of the Wild Bird Center
   
   Birding Etiquette
    -- Don't get too close to the birds or they will fly away. Use your binoculars or spotting scopes to watch them.
    -- Don't climb up the tree and try to pick up the birds.
    -- Wear subtle earth tones that are less alarming for the birds.
    -- Try to be quiet so birds will not be disturbed.
   -- Source: Bill Fenimore of the Wild Bird Center
   Utah Resources:
    The Great Salt Lake City Audubon -- www.greatsaltlakeaudubon.org/
    Wild Bird Center -- www.wildbird.com/layton
    National Geographic Birding Essentials by Jonathan Alderfer and Jon L. Dunn (National Geographic, $15.95)
   
   Upcoming birding events:
   The Great Salt Lake Bird Festival May 15-19 at the Davis County Event Center in Farmington Utah.
of ravens. One of the birders explained you can tell whether is a crow or a raven by looking at the shape of its tail. Ravens have wedge-shape tails while crows have more a square-shaped tail.
    The best came at last when the group, heading back on the trail, spotted a ruby-crowned kinglet.
    While some had been hoping to see a golden-crowned kinglet, any disappointment disappeared at sight of the ruby-crowned bird's fiery red head plumage.
    Between the two of us, we saw seven species of birds. Sure, we somehow missed the other 12 species the rest of the group saw.
    But it was still a satisfying trip -- for beginners and experts. The birds were chirping, the sun was out, the sky was clear and on that day, it looked like spring was on its way.
    Who knew some birds could shake a couple of city girls out of slumber and into nature?
    mthach@sltrib.com, rorellana@sltrib.com