Soaring Sparrows???

Zion Canyon, Utah

This morning I was to taken by the magnificence of the canyon around us, I just stood in one place and turned slow circles looking in all directions for almost an hour. During that time, the morning sun line climbed down the north face of the canyon and across the canyon floor. The rocks look so different in sun or in shadow.

Finally, the sun reached where I was standing. Within two minutes I went from being too cold, to being too hot. Now, mid afternoon, it is 99 degrees. I waded in the ice cold river for a while. I also used our sun shower hanging from a dead tree. It felt very good. Our camp site has zero shade so we have to go other places to find shade during the day. Next I am going to take our folding chair and put ir right in the middle of the river. I can bake my head while I freeze my feet.

Back to the morning. I saw a little bird about the size of a sparrow soaring. "Wait," I thought, "A bird that small can not soar." How do I know that? I can't say exactly; it has something to do with physics. The ratio of wing area to wight of the bird must be much higher to soar. So I watched the bird closely for a while. Sure enough it did flap its wings. However this bird liked to flap for 5 seconds, followed by 2-3 seconds of soaring. Cool. I can't remember seeing any other little bird doing that.

Tonight, we are going on a two hour our of the park guided by a ranger. This morning we heard a ranger explain the geology of Zion; also interesting. Tomorrow's, we move on.