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Nature Out Your Front Door

Nature Out Your Front Door, Pavement Ants July 2025, Payson UT Courtesy & Copyright Lyle W. Bingham, Photographer
Pavement Ants
July 2025, Payson UT
Courtesy & Copyright Lyle W. Bingham, Photographer
If you’ve listened to these Wild About Utah segments for a while, you’ll have noticed that we tend to focus on places where humans don’t live. But what we call “nature” can flourish almost anywhere, including the places where people dominate.

I’m an avid runner and walker. And my town has done a lot of street and sidewalk work this year, so I’ve spent a lot of time looking down to make sure I don’t suddenly trip or step in a hole. Earlier this year, I was looking down while walking to my office, and I was amazed by how many ant colonies I was seeing on the sidewalks. Each colony included hundreds of tiny ants, milling around in what looked like random patterns. Some blocks had an ant swarm every 20 to 30 feet.

I’d seen them before, of course, but hadn’t realized just how ubiquitous they are. Being a scientist and therefore endlessly curious, I began to wonder: What are these ants doing when they swarm? And how do they all know to do it at the same time?

Nature Out Your Front Door, Pavement Ants July 2025, Payson UT Courtesy & Copyright Lyle W. Bingham, Photographer
Pavement Ants
July 2025, Payson UT
Courtesy & Copyright Lyle W. Bingham, Photographer
The particular species of ant that I was seeing – and I’m sure most of us have seen them at one time or another – is called the immigrant pavement ant. In some places they’re also called sugar ants, thanks to their nasty habit of sneaking into people’s kitchens to find sweet things to eat. They’re tiny, 2.5 to 4 millimeters long, shorter than a grain of rice. Originally native to Europe, some of them probably stowed away on a ship to America in colonial times. Now they’re widespread across North America.

As I watched closely, I realized that the ants’ movements weren’t entirely random. They would approach another ant, stop for a half second, then move on. That’s because one purpose of swarming is colony expansion. They wander around checking each other out. If an interloper from another colony enters the swarm and is recognized as a stranger, it will be attacked. Sometimes hundreds of ants can die in battles between neighboring colonies.

The other thing that happens when they’re swarming is mating. Some of the ants develop wings and take nuptial flights, when males and queens from different colonies take to the air and mate. They like to do this on clear, warm surfaces, when the days are long and hot sunlight has warmed the soil for a while. If each colony responds to the same environmental cue, it means there is a huge pool of prospective mates, which increases genetic diversity and colony success.

After mating, the males die and the queens, which are about twice as big as the other ants, fly off to start new colonies. Worker ants from nearby colonies will collect and remove the dead ants quickly. This helps prevent predators from being able to locate the colonies, which spend most of their time in nests beneath flat stones or similar hard spaces – such as sidewalks. Within a week after the swarms appear, they’re gone.

Pavement ants can be a nuisance if they get into your pantry. But when they’re swarming safely out on the sidewalk, they’re just a fascinating part of nature – one that most of us can observe without going more than a block or two from home.

I’m Mark Brunson, and I’m wild about Utah’s natural creatures, wherever they’re found.

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, Photographer, Bridgerland Audubon Society
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections and Anderson, Howe and Wakeman
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


Pavement Ants, Hillman Ball Park, Payson UT, After the Sprinklers
Courtesy & Copyright Lyle W. Bingham, Photographer

Tetramorium caespitum – Bugwoodwiki
https://wiki.bugwood.org/Tetramorium_caespitum

Tetramorium caespitum – iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/832327

Immigrant Pavement Ant (Tetramorium immigrans) – iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/569552-Tetramorium-immigrans

Pavement Ant | NC State Extension Publications
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/pavement-ant

“Pavement ants (Formicidae, Tetramorium immigrans) are northern Utah’s most common pest ant in and around homes and structures. Until recently, the pavement ant’s scientific name was Tetramorium caespitum, but recent genetic work has clarified that our common pest Tetramorium species in the U.S. is from Europe and has been given the name T. immigrans (Wagner et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2019). Genetic variation among pavement ant populations in the U.S. is low and it is believed that current populations were derived from one or a few closely related colonies from Europe introduced into the northeastern U.S. about 200 years ago (Wagner et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2019).”
Pavement Ants, Extension, Utah State University (USU), https://extension.usu.edu/planthealth/research/pavement-ants

When the Ants Come Marching In…, IPM Fact Sheet #8, USU Extension, Utah State University, https://extension.usu.edu/planthealth/schoolipm/files/pest-press-fact-sheets/pdf/ants_pestpress.pdf

Pavement Ant, Tetramorium caespitum | USU
https://extension.usu.edu/planthealth/ipm/notes_ag/hemp-pavement-ants

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My Fishing River Otter

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer
River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer
Many years ago on a gorgeous fall day, I was standing on the bank of Green River in the Split Mountain campground in Dinosaur National Monument. I was visiting the site for our upcoming Utah Envirothon competition to assess the lay of the land and all it contained- plants, wildlife, soils, and aquatics. These were the main areas covered in the competition, so I would report back to my Logan high students on what local knowledge they might be tested on.

Humpback Chub Gila Cypha Courtesy US FWS, S Nev. FWO
Humpback Chub
Gila Cypha
Courtesy US FWS, S Nev. FWO

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Blue Lake National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Ted Narveson, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Blue Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Ted Narveson, Photographer

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Barbara Wheeler, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Barbara Wheeler, Photographer

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Tim Holman, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Tim Holman, Photographer

River Otter, Lontra canadensis Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge Courtesy US FWS, Mike Budd, Photographer River Otter, Lontra canadensis
Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge
Courtesy US FWS, Mike Budd, Photographer

I stood mesmerized by the beauty of the tranquil setting and glowing cottonwoods dwarfed by rainbow colored cliffs. The spell was suddenly shattered by a large aquatic mammal swimming nearby. Thinking it was a beaver, I awaited the telltale slap of its tail as it neared my position. Suddenly it began swimming wildly in a river backwater immediately in front of me. A river otter! This was my first sighting of a freshwater otter. I had seen many much larger marine otters on the west coast lying on their backs in kelp forests using rocks to crack open shellfish.

River otters had been nearly extirpated from Utah and recently reintroduced from 1989-1992, all of which doubled my excitement! As the otter accelerated, a fin emerged about a dozen feet in front of the predator. A large fish and strong swimmer, it led the otter on a wild, zigzag chase in the backwater. Finally, the otter captured the exhausted fish- an endangered humpbacked chub! It hauled out with a fish dinner on a flat boulder protruding from the water no more than 20 feet from where I stood. It cradled the large fish in its arms prepared to deliver the death bite through the head when it suddenly realized my statuesque presence.

Startled by my presence, it allowed the humpback to flip loose and return to the water. The otter was immediately on it, but the fish surged from the calm backwater to the main river channel current and disappeared. I was stunned by what happened next. The otter returned to the flat rock where it had held the fish, looked directly at me, and hurled what had to be a stream of otter profanity toward me! Me Me Me Me!!! (repeated several times) I have yet to fully recover from the insults!

River otters are important as indicators of healthy aquatic environments. They have a low tolerance for polluted water and require an abundant prey population. Due to their secretive nature, wide ranges, and low densities, otter populations are difficult to monitor. Currently, there is not a population estimate for Utah. Knowing where they are located is vital to managing this species. Recreationists can help with their management by reporting any sightings.

River otters primarily eat fish, but are also known to prey on small mammals, aquatic birds, crayfish and insects.

Now I must revisit the Disney film “Flash, the Teenage Otter”, to get reacquainted with this playful, highly intelligent and comical relative!

Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I’m forever Wild About Utah’s River Otters & Humpback Chubs!

Credits:
Images Courtesy US FWS, photographers marked with each image
Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Lyle W Bingham, Webmaster, and Jack Greene, Author, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Jack Greene’s Postings on Wild About Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/

Flash, the Teenage Otter

Filmed almost entirely at a Wisconsin game preserve, this episode of “”Walt Disney Presents”” was based on a book by Emil Liers. The program chronicles the early life and adventures of two otters, Flash and Fleta, and their close-knit family. Upon reaching their rebellious teen years, Flash strikes out on his own, experiencing all manner of exciting and life-threatening exploits, especially when coming in contact with that predatory species known as Man. But as the “”teaser”” to this episode tipped off a week in advance, Flash is ultimately and happily reunited with his loved ones. “”Flash, the Teenage Otter”” was released theatrically in 1961. –more–

Flash the Teenage Otter, The Wonderful World of Disney, [Review above from] TheTVDB.com, A Whip Media Company, https://thetvdb.com/series/the-wonderful-world-of-disney/episodes/245964
See also:
Liers, Emil, An Otter’s Story, The Viking Press, April 3, 1953, https://www.amazon.com/Otters-Story-Emil-Liers/dp/0670529753

Humpback Chub, , Utah Species, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, https://fieldguide.wildlife.utah.gov/?species=gila%20cypha

Northern River Otter, Utah Species, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, https://fieldguide.wildlife.utah.gov/?species=lontra%20canadensis

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Solar Calendars

This [observatory in Chacho Canyon, NM], is constructed of three large stone slabs [.https://wildaboututah.org/wp-content/uploads/sdagger_s1.jpg] wedged upright with smaller stones. On the day of the summer solstice, a dagger of light cast by the rising sun bisects a spiral carved into the rock behind the stones. On the winter solstice, two daggers of light frame the spiral. https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/suntime/images/sdagger2_s.jpg
This [observatory in Chacho Canyon, NM], is constructed of three large stone slabs wedged upright with smaller stones. On the day of the summer solstice, a dagger of light cast by the rising sun bisects a spiral carved into the rock behind the stones. On the winter solstice, two daggers of light frame the spiral.
Courtesy NASA Solar Science
https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/suntime/talk1.stm
High on a remote butte on the Colorado Plateau, two spirals were etched into the rock centuries ago by Ancestral Puebloans. The petroglyphs are tucked discreetly behind three sandstone slabs that lean against the bedrock wall. The play of light that reaches through the gaps in the slabs bisect the large spiral on summer solstice near noon. On winter solstice, two ‘daggers’ of light bracket the large spiral perfectly. The smaller spiral is bisected with another shaft of light on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. This is not accidental.

Indigenous people in the far reaches of the planet, constructed monuments with intention that mark the position of the sun on the solstices and equinoxes—the pyramids of Egypt, the moai on Rapa Nui (the most isolated island on earth), the temples of Chichén Itzá, Stonehenge, and numerous others.

These solar calendars where created thousands of years ago, before airplanes, satellites, space shuttles, and smartphones. They were likely constructed without any knowledge that other people in other parts of the world were doing the same. Each of these monuments are distinctive in their approach, a testament to both human curiosity and creativity.

Solar Calendar and Sundial Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell
Solar Calendar and Sundial
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

Mount Logan Discovery Solar Calendar

Solar Calendar - How it Works Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell Solar Calendar – How it Works
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

Solar Calendar Design Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell Solar Calendar Design
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

Observing From the Solar Calendar Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell Observing From the Solar Calendar
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

Completed Solar Calendar Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell Completed Solar Calendar
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

Solar Calendar Near Solstice Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell Solar Calendar Near Solstice
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

Solar Calendar Layout in the Snow Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell Solar Calendar Layout in the Snow
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

Observations: The Shadow Grew Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell Observations: The Shadow Grew
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

Mount Logan Discovery Human [Analemmatic] Sundial

Human Sundial, Pre-Installation, Month Stone Layout Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell Human Sundial
Pre-Installation
Month Stone Layout
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

Students Install the Solar Sundial Month Blocks Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell Students Install the Solar Sundial Month Blocks
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell

When I started teaching 6th grade science at Mount Logan Middle School (in Logan, Utah), in 2003, state curriculum standards required me to teach why we have seasons, why we have night and day, and the basics of the solar system. The science textbook would put insomniacs to sleep. I struggled to figure out how to teach these concepts in ways that would captivate my students’ attention and allow them the chance to construct knowledge through project-based learning.

I was explaining my fascination with ancient solar calendars to my sixth graders in class one day and in the moment I said, “Hey, we should build a solar calendar at our school.” My students cheered a loud “Yeah!” and a new project was born.

I did some research, wrote and received a $500 grant from the Logan Schools Foundation for materials, ruffled a few feathers, and set to work with a simple plan that involved my 6th graders at every step. We cemented a metal pole in the ground on the edge of the soccer field, decorated with student art representing the four seasons. We surrounded the pole with a circular pattern of paver stones, enlisted the sand blasting services of a local headstone company, and then we started marking the shadow of the tip of the pole throughout the year. We had no idea how it would turn out.

What I thought would be a year-long project became a five year project. The shadows cast by the pole were not always easy to observe with storms and cloud cover. Cache Valley inversions—that trap fog and smog in the valley—made marking winter solstice shadow lines especially illusive.

We would mark the tip of the shadow throughout the day and then connect the dots to trace and identify the patterns. On the spring equinox a curious thing happened—we discovered the shadow line makes a perfectly straight line that runs exactly west to east. The same is true for the autumnal equinox. We did some research and confirmed our findings. This is something you can try anywhere. This year the autumnal equinox occurs September 22nd. Mark the tip of the shadow of any pole or post throughout the day on fairly level ground in your yard—an hour or two apart if you want, but the intervals don’t really matter. Then connect the dots and see what happens.

The solar calendar at Mount Logan Middle School marks the time of year and is our evidence that the earth’s axis is tilted.

We added an interactive sundial, with a human gnomon. When you stand on the correct month stone, your shadow falls on the time of day. The human sundial is our evidence that the earth spins on its’ axis.

Outside of school hours, you can find and interact with the human sundial and solar calendar on the soccer field at Mount Logan Middle School, located north of the sand volleyball court. Even though I no longer work there, I visit a couple of times each year. I take my weed eater, a shovel, and a blower and clean up the paver stones that mark the shadow lines of the solstices and equinoxes. I am frequently there alone in the evenings when I do this. While I work, I wonder about the hands that carved those spirals in the Cliff House Sandstone behind the slabs of rock in the New Mexican desert. I always set down my tools for a few minutes and watch with amazement as the shadow tracks along the pathways my sixth graders marked two decades ago.

I am Eric Newell, and I am wild about Utah and equinoxes and solstices.

Credits:
Images: Courtesy NASA Solar Science and Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer and author
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © Anderson, Howe, Wakeman
Text: Eric Newell, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Utah State University
Additional Reading: Eric Newell & Lyle Bingham

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Eric Newell

http://MountLoganDiscovery.org/ (Hint: Select Projects on the left to find links to the Solar Calendar and Human Sundial pages)
Mount Logan Middle School Solar Calendar and Human Sundial Webpages (Hint: Select Sundial or Solar Calendar below the image.)
Mount Logan Discovery Solar Calendar
Mount Logan Discovery Human Sundial

Archeoastronomy in Stone, National Park Service,
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/archeoastronomy-in-stone.htm

Ancestral Puebloan Sun Calendars
https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm%3Fid%3D4A2A3F5E-7710-4A87-BC20-A8E833CBCE17

Schaefer, Bradley E., Stamm, James, A Case Study of the Picture Rocks Sun Dagger, Pluss a Review of the Intentionality of Sun Daggers, https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2008/PictureRocks_Sundagger_JAHH.pdf

Friday Finishers: Logan landmark, The Herald Journal (HJNews), Jun 28, 2013,
https://www.hjnews.com/allaccess/friday-finishers-logan-landmark/article_7c9554ee-df82-11e2-b142-001a4bcf887a.html

Sundial Registry, Logan, UT Number 804, North American Sundial Society, https://sundials.org/index.php/component/sundials/onedial/804

Making an Analemmatic Sundial, North American Sundial Society, September 22, 2019, https://sundials.org/teachers-corner/sundial-construction/299-making-an-analemmatic-sundial.html

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The Logan Island Twin Rivers Reverence Vibe

The first reach of the Little Logan River at River Hollow Park. This is the river’s connection to the Logan River, and in the proposed Logan River Watershed Plan it will be an excavated to bury piped water, severing the historic Little Logan River from the Logan River forever. Courtesy &amp Copyright Hilary Shughart, Photographer
The first reach of the Little Logan River at River Hollow Park. This is the river’s connection to the Logan River, and in the proposed Logan River Watershed Plan it will be an excavated to bury piped water, severing the historic Little Logan River from the Logan River forever.
Courtesy &amp Copyright Hilary Shughart, Photographer
The City of Logan has a special Logan Island Vibe anchored in the two arms of the Logan River which wrap around the heart of town as living blue trails and green stripes. We are the rivers, wetlands, and riparian buffers keepers.

This USGS map shows both the Logan River and the upper Little Logan River. These rivers define the Island district where Logan was originally founded. Click for a larger view and zoom in to Logan, UT
This USGS map shows both the Logan River and the upper Little Logan River. These rivers define the Island district where Logan was originally founded.
 
Click for a larger view in a new tab or window and search for or zoom-in to Logan UT, https://apps.nationalmap.gov/viewer/
Our stewardship is dictated by the laws we enact, and those laws include science-based riparian buffers based on best management practices. Let’s preserve and rehabilitate our natural resource treasures, not least of which the Logan River system, which includes the Logan River flowing out of Logan Canyon, and then forking into the North and South Branches which embrace the Logan Island.

Let’s celebrate our Logan Island Twin Rivers Reverence Vibe with poetry and conservation actions, such as planting native plant riparian buffers and ensuring this Tree City USA maintains a healthy tree canopy, clean water, and a thriving Natural Stream Environment, filled with the delights of birds and bird song, which are actual metrics of the health of a city.

The Logan Island Twin Rivers Reverence Vibe

The Logan River meanders gracefully from the mouth Logan Canyon,
Generating electricity here, filling First Dam Reservoir there,
Flowing through the World Class Utah State University Water Research Laboratory,
With a mile and a half southwesterly meander past Herm’s Inn here, and River Hollow Park there,
Forking to wrap around the Logan Island, twin blue trails
weaving green stripes of riverside parks,
Sustaining our urban ecosystem,
This one wild and beautiful Logan Island
Twin Rivers Reverence Vibe,
Natural Community,
Lifeline.

I’m Hilary Shughart with the Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I am Wild About the North and South Branches of the Logan River, and I am Wild About Utah!

Credits:
Images: Little Logan River Courtesy & Copyright Hilary Shughart, Photographer
Featured Audio: Courtesy Friend Weller, Chief Engineer Retired, UPR.org, Courtesy & Copyright © Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections/kevin-colver
Text: Hilary Shughart, President, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Hilary Shughart and Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Other Wild About Utah pieces authored by Hilary Shughart

Save and Restore the North Branch of the Logan River (Little Logan River), Bridgerland Audubon Society, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/llr/

Guide to The Logan River Trail
iFIT parking lot to Trapper Park
Read to Logan City Council April 1, 2025
by Logan Poet Shanan Balkan,

First, we pass under the traffic bridge
where barn swallows build nests of mud.
They disappear in late autumn
leaving stains where their nests once clung
to the underpass.
The river blurs turquoise to brown
under the bridge.

Bright green watercress thrives
year-round in the little stream—
see how it grows thicker by the day.
Notice the informational signs about what kinds of birds
live near the river:
red-winged blackbirds with a patch of ruby on their wings,
emerald-headed mallards, and raucous kingfishers—
now we pass a sign of fish who live in the river—
iridescent rainbow and Bonneville Cutthroat trout who wave
their tails in the swift green current.

See the majestic Wellsville mountains
jut sharp into the western sky.
They shine white, snow-covered,
late into summer.
Did you know that they are the steepest mountains
in the lower 48 states?

Turn around and see the Bear River Mountains
rise emerald behind us in the east.

Now we pass the pastures that fence horses—
dozens of them, black, white, chestnut.
A few hang their velvet snouts
over the fence to greet passersby.
The pastures shine with puddles,
bright pale hay.
The pastures smell of rich thaw,
horse manure.

Hear the music of frogs croaking,
and see the black-necked garter snakes
coiled, shy and olive-bodied,
on the edges of the trail in the grass.

The air vibrates with the jubilant
conk-conk-la-ree!
of red-winged blackbirds
and the cheerful chick-a-dee-dee-dee of black capped chickadees.
Listen! Can you hear the busy chatter of the crested kingfisher?
Can you hear the mallard skimming to a stop on the surface of the river?

At the bend in the trail, we hear
the lonely call of a great-horned owl
tangled in blue branches at dusk.

Here comes the man with one hiking pole
and the old cowboy riding his bike
and the woman who smells like patchouli glides by—
here come the mothers pushing strollers
as they chat with one another, smiling as we pass,
and all the people walking dogs—low-slung black Dachshunds,
gregarious yellow labs, and dozens of doodle mixes,
curly-haired, copper and blonde, and the golden retrievers
who love people, and lick everybody’s hands.

Past the pond,
an off-shoot of the river,
where we see minnows,
their shadows doubling them,
we can’t tell which is minnow,
which is shadow,
and a solitary kingfisher,
slate-blue, perches on a bare tree
that stands straight and tall,
and a small gray
bird skims the water, leaving riffles,
before being swallowed into a gray shrub—

there is the black metal bench
on the side of the trail where we stop to sit
and have a sip of water.

In summer, there are clouds
of white cabbage and pale yellow sulfur butterflies,
and a few orange and black monarchs.

Onto the second bridge,
this one too over a shallow pond,
where in summer small white flowers
dot the water, and wild cucumbers
with their spikey shells drape
on their vines. The silt is gray
and dappled and here we hear
the raspy call of a marsh wren
rattling cattails.

We pass the mobile home park
with blue and yellow homes
and over the bridge where on both sides
we are surrounded by gold cattails,
slowly exploding fluff,
and in summer, the blue of blue vervain.

And then onto the cow pastures
where Canadian geese nest and squawk.
We see a pair of sandhill cranes
in winter gray feathers
in the pasture, picking their way
between gold cattails.
They each have a bright red dot
under their eyes.

Look! A bald eagle!
Slow, deliberate flapping,
ebony-winged, ivory-headed.

And then to the sidewalk
that is lined with fragrant pink wild roses in June.
We see Trapper Park in the distance,
the new brick restrooms,
the pavilion with new exercise equipment,
and the brown bear perpetually climbing the side
of the toy set,

but before we get there,
let’s linger at the spring
that spills silver water over emerald
velvet moss.

Guide to The Logan River Trail
iFIT parking lot to Trapper Park
Read to Logan City Council, April 1, 2025
by Logan Poet Shanan Balkan
https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/…

Save and Restore the North Branch of the Logan River (Little Logan River), Bridgerland Audubon Society, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/llr/