Loon Lake

Shelly and I spent a quiet evening at Little Dell. Among the birds we saw was a Common Loon, a Clark’s Grebe and a Cedar Waxing. There must have been more than one Waxwing in the area since they usually travel in a flock. The Loon, however, was the big surprise, while they are fairly common during spring migration, there presence this far south is much rarer. In addition to the 21 bird species we heard or saw, we also had a large Bull Moose, a Beaver and a Mule Deer.

 

Barn Owl

 

Hit and Miss Birding

Goldeneye on Thawing Lake

Shelly and I hiked Silver Lake at Brighton last Sunday and repeated the effort on last night. Big difference in both the number and variety of birds. On Sunday we had at least four Brown Creeper actively “creeping” in the shaded pines on the south side of the lake. This was just one of 22 species we encountered there that afternoon. Others included Steller’s Jay, Western Tanager, Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and both Nuthatch species. The main empetus for our trip last night was to photograph the Creepers in action. We assumed that with fewer people and a better time of day–evening vs. mid-afternoon–our success would be assured. Nope. Not only did we not find the Creepers, there was very little bird activity in general. Pine Siskin buzzing and Tree Swallows flycatching were about it. Oh, well, that’s the nature of chasing birds.

 

Bobolinks, Balloons and a Snipe Hunt

A snipe hunt can be described as a form of wild goose chase that is also known as a fool’s errand. It is a class of practical jokes that involves experienced people making fun of newcomers by giving them an impossible task. Some days it seems that every effort to find birds, especially rare or new bird for the life-list is a snipe hunt. We had spotted our nemisis, the nattily feathered Bobolink in a alfalfa field north of Heber a week ago, but Shelly wanted to get a better picture than the one she had obtained on that day. We returned on Friday, and although we were treated to a singing Snipe who “posed” happily on a fence post, the Boblinks were not showing themselves. Three hot-air balloons floated a few hundred feet above the in the cool morning air, their operators hoping to eake a few minutes of air-time before warmer temperatures prevailed. Down below we could hear perhaps a dozen Boblinks singing. Occasionally one would pop-up on an alfalfa shaft only to disappear when we directed our binos to that spot. Eventually a pair took flight and perched, momentarily, within camera range. The Boblink shot will have to wait for another day. Evening would probably be best. Despite the lack of success in the image-gathering department, it was an excellent bird day. We had eight Snipe in the Heber fields. At least a dozen Boblink were heard or seen, and along with Red-winged and Brewer’s Blackbirds, we had great soundtrack wafting over our beautiful morning. A bunch of American Goldfinch foraged in the brush along with Robins and Cowbirds. Where the fields were flooded to irrigate the year’s second alfalfa crop, we had Killdeer and Long-billed Dowitcher, while a Black-headed Grossbeak and Orange-crowned Warbler scurried through the branches of trees which line the fields. As we were leaving we saw 21 Turkey Vulture soaring over Heber. After a quick visit to a quiet Cascade Springs, we ended up Bridal Veil Falls in search of the reported Black Swift. There we found species #350 flying high amongst the mist produced by the falling water.

 

Stormy Migration

A Yellow-billed loon has been sighted at Jordanelle over the last couple of days. If positive reports continue to be made this evening/tomorrow morning, I’ll head up there.

 

The Radial Birder

With the high price of gasoline how many of us are reducing the frequency and/or distance of our birding activities? Our goal is to observe 200 species in 2008, within 25 miles(one way) of our home in Salt Lake. Is it possible?  Hot spots within the scope of this “yard” include the canyons of Salt Lake and South Davis counties, Little Dell, Lee Kaye Ponds, the International Center and Farmington Bay, which is the northern most point in our “yard.” I think we have a good variety of habitat available to us, but we won’t be able to count the easy pickins at Antelope Island(45 miles), Bear River MBR(70 miles) and Cutler Marsh(99 miles), or the unique for Utah environment of Washington county(300+ miles). Both Salt Lake and Davis county check-lists number over 300 species, but many of these are dupicates and rarities, so achieving our goal will prove to be a real challenge. Our current year yard-list stands at 124 species–we’re half-way there. Bring on the tanagers, hummers and warblers!

 

Palm Warblers and other “spring” surprises.

Shelly and I had a long yet productive weekend of birding that produced 88 species. Shelly had a professional commitment on Saturday in Logan, but we managed to visit BRMBR both in the morning and the evening. We made it to about three miles from the wildlife education center and it was there that we found two PALM WARBLER. Other highlights were twenty-five SANDHILL CRANE in an ag-field northwest of the center, a bunch of LONG-BILLED CURLEW popping up seemingly everywhere, and our first WESTERN KINGBIRD of the season. Little time to bird in Cache Valley, but we did check out Cutler Marsh and found lots of waterfowl and at least 50 little yellow fluff-balls attended by their CANADA GOOSE parents. Can’t wait to put the kayaks in the water next week. Our evening at BRMBR was not as eventfull as the morning, highlights were a BARN OWL and SHORT-EARED OWl–couldn’t relocate the PALM WARBLERS.  We birded Farmington Bay Sunday afternoon and were dismayed by the lack of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS along the auto route. Not a single invidual singing from the cattails surrounding the impoundments. The ponds, however, were full of EARED GREBE and a good variety of waterfowl. We also spotted our first BAIRD’s SANDPIPER and WESTERN SANDPIPER of the season, and a couple of WESTERN KINGBIRD were also present. On the way out, we discovered the reason missing BLACKBIRDS–they were hanging out at the feeder at the yellow house, enjoying their free lunch.

 

 

The Last Grebe

Shelly and I had the opportunity to view a Red-necked Grebe under perfect evening light. It was the last of the U.S. Grebe species on our list. I had visited Little Dell on Tuesday to check it out thinking that we had seen this species before. I was confusing it with the Red Phalarope. When I discovered by error(after entering the trip data in eBird), we planned a trip for Wednesday evening after Shelly got off work. In addition to the Grebe, who was in beautiful breeding plumage, we had matched pairs of Killdeer, Eared Grebe, Ring-necked Duck and Spotted Sandpiper. Also present was a lone Common Loon.

 

A New Mexico Bird

I somehow missed this bird while review of our photos taken on our trip to the Yucatan, Mexico. It was at the Magnificent Frigatebird rookery near Punta Allen. I think we mistook them for juvenile Frigatebirds. They are Brown Booby.

 

 

Box Elder Birding Highlights

I had some business to attend to in Tremonton, and managed to do a little birding along the way driving from Salt Lake with stops at Bear River MBR, Fielding and Farmington Bay. I had a number of personal first sightings of the year including:

 

Willard Bay(from I-15)

Osprey

 

Fielding(small farming community north of Tremonton)

Eurasian-Collared Dove

 

Bear River MBR(travelled from Visitor’s Center to approx. 3 miles down the Refuge road)

Willet

Long-billed Curlew

Eared Grebe

Turkey Vulture

Golden Eagle

Western Grebe

 

Farmington Bay(Glover Lane)

Caspian Tern

 

The highlight, however, was watching a Marsh Wren build a nest right outside the Bear River Visitor’s Center. It was a noisy affair punctuated by the horde of Coots that domianate the marsh, and the occasional splashing by Muskrats. If you haven’t done so, spend some time at the Visitor’s Center(I had not, previously). It’s a great place to see exciting stuff up close.

 

I also saw a bunch of Ring-necked Pheasant in Fielding. Is anybody familiar with the impact game ranchers have on the population of this species in this area? Are these operations largely responsible for the birds we see in the wild? The Eurasian Collared-Doves were viewed about 1/4 mile from the Pheasants. According to Cornell’s All About Birds, “The Eurasian Collared-Dove is often kept as a pet. The occurrence of the species in some areas of the United States can be traced not to the dispersal of wild breeders, but to escaped or released cage birds.” Maybe it is more than coincidence that I found the two species in such close proximity.

 

Good Birding,

 

Jay

 

 

March Roars Like a Nuthatch

Last night’s early spring snowstorm stirred things up a bit but instead of producing the feeding frenzy we had in February after a heavy snow, things got a lot quieter. Are the birds in bug-eating mode? It seems like they are. We spend yesterday afternoon scanning Lee Kay ponds, hoping to find a reported Black-necked Stilt. No luck. However there was plenty of bug-eating birds, specifically Bank, Cave and Tree Swallows!  A couple of male Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Double-crested Cormorants also signaled the arrival of spring–but not Stilts.

Sugarhouse Park was particularly quiet today, although the Common Goldeneye first sighted more than a week ago remained in the pond. Despite the abundance of trees in the park, passerines are hard to come by, especially in winter. It seems like they’re would be a variety of species similar to those found at the area cemeteries, specifically Salt Lake and Mt. Olivet, where we regularly see and hear Nuthatches, Cross-bills and occasionally, Pine Siskin.  That changed today. I heard and saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch while walking in the southeast corner of the park. A great way to end March.