[Birdnet] Painted Bunting, other birds at Fish Springs

[Matt Mills]

Hi all,

Saw the Painted Bunting again last night (Aug 01st) in
the picnic area at Fish Springs. The bird looked
rather ruffled, not sure if it was the weather
recently, being out of place, or just the attention it
has been receiving but it sure looked a lot rougher
than when we first spotted it. I bumped into some
birders on Tuesday night who had seen a Cooper's Hawk
hanging out in the grove of trees around the picnic
area for a while - hopefully it doesn't catch sight of
the Bunting. I wonder just how long it will stick
around and what will become of it. 

No sign of the Tanager all week, there were 3 or 4
female Westerns around the Headquarters, however, but
despite the variation among these birds the female
Scarlet Tanager is distinct on sight.

No sign of the Red-shouldered Hawk, but apparently it
was seen east of here last week.

Also yesterday:

In the tree with the Magpie nest were 2 Great-horned
Owls at dusk.

Around the headquarters (in no particular order):

Western Tanager (6)
Warbling Vireo (1)
Yellow Warbler (1)
Northern Mockingbird (1)
Great-tailed Grackle (1)
Chukar (13)
probable Willow Flycatcher (1)
Black-headed Grosbeak (2)

Common Nighthawk (roosting in the trees - we also
counted at least 75 foraging over the refuge at dusk),


Barn Swallow, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Say's
Phoebe, Western Kingbird.

In a drive around the refuge we saw the expected
birds: Pied-billed Grebe, Am. Coot, Sandhill Crane,
White-faced Ibis, Snowy Egret, Great Blue and
Black-crowned Night Herons, Marsh Wren, Savannah
Sparrow, Black-necked Stilt, Killdeer, Spotted
Sandpiper, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel,
Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Red-winged Blackbird.

Last week we saw 2 small Canada Geese on the auto
tour, that we didn't look very closely at. Talking to
some of the refuge staff they reported that a Cackling
Goose had been seen, so if anybody is out there, they
might want to check the small group of Canada's
hanging out on the Curlew or Mallard pool (I forget).

They also mentioned that a lone Red Crossbill was seen
recently.

In the desert scrub nearby we had Horned Larks,
Black-throated Sparrow, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher and Rock
Wren.

Cheers,

Matt Mills
Provo, UT.



       
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