[Birdnet] St. George Winter Bird Festival Field Trip Report - Quail Creek to the Hurricane Fields

[Rick Fridell]

Hello Everyone,
It was nice seeing many of you this weekend at the St. George Winter Bird
Festival. For those of you who aren't regular attendees, I strongly
encourage you to make plans to attend in future years.  This annual festival
is really taking off, with many great presentations, workshops, talks, and
field trips.

Following is a summary of our field trip Saturday (January 27) to Quail
Creek State Park, Stratton Pond, the SR-9 (Hurricane) Sewer Ponds, Sand
Hollow State Park, and the Hurricane Fields.

Nearly 40 of us gathered at 9:00 at Quail Creek State Park and watched water
birds from a couple of vantage points around the reservoir.  Highlights
included a nice collection of ducks, several Double-crested Cormorants, an
Adult Bald Eagle, a Horned Grebe, and a couple of first-winter Herring
Gulls.

Next we caravanned to Stratton Pond (aka Grandpa's Fishing Pond) and took
advantage of the morning lighting conditions to watch several species of
ducks at relatively close range including; Canvasback (~60), Redhead,
Greater Scaup (8), Lesser Scaup, and Hooded and Common Merganser. Following
Stratton Pond we made a quick stop at the Zion Gate's RV Park, and soon
after checking in, we heard a calling Inca Dove, and quickly found at least
19 gathered together along the side of a trailer.

After a break at the Quail Creek Chevron (where a couple of diligent birders
picked up Cedar Waxwings and a few American Robins) we proceeded on to the
SR-9 (Hurricane) Sewer Ponds.  We peaked over the fence for a while viewing
large flocks of Northern Shovelers and Ring-necked Ducks. While watching the
ducks a large flock of approximately 130 Canada Geese flew in and landed in
front of us.  We than moved on and made a stop along the outer loop road
around Sand Hollow State Park.  Although the views were somewhat distant, we
picked up some nice species at the reservoir including Snow and Ross's
Goose, and 5-6 Tundra Swans. We continued along the outer loop road towards
the Hurricane Fields, with a stop at the large cholla patch along the way.
We eventually all (or at least most) got some decent views of Cactus Wrens
and Sage Sparrows.

In the Hurricane Fields we stopped at the first Horned Lark flocks and a few
folks immediately began picking Lapland Longspurs out of the large (and
swirling) flocks. After quite some time picking through the flocks we
eventually got almost every one (sorry Buck!) on at least one Lapland
Longspur.  This was a bit challenging, as typically right after locating a
longspur, of course the flock would take off.  Fortunately there were plenty
of larks to pick through on either side of the road and eventually, a
relatively cooperative male Lapland Longspur came in for a drink close to
our gathering. While working on the longspurs, we were treated to some nice
raptors including several Red-tailed Hawks, a pair of Golden Eagles, and a
close Prairie Falcon flyby. Also there was a nice flock of mixed blackbirds
feeding nearby, including Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewers Blackbirds, and
Brown-headed Cowbirds.

We eventually left the Lark/Longspur area and made our way on down to the
"Ferruginous Hawk Field" and were treated to up to 10 Ferruginous Hawks
offering both perched and flying views. We also saw a nice dark-phased
Ferruginous Hawk (or was it a Harlan's??) soaring through. There were also
several Red-tailed Hawks, a few Northern Harriers, and an American Kestrel
hanging around the field.

Several of the group elected to take the optional extension to a pecan
orchard to watch for woodpeckers.  However they were treated to absolutely
no woodpeckers, including no Lewis's Woodpeckers, no Ladder-backed
Woodpeckers, and no Red-naped Sapsuckers.  The group now reduced to a few
survivors who made their way back through the Hurricane Fields and picked up
a few sparrows and a very shy Burrowing Owl. Of course on the way back, the
Greater White-fronted Geese (apparently invisible earlier in the day) were
prominently sitting on the SR-9 Sewer Ponds with the large Canada Goose
flock.

A total of 70 species were observed by at least some of the participants
(list below).   I want to thank Judy Jordan for helping lead the trip and
all the participants for making this such an enjoyable field trip for me.
I'm already looking forward to next year.


Rick Fridell
Hurricane, UT


Complete list of birds observed 01/27/07 Quail Creek SP to the Hurricane
Fields


Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Ross's Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
American Coot
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Kestrel
Merlin
Prairie Falcon
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Inca Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Burrowing Owl
Northern Flicker
Say's Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Cactus Wren
Rock Wren
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Sage Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow