[Birdnet] My first report and a mystery bird

[Connie McManus]

Greetings, birders!
this is my first time reporting on this list. After reading Tim Avery's plea
for reports, I thought I'd give it a try.   I'm totally new at birding, so
please advise me if I goof up somewhere.  At the end of my "report" is a
description of a bird I saw that I cannot find in any of my guides.  I hope
to hear from anyone who might know what it could be.

so without further ado, here's my report. ahem.

Site:   my back yard and the surrounding pastures and fields  (Nibley, Cache
County) ---

Earlier this spring (last of April and throughout May) we had a flock of 6
RedWing Black Birds (RWBBs), all males,  that regularly came to the crab
apple tree in our yard where we hang a feeder.  They pecked on the ground
under the feeder to get what the smaller birds dropped.  They disappeared
about the first week of June, although I can still hear them in the marshes
across the street.

Other birds:
- one mating pair of American Kestrels
- 6 - 10 Western Kingbirds (very likely more than that)
- House finches
- Bullock's Orioles -- at least 6 pairs -- I can hear them calling from 6
different directions each night about sundown)
- Robins
- Barn Swallows.  One pair has made a nest in our carport, which they have
done every year since I've lived here.
- Western Meadow Larks.  I usually only hear them, but this morning a
finally saw one singing his little heart out on a fence post.
- House Sparrows
- European Starlings
- American Goldfinches (3 mating pairs)
- Black headed gulls (Bonaparte's or Franklins, not sure which)
- Other gulls, not identified.
- Sandhill cranes (3 or 4 mating pairs.  This is a decrease in the usual 6 -
10 mating pairs I've seen in past years).
- Killdeers
- Brewer's Blackbirds
- Magpies
- Downy ? Woodpeckers (not certain)
- Northern flickers
- Night Hawks
- Ring-necked pheasants
- Yellow Headed Black Birds (across the street)
- hummingbirds, unidentified
- Great horned Owls (they perch on a power pole by my bedroom and hoot)
- Red Tailed hawks
- Bald Eagles (One was sighted in April)
- Golden Eagle (I spotted one about 2 weeks ago.  I was following a
Bullock's Oriole that flew from my yard to a stand of Cottonwoods across the
street.  As I scanned for the oriole,  this enormous bird filled the
binoculars.  It was a little bit like looking at a giant peeking through the
treetops.  He was perched atop one of the cottonwoods, surveying the fields
and stayed in place for about 5 minutes.  He was awesome to watch.)


MYSTERY  BIRD
Although I live in Cache County, I work in Salt Lake.  One day, driving
along 2nd Avenue, I saw a bird about the size of a Northern flicker trotting
down J street.  It's front had striped markings down the throat to the belly
and its back had markings like a norther flicker.  But, it wasn't a northern
flicker as it didn't have the dark oval under its chin.  As it approached
me, I thought it was carrying something that looked to be a striped banana,
but as it passed the front of my car, I saw that what I thought was a banana
was actually its beak.  I'm guessing the beak must have been about 2 or 3
inches long.  I can't find anything in Sibley's, Birds of North America or
Stokes that looks exactly like this, but the Montezuma Quail comes closest.
Also -- it did not fly, only walked.   Does anyone recognize this bird?  It
was a cute little thing.  I wish I had brought my camera with me that day!!!

Well, that's all for now. happy birding!
Connie McManus
Nibley, Cache County UT
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