[Birdnet] Uintah Basin notes

[Clay Johnson]

Hi all,

 

Lu got me all excited with the pippets and 'piper report yesterday.so I had
to run over to Pelican/Ouray this morning.  Weather was overcast, with
occasional sprinkles, and the fall colors are pretty great, (to use an
eUtahphemism).  About 8:30 AM Pelican Lake appeared to be coots shore to
shore, with a pod of eponymous pelicans at the south end.  The puddles east
of the road had only a few mallards showing.  By about 11:30 AM when I came
back by, things had picked up.  Still no sandpiper, but there was a Common
snipe at the puddle.  On the lake itself, the coots were leavened with
mallards, shovelers, American widgeons, Redheads, and some far-distant and
undistinguished gulls.

 

Ouray Refuge, ca. 900-1100 am:  I drove Shepard Bottom only.  The water is
rushing into the ponds full tilt, and birds are starting to gather, so
things can only improve.  It looks like we are going to have some nice walks
and paths next year.maybe I can lobby for a blind or two?  The viewing was
limited by a frequent heavy overcast, sprinkles and winds.  I saw multiple
Harriers, a Redtail, Starlings, Red-wing blackbirds, song sparrows,
Meadowlarks, Northern flickers (all red-shafted), a few deer, some horses
across the river, a Pie-billed grebe, Mallards, Pintails, Am. Widgeons,
Ruddy ducks, Barn and Cliff swallows, Green-wing teal, Northern shovelers,
Gadwall, Sandhill cranes and Canada geese, and a lone Snow goose flying
overhead.  There was a great flock of American robins across the whole lower
end of the bottom.  Near the southeast corner of the loop, I stopped for a
while to watch a sleeping Great horned owl.  In the often-overlooked weedy
patch with dead trees west of the restrooms, there were Mountain bluebirds
(I always think I have a new bird when I see the first female Mtn bluebird
in a while), a handful of American pippets, a Yellow-rumped warbler
(Audubons), and a Prairie falcon.  I tried for photos of the owl and the
falcon.I'll have to see if they are useable.

 

On the home front here in Jensen it continues to be an interesting year.
The White-crowned sparrows and Pine siskins showed up around mid-September,
and we spotted a Wilsons Warbler hanging around the garden.  On September
28th while I was looking to see if the Wilsons warbler was still around (he
was and is), I spotted a Hermit thrush under the elderberry bushes. We had a
Ring-neck duck on the pond below, a Hairy woodpecker attacking the aspens in
the yard, the Dark-eyed juncos showed up in force by October 8th,
Yellow-rumped warblers are still around, and we noted a Townsends solitaire
in the yard yesterday afternoon.  The two adult Mallards and nine killdeer
are currently on the pond below.  Eurasian collared doves, House finches,
White-crowned sparrows, goldfinches, a Western wood-peewee, Ravens and
Magpies are still around, although I haven't seen a Mourning dove since
mid-week.  For Kristin: there have been a hundred or so Sandhill cranes in
the fields along the road at the crest of the hill between the Dinosaur
Quarry and Jensen for a week or so.  From Jensen to the quarry is a good
area to see Sandhills and geese in the winter.

 

Clay

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://secureserver.securesites.net/pipermail/birdnet/attachments/20071014/9a271ae3/attachment.htm