[Birdnet] Sabine's Gull, etc.

[Carol Gwynn]

I thought today's horrific weather might ground some good birds along 
the Antelope Island Causeway, so Gore-Tex and I headed out. It was 
cold, windy, snowy, rainy, sleety (?), and fairly miserable, but there 
were a couple of good finds. Along the Causeway, I ran into 
(figuratively speaking only) a British birding tour group. They had 
staked out 3 Sabine's gulls between MM 3 and 4, and their leader had 
seen two additional ones earlier. I got to see the 3 juveniles. That 
was pretty cool to see 3 in the same binocular view. There was also a 
Snowy Plover along this stretch, huddled between the shore and a little 
bush. I think the Snowy was trying to keep from being blown clear to 
Antarctica in the strong wind.

There were also at least 3 Black-Bellied Plovers in the same area. I 
tried to make them into American Golden Plovers, but when one flew and 
showed off the black patches under the wings, that sealed its identity.


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Juvenile Sabine's Gull, 29 Sept. 2007, Antelope Island Causeway, Utah. 
Photo by Carol Gwynn


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Black-Bellied Plover, 29 Sept. 2007, Antelope Island Causeway, Utah. 
Photo by Carol Gwynn

In addition, I spent some time at Glover Lane in Farmington, and walked 
the first part of the Buffalo Ranches "trail" before the rain got out 
of control. As I started my stroll, I startled a Sharp-Shinned Hawk out 
of the brush at the side of the trail. It flew to the fence for a 
moment and then headed out. Later in the day, there were 9 hawks at the 
end of Glover Lane - 1 Swainson's and the rest Red-tails. I kept hoping 
the weather would improve, but it didn't. Hence, very gray pics.

Carol Gwynn