[Birdtalk] San Juan county birds - December 2006

[L. D. Giddings]

It has been my intent for much of this year to hold an informal Bluff 
Christmas bird count but have been so harried the last few months that I 
have not had much time to think about it, let alone engage in any 
planning or organization. Feeling rather unprepared, I drove to Bluff on 
Tuesday. Snow was falling all the way from Spanish Fork to Blanding, but 
the roads were better than I expected, except while coming down Price 
canyon, which was a bit tricky, and in Monticello, where the snow was 
falling deep and hard.

As it turned out I actually didn't spend much time birding in Bluff. On 
Wednesday, despite very windy cold weather, I traveled west and south, 
visiting Sand Island, Mexican Hat, Halchita, Goulding, and Oljato. The 
weather was  beautiful on Thursday as I made the Highway 276 - Highway 
95 loop and birded Hall's Crossing, took the ferry across the lake and 
made a quick stop at Bullfrog, then circled back to Hite. Friday's 
weather was cooler, breezy, and gray as I traveled east to Aneth, 
Ismay's trading post, Hovenweep National Monument, circled back west to 
Hatch's trading post, and then north up Montezuma canyon to it's 
northern terminus on Highway 191. I spent two hours yesterday morning 
birding Bluff before I began the trip back north. The weather was sunny 
and beautiful but very cold as I stopped in Indian Creek canyon and at 
Ken's lake.

There were a number of trip highlights and significant observations. 
These include:
- paying a visit to every sewage lagoon in San Juan county of which I am 
aware, except for the Monticello facility. These include ponds in 
Blanding, Halchita, Oljato, and Aneth. These were much less fruitful 
than usual, bird-wise, but at each the atmosphere was precisely as 
anticipated.
- *bald eagles* were seen in multiple places throughout the county.
- an *American avocet* was seen on Ken's lake, swimming by itself in the 
middle of the lake.
- a flock of about 160 *mountain bluebirds* was observed at Sand Island, 
mixed with an even larger flock of *European starlings*, adorning the 
otherwise bare cottonwood trees like bright blue jewels.
- multiple *western screech owls* were heard and seen along the San Juan 
river, some beginning to call before 5:30 p.m.
- a prairie subspecies *merlin* was seen a top a Russian Olive tree in 
the campground at Hall's crossing. A second prairie sub-species merlin 
was seen less than 15 minutes later about 2 miles distant from the 
campground. I do not know if this was the same bird or a second bird.
- I counted 177 *western grebes* while riding the ferry from Hall's 
Crossing to Bullfrog. Since a scope could not be used (too bumpy), there 
were undoubtedly birds that were missed.
- the *black scoter *reported for me by Dennis Shirley, seen all by 
itself in Bullfrog bay, in the lagoon between where the ferry currently 
lands and the place where it use to land.
- a flock of about 40 highly skittish *black rosy finches* seen 
immediately along side Highway 276, about 400 yards from it's northern 
intersection with Highway 95.
- a *great egret* was seen feeding in the wetlands at Hite, and a *sora* 
was heard in the same place.
- a pair of *peregrine falcons* was seen soaring together along the 
cliffs in Bluff Friday morning. One was also seen yesterday morning, 
again in Bluff.
- a very wary *hermit thrush* was seen late Friday evening deep in a 
Russian olive thicket along the south bank of the San Juan river 3 miles 
east of Bluff. The lighting was poor and the bird elusive; based on 
vocalizations and it's mostly gray color I found it difficult to resist 
the temptation to call this bird a Swainson's thrush. As hermit thrushes 
have a RW-OW status in this part of the state, where as Swainson's 
thrushes should probably be classed as AW, hermit thrush seems the more 
likely. But then again. . . .
- two flocks of *wild turkeys* were spotted in Indian Creek canyon 
between MM 2-3, one flock with 27 birds and the other with 11 birds. 
Wild turkeys were also seen in Montezuma canyon.
- I counted 61 *great-tailed grackles* and 23 *Eurasian-collared doves* 
in Bluff.

It was interesting to compare the birding at Hall's Crossing and 
Bullfrog with Hite. The waters around the former two are bird-wise 
rather arid; a few mallards, common mergansers, and coots were all that 
were seen besides the already mentioned grebes. I have never seen gulls 
at Hall's Crossing and in talking to others who live there, they 
mentioned that they too seldom see gulls, cormorants, or pelicans. By 
way of contrast, Hite is currently a ghost town. The buildings are well 
away from the water and the boat ramp is so treacherous and muddy that 
nothing larger than a small rubber raft could be safely launched. But 
the river runs freely past Hite, and dense thickets of willow and 
tamarisk line its banks. Although I arrived shortly after the sun set, 
in my few minutes scanning the marshes it was obvious that this was the 
single richest place for bird life I saw on my trip. The marshes were 
teeming with ducks, including hooded mergansers, wading birds, including 
my first San Juan county great egret, raptors, corvids, icterids, and 
passerines. Two ring-billed gulls swooped down low to examine me. A sora 
called repeatedly from the  cat tails. This is the first time I have 
birded Hite but this will now be one of my regular stops when I visit 
the county.

I observed 27 spp. during yesterday morning's two-hour Tour-de-Bluff. 
Over my few days in Bluff a total of 38 species were observed. Despite 
staying almost exclusively in the low country 69 species were spotted 
within the county, not including the scoter and the rosy finches, which 
were seen in other counties.

A safe, happy holiday season to all!

Lu Giddings

Total Count: 69
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon
Sora
American Coot
Killdeer
American Avocet
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Western Screech-Owl
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Say's Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Western Scrub-Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Mountain Chickadee
Juniper Titmouse
Rock Wren
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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