[Birdtalk] Northern Utah Migrants, etc...

[Tim Avery]

If not interested in reading, at least skip to the bottom to see a 
hybrid duck picture...


So this morning I was faced with a moral dilemma. Be an upstanding 
member of the working community and commute to Orem for a 10 hour work 
day (with not a whole lot of work to do..) or take the day off and go 
birding… My mind was made up quickly after a quick look at the radar 
form last night and what looked like some pretty heavy movement for a 
couple hours over the northern part of the state. I hoped for some fresh 
shorebirds and maybe the first mini-fallout of the season. Both my hopes 
became reality!

My first stop was at Lee Kay ponds where ducks and gulls were 
everywhere. 27 GREATER SCAUP were the highlight, as well as 6 
Canvasback, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, and 30 Redhead. The Greater Scaup 
number was my highest total for Utah in one location, and the birds 
outnumbered their normally more abundant counterparts 43 to 1.

My next stop was Antelope Island where the causeway appeared to have 
some new arrivals. Two flocks of BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER numbered almost 
400, between mm 5 and 6. This was the most plovers I have ever seen at 
one time. The highlight came when 3 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER flew in and 
landed about 50 yards away. All three were in breeding plumage and were 
stunning.

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/agpl_01.jpg

The number of Willet's was also amazing, with over 300 birds in the same 
area as the plovers. One Snowy Plover was fiddling about on the mud 
flats, whilst numerous (1,000's) American Avocet's fed all over. I also 
saw 12 unidentified large shorebirds about 400 yards north of the 
causeway on the mudflats. The birds were "Knot-like" in shape but were 
too far out to put an ID too with the convection. Along the north side 
of the causeway near the last bridge were approximately 2,500 California 
Gulls feeding all within 20 feet of the shoreline. The water had a pink 
cast to it, with an apparently heavy brine component being washed into 
the shores.

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/cagu_02.jpg

On the Island on the road to Garr Ranch I heard 2 GRASSHOPPER SPARROW 
singing about .7 miles south of the Frairy Peak parking area. The birds 
were east of the road, and were heard several times. And similar to last 
week the most numerous bird was Western Meadowlark, with 55 individuals 
heard singing or calling and/or seen on the way out to the ranch.

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/weme_01.jpg

At the ranch spring was definitely in the air, and from the moment I 
stepped out of my car it sounded like a great morning for migrants. 
Numerous YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER were singing in the cottonwoods over the 
picnic area as well as a number of Ruby-crowned Kinglet. All in all in 
the trees here, over the spring and along the west side of the stables, 
I counted 25 Yellow-rumps and 17 Ruby-crowned Kinglet. There was as 
single LINCOLN'S SPARROW working its way along the west edge of the 
stable as well. 6 Mourning Doves were the first I have seen at the ranch 
this year.

At least 2 owlets could be seen with the Great Horned on the nest this 
morning, all fuzzy and white!

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/ghow_02.jpg

On the way back out across the causeway the Plover numbers dwindled to 
maybe 70-80 birds, not sure where the others moved to. Next I headed to 
the south end of Willard Bay to check out the Willard Spur for 
shorebirds, etc. On Willard Bay, there wasn't a whole, lot, but a number 
of American Pipit's were still running around, in fact I counted 61 in 
all along the road and dike. Once past Harold Crane WMA there were some 
mudflats, but not a whole lot in terms of shorebirds. 2 Caspian Tern's 
were seen as well as 30-40 Franklin's Gulls, 3 Sandhill Cranes, 3 
Canvasback, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, and a whopping 15 GREATER SCAUP 
were seen.

After a quick lunch break I ran up to Mantua Reservoir to scope it out. 
Colby and I stopped by on Saturday night but neither of us had a scope 
at the time… brilliant… The water was covered with coots, but also 5 
COMMON LOON, 23 Franklin's Gulls, 1 Bufflehead and at least 300 
Aechmophorus Grebes, of which the closer ones with heads out all 
appeared to be Western, however 13 Clark's were present as well.

Next it was off to Bear River where I had some sweet photo-ops as well 
as a few new birds for the year. 4 species of Swallow were seen 
including my first Cliff of the year. The tree Swallows were very 
photogenic today.

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/tres_01.jpg

Both Snowy and Cattle Egrets were seen, as well as plenty of waterfowl, 
including 15 more Greater Scaup east of the main unit on one of the rest 
ponds. Perhaps the highlight of the entire day was watching 2 very 
interesting interactions. The first was a single American White Pelican, 
sitting in the middle of s school of very large carp that were in the 
shallows, trying to swim onto land (at least that was the only place to 
go). The pelican spent a good 20 minutes while I watched trying to get 
one of these fish into its mouth. It was failing miserably, before it 
finally got lucky and nabbed a rather robust fish and spent the next 10 
minutes working on swallowing it. I watched all this form 50 feet away 
in great light with my camera in hand.

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/awpe_01.jpg
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/awpe_02.jpg
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/awpe_04.jpg

Just after this I watched two Western Grebes, er, a, I don’t know if 
they were fighting, or you know… In any event this interaction went on 
for a good minute and a half before the two birds parted and stayed a 
little ways apart.

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/wegr_01.jpg

I missed out on getting good shots of a White-faced Ibis trying to take 
down a Leopard Frog with a good 5 inch tail still on it. The ibis didn’t 
want to stand sideways to me, and walked away. Most of my shots were out 
of focus or blurred… Oh well.

Finally I stopped by Farmington Bay which by 5:45 had closed gates. I 
drove out to the ponds at the end of Glover's Lane and about jumped out 
of my seat when I saw a very strange looking duck. My first thought was 
Pomera's goofy duck, but when the bird turned towards me it didn’t have 
a rusty head. Instead if looked rather Gadwall like, but with a white 
neck ring and a small patch of green just above it. The breast was the 
rufous-brown of a Mallard, and the body was a washed out gray. One wing 
had a white patch, while the other had a dark patch. Truly a unique bird 
and what appears to be a Mallard x Gadwall Hybrid!

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/april07/hyrbrid_dabbler_01.jpg

Ended the day with 83 species and 7 new birds for the year, and 
hopefully no problems at work tomorrow!

Good Birding

Tim
tanager at timaverybirding.com
http://www.timaverybirding.com
Salt Lake City, Utah