[Birdtalk] Utah Trip 4-15 Aug, Epilogue and Additions

[Kurt Gaskill]

Utah Trip 4-15 Aug, Epilogue and Additions

 

I had forgotten to report in the my last message, kindly posted by Kris
Purdy, that Gray Catbird and Yellow-breasted Chat were near the Campground
Amphitheatre, Capital Reef NP on Aug 10.  Wonderful location, very striking.

 

Aug 11: From Manti, I drove up to Skyline Drive.  An AWESOME view!  Top bird
was Townsend's Warbler (adult male, likely an early migrant) at a conifer
edge near 9000 feet.  The birds were great for this leg and many young of
many species were noted.  Some highlights were Northern Harrier,
Black-chinned Hummingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher (6), Western Wood Pewee
(12), Hammond's Flycatcher, Clark's Nutcracker (2), Horned Lark (25),
Rough-winged Swallow, Mountain Bluebird (13), Orange-crowned Warbler (2),
Virginia's Warbler (5), Yellow-rumped Warbler (3), MacGillivray's Warbler
(3), Wilson's Warbler (1), Western Tanager (4), Green-tailed Towhee (3),
Spotted Towhee, Chipping Sparrow (45), Brewer's Sparrow (2), Vesper Sparrow
(2), Lincoln's Sparrow (2), White-crowned Sparrow (8), DE Junco (65),
Black-headed Grosbeak, and Cassin's Finch (7).

 

Later that day we drove along the Mt Nebo scenic drive and noted a Western
Tanager feeding fledged young.  Soon we arrived on the southern edge of Utah
Lake.  Highlights here were (we birded the lake edge but the best stop was
the small boat ramp/beach area in the south central of the lake):  Western
Grebe (2), Clark's Grebe (48), Snowy Egret (5), White-faced Ibis (4), Osprey
(2), Swainson's Hawk (3), American Kestrel (3), Am. Coot (16), Snowy Plover
(4), Semipalmated Plover (2), Killdeer (2), Spotted Sandpiper, Willet,
Long-billed Curlew (7), Marbled Godwit (5), Western Sandpiper, Caspian Tern
(2), Western Kingbird (6), Eastern Kingbird (2), Tree Swallow (220), No.
Rough-winged Swallow (4), Bank Swallow (3730), Barn Swallow (60), swallow
sp. (350), and Lark Sparrow (2).  We then continued on to Midway.

 

Aug 12: I did point counts out of Midway up the canyon towards Guardsmen
Pass in the morning (for less than 2 hours), nothing too unusual although
Orange-crowned, Virginia's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped and MacGillivray's were
easily noted. Also 5 Red-tailed Hawks were kiting over the ridge near the
Park City turn-off.  On the way down to SLC we picked up American Dipper at
a pull-out along the Big Cottonwood Cyn Road.

 

I was attending a conference from this point on, but Aug 15 (Wed) was a
light day and I took a co-worker out for a scenic drive.  We stopped at
Trial Lake Campground (to avoid the rain near Bear Pass) in the
mid-afternoon and my co-worker got out to explore the lake as I tried to
catch 20 winks in the car.  In between "winks" I heard the Am. Three-toed WP
- we parked near site 44 or so.

 

Thanks to all who offered advice and suggestions, Mark Gerber, Betsy Beneke,
Ryan O'Donnell, Bill Fenimore, and Tim Avery.  Also a tip-O'-the-hat to Mark
Stackhouse and Adrian Binns for a delightful run-in up in the Uintahs.
Special Thanks to Kris Purdy for useful discussion and feedback.  And a Big
Thank You to all the folks in Utah who made a delightful trip possible -
come on out to Virginia and I would be pleased to provide help or do a bit
of gonzo birding.

 

Wishing You All Good Birds,

 

Kurt Gaskill

Alexandria, VA

 

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