[Birdtalk] Too Much Fun in Wellsville!

[Kristin Purdy]

Can you have too much fun while birding? I think I did today at the Sherwood 
Hills Resort and Conference Center in Wellsville, Cache County. The resort 
has built two water features that spill and pool down the east slope below 
the hotel buildings and boy-oh-boy, do the birds know where to tank up and 
bathe! The bird activity was great.

I had the most fun watching the styles of different species approach the 
water and bathe. My all-time favorite were the Warbling Vireos. Taking their 
inspiration from the tern family I guess, Warbling Vireos are plunge-divers. 
They fly a vertical loop over the pool from surrounding trees and dip close 
to the water's surface. Only once in 10 or 15 tries do they actually hit the 
water. But when they do, they plop! and then fly quickly to a perch and 
begin preening. I saw Plumbeous and CASSIN'S VIREOS try this too, but I only 
noticed a Plumbeous actually plop in.

The Nashville Warblers just couldn't seem to figure out how to approach the 
water. They surveyed it from overhanging Mountain Maple branches, from 
within a Red Osier Dogwood and cotoneaster next to a cascading waterfall, 
and even made forays out over the pool like the vireos did. I don't think I 
ever saw a Nashville in the water. I did, however, see four within the same 
binocular view while they hopped in the branches of the cotoneaster, trying 
to figure something out.

A dead branch of the Mountain Maple was a very popular staging spot and at 
once I saw a Black-capped Chickadee, Warbling Vireo and Nashville Warbler 
all on the same branch. A young Chipping Sparrow fluttered down out of the 
tree and landed next to the pool; following the motion of the sparrow led me 
to a Hermit Thrush standing in the water and drinking. The bird later 
returned for a little dip.

The robins, Western Tanagers and Yellow-rumped Warblers weren't shy. When I 
approached the second pool, three adult male Yellow-rumps and five robins 
were plunked down in the water along the sloping edge of the pool, all 
puffed out and looking unwary and highly satisfied. The tanagers were fond 
of the cotoneaster next to the waterfall, they staged from the shrub and 
splashed in the small cascading pools.

I can easily say that watching these pools was one of the best birding 
experiences of the year; I watched the two spots for 2-3 hours and crept as 
close as 15 feet or so. The birds didn't care as long as I moved slowly.

Here's the whole list of birds around or using the water:

Rufous Hummingbird
juvenile Downy Woodpecker
Empid*
Plumbeous Vireo (maybe a half-dozen)
CASSIN'S VIREO (at least four)
Warbling Vireos (many)
Black-capped Chickadee (a gang)
Red-breasted Nuthatches (at least three)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robins (at least six)
Hermit Thrush
Orange-crowned Warbler (two)
Nashville Warbler (at least four)
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler (two)
MacGillivray's Warbler (two)
Western Tanagers
Chipping Sparrows (many, esp juvies)
Dark-eyed Juncos (the place was infested with them)
Lazuli Buntings
Pine Siskins

The empid was surprising and I need to do some research on this one. The 
bird seemed large, worn, long-tailed, and had a bright yellow-orange lower 
mandible; the color wrapped above to the base of the upper mandible. The 
bird turned toward me and exposed an indistinct white triangle at the base 
of its throat, otherwise, the throat was grayish and didn't contrast much 
with the side of its face. Without checking, my best guess is a Willow 
Flycatcher. The yellow-orange color extending to the upper mandible and 
limited white on the throat threw me; the bird didn't seem to have as 
pronounced flat forehead as I expect on a Willow.

If you've guessed that these two spots would make a GREAT photo op, you're 
right. Mornings would be best because the water features are on an 
east-facing slope. I was sitting on the grass or on stairs; birders might 
want to take a portable chair and photogs might want to take a blind or camo 
netting. Setting up a few perches by water's edge might be a good idea, too. 
One pool has a sloping edge that's good for small birds to bathe, but it's 
not that attractive. This pool's waterfall is turned off, too. Hat's off to 
the photogs who can capture an image of the moment those vireos hit the 
water in their plunge-dives. Both of these features are situated at lawn and 
gazebo areas that are likely used for weddings, so you might want to check 
the wedding schedule at the front desk before you get set up there.

Park in the main parking lot at the entrance and walk around the right side 
of the main building, then down the slope. When you reach the east side, you 
should see two different white gazebos below through the trees; one is a 
little off to the right and the other a little off to the left. Heading to 
either will cause you to pass one of the water features. The big pool 
lacking the white bridge hosted the best activity this morning, but the 
other one was fun, too.

I did my watching from about 9:00 to 11:30, the activity waxed and waned 
during that time. When I left at about 12:15, I checked both pools again and 
there was no activity.

Sherwood Hills is located at mile 12.7 of US-91 between Mantua and 
Wellsville.

Kris