[Birdtalk] UCB fieldtrip: Escalante

[Lu Giddings]

A small but enthusiastic group of Utah County Birders traveled to
Escalante late yesterday afternoon. Stops were made at Koosharem
Reservoir, at several points along Highway 12 from Torrey to Boulder to
Escalante, and in Boulder. Yesterday evening's weather was cool and wet
as thunderstorms pounded the area both before we arrived and after
sunset. This morning was clear, dry, and began warm and wound up hot by
noon. We birded in Escalante from 7 a.m. until about 12:30 p.m. After
lunch, we decided to make the trek directly home, rather than stop at
Bryce Canyon.

Birds looked for but not seen include:
- vermillion flycatcher
- indigo bunting
- painted bunting
- greater roadrunner

Trip highlights include, in no particular order:
- seeing both an acorn woodpecker and a Lewis's woodpecker at the acorn
woodpecker tree 5.5 miles north of Boulder on Highway 12
- wild turkeys seemingly everywhere in Escalante. Yesterday evening a
flock of 13 hens and two toms approached with 10 yards of our vehicles
as we sat quietly at the edge of field, watching them. Once we drove on,
another flock of at least a dozen birds was seen disappearing into the
brush along the creek in the field immediately to the east of the one we
had just been watching. And a third large flock was seen in a field near
the sawmill just a few minutes later.
- Wide Hollow Reservoir was alive with black-throated gray warblers this
morning. There seemed to be  hundreds of them, in the cottonwoods, in
the willows, in the junipers and sage. At one point I had six of them in
one binocular field of vision at a distance of less than 50'.
- Wide Hollow Reservoir was alive with many other birds as well. An
osprey was seen diving at American coots. There were several hundreds of
ducks, mostly in the shallows at the far ends of the reservoir. Most
seem to have begun the molt into their dreaded, bland standard plumage
but a few cinnamon teal were still sporting breeding plumage, as was a
wood duck. One distant beach was occupied by 11 turkey vultures and 7
great blue herons, all within about 50' of each other. Chipping sparrows
were nearly as numerous as black-throated gray warblers.
- young western scrub jays were seen begging from their parents this
morning. And young pinion jays were observed in town, from a very near
distance, also begging from their parents.

Also of note: we received a report of a painted bunting sighting. The
young lady told us it could be seen in the shrubs and trees around her
house in Boulder for several days during the Spring, several years ago.
The young lady had not known what the bird was but her father told her
he used to see them all the time when he grew up in Texas. She described
the bird pretty well for a non-birder; I thumbed through a copy of the
National Geographic Field guide with her, looking at various
possibilities, and she was confident that the painted bunting was her
bird. For what it's worth. . . .

Lu Giddings

84 trip species; 58 species seen in Escalante
Total Count: 84
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Pintail
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Blue Grouse
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Kestrel
American Coot
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Long-billed Curlew
Californian Gull
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
White-throated Swift
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Lewis's Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Western Wood-Pewee
Say's Phoebe
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Plumbeous Vireo
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Pinyon Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Bewick's Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Townsend's Solitaire
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Blue Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
Cassin's Finch
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow