[Birdtalk] Waterthrushes, Terns, and Shorebirds

[Tim Avery]

It has become vastly apparent that I need to take my focus off the 
photography and onto the birds, as today was a case in point.  Despite 
the windy/rainy conditions, I still was slinging my camera around and 
shooting like it was a sunny day.  And yet both Colby and I forgot field 
guides.  Not usually a problem and I commented as we left Salt Lake, 
"Last tie we didn;t have guides we found a really good bird (Western 
Gull)"...  In any event we drove up to Antelope Island where the first 
thing we saw was a flock of 25 Forester's Terns feeding out over the 
north side around MM 5.  The birds were struggling terribly with the 
wind and several were blown back to the the south side and had to work 
their way back north.  I think this picture illustrates the point:

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/fote_04.jpg

We moved on between MM 5 and 3 where shorebirds were abundant:

Western Sandpiper - 1000
Sanderling - 1000: http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/shorebirds_01.jpg
Willet - 60
Black-bellied Plover - 50
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER - 40 (This was an unusually high concentration 
for this species in Utah)
  http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/sesa_01.jpg
 comparison shot with a Western behind: 
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/sesa_02.jpg
Wilson's Phalarope - 20
Killdeer - 6
Least Sandpiper - 4
Long-billed Curlew - 3
DUNLIN - 2: http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/dunl_01.jpg
Red-necked Phalarope - 2: 
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/rnph_01.jpg
Black-necked Stilt - 2
American Avocet - 150

We also recorded 4 species of swallow on the causeway including the 
first Bank Swallow up north for the year.  The wind was impressive in 
keeping a flock of about 200 Cliff Swallow's beached.

And lastly of note along the causeway were at least 20 Western 
Kingbirds.  The birds were spread out often in flocks of 3-6 birds, from 
MM 1 to MM 5.  Another casualty of the wind.

At Garr Ranch we found 2 NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH.  1 was near the fence 
where the spring flows into the cattails and the other was in the 
understory of the first pond to the south of the ranch.  (Thanks to the 
Sommerfelds for telling us about the bird in the south pond, where they 
saw 2 earlier in the day.).  Also seen at the ranch were:

Western Wood-Pewee (FOY) - 1: 
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/wwpe_01.jpg
Hermit Thrush - 2
Bullock's Oriole - 1

Surprisingly no other migrant warblers were seen...

After spending more time going through the shorebirds we headed to 
Glover Lane where there were a number of Forster's Terns that were very 
accommodating for the camera:

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/fote_01.jpg
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/fote_02.jpg
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/fote_03.jpg

And one bird that now makes sense was what was likely a COMMON TERN.  
Colby and I were following a bird that was floating along and appeared 
to have a grayish colored body and wings.  It's didn;t really dawn on me 
at the time that the bird seemed like a Common Tern, but after looking 
at the pictures I am fairly certain the bird was a Common:

This picture is extremely cropped and sharpened, but note the 
reddish-orange bill and gray primaries on the outer wing:

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/cote_01.jpg

And finally, I stopped to photograph a pair of Cinnamon Teal, only again 
after getting home and loading my shots, the bird behind the male is 
definitely a Blue-winged Teal female and not a Cinnamon Teal.  Note the 
white crescents below and above the eye and the white base of the bill 
and throat:

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/may07/teal_01.jpg

With that said, I am on my way out the door to purchase a new Sibley as 
mine has finally fallen apart due to the torture of the field... Pages 
are following out, the binding has fallen apart, and there is more tape 
holding it together than a 3rd grade science project.  Maybe this will 
encourage bringing the new copy along with me to beat up as I did my 2nd 
copy of the guide (yes 2nd)...

Good Birding

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