[Birdtalk] 15Oct07-Reservoir Run: 70 Common Loons

[Tim Avery]

This morning I made a reservoir run, starting at Mountain Dell and Little Dell
in Salt Lake County, before hitting East Canyon, Echo and Rockport Reservoirs. 
Temperatures wee cool at the first three stops, but by noon at Echo it had
warmed up.  There was quite a bit of bird activity, including a number of fall
arrivals.  The highlight was at least 70 COMMON LOONS, at the three later
sites.    58 COMMON MERGANSERS were observed as well, and 2 BUFFLEHEAD as well
as 1 COMMON GOLDENEYE were seen at East Canyon.

Below are highlights and some more notes:
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Location:     Mountain Dell Reservoir (9:45-10:00am)
 Number of species:     6
As per the last couple Octobers, the number of Ring-necked Duck staging in the
east arm of the reservoir have peaked at over 200 birds.  This area is
definitely worth checking for the potential of a wayward Tufted Duck in teh
coming month.

 Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris     204
 Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps     2
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Location:     Little Dell Reservoir (10:00-10:10am)
 Number of species:     5
As with most visits the lake was on the dead side.  One Western Grebe was
observed on the south side of the lake working towards the dam.  Two Pipits
flew over from where I was parked at the pullout jsut above the dam off the
highway.

 Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis     1
 American Pipit - Anthus rubescens     2
-------------------------------------------------------
Location:     East Canyon Reservoir (10:30-11:45am)
 Number of species:     20
East Canyon was hopping with activity, including 27 Common Loon, as well as 3
species of grebes.  Along with these birds a number of fall diving ducks were
seen on the water, including a whopping 49 Common Mergansers, 2 Bufflehead, and
1 Common Goldeneye.

 Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola     2
 Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula     1
 Common Merganser - Mergus merganser     49
 Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis     4
 Common Loon - Gavia immer     27
 Eared Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis     2
 Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis     14
 Clark's Grebe - Aechmophorus clarkii     1
 American Pipit - Anthus rubescens     14
-------------------------------------------------------
Location:     Echo Reservoir (12:00-12:20pm)
 Number of species:     13
Fewer birds than at East Canyon.  There were 11 loons on the north side of the
reservoir.  A massive flock of over 120 Western Grebes were seen directly west
of the boat ramp.  A few American Pipits flew over as I was counting.

 Redhead - Aythya americana     9
 Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis     2
 Common Loon - Gavia immer     11
 Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis     120
 Clark's Grebe - Aechmophorus clarkii     4
 American Pipit - Anthus rubescens     10
-------------------------------------------------------
Location:     Rockport Reservoir/State Park (12:35-1:20pm)
 Number of species:     15
I finished off the day at Rockport, where the Loon show and numbers was peaking.
 33 Common Loons were seen, mostly along the east shoreline from the dam to the
boat launch.  Several were hanging around the west bank as well.  Another large
flock of Western Grebes was on the water here.  No less than 450 gulls were
seen on the muddy spit opposite the entrance to the landfill.  The juvenile
HERRING GULL previously reported by Kris Purdy was sitting with the group that
was 95% California Gulls.  AS I was counting gulls a flock of 30 Bushtits came
off the hill and into the brush between the road and the lake.

 Common Merganser - Mergus merganser     9
 Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis     13
 Common Loon - Gavia immer     33
 Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis     80
 Clark's Grebe - Aechmophorus clarkii     2
 California Gull - Larus californicus     471
 Herring Gull - Larus argentatus     1
 Bushtit - Psaltriparus minimus     30

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Cheers

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