[Birdtalk] 18Oct07-Salt Lake Conty: Horned Grebe, Herring Gulls

[Tim Avery]

This afternoon I birded Mountain Dell Reservoir, Little Dell Reservoir and
Decker Lake, before meeting up with Colby Neuman and birding Lee Kay Ponds,
Salt Air Marina (Great Salt Lake State Park), and parts of the Salt Lake
International Center.  Below are some of the highlights.

Location:     Mountain Dell Reservoir
 Number of species:     4
Still no loons for this body of water, but the grebes were a delightful
surprise.

  Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris     200
  Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis     4
  Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon     1

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Location:     Little Dell Reservoir
 Number of species:     6
Both species of grebes as well as the 2 species of diving ducks were a nice
addition to the typical avifauna on the lake.

  Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris     8
  Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis     2
  Eared Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis     6
  Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis     6

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Location:     Decker Lake
 Number of species:     14
A few yellowlegs on the mudflats, and about 15 Killdeer.  Waterfowl numbers are
starting to build, as well as the gull flock near the outlet.  As I was leaving
a Peregrine Falcon was seen fling over Redwood Road.

  Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus     1
  Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus     1
  Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes     3

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Location:     Lee Kay Ponds
 Number of species:     27
The HORNED GREBE was still present, today it was out on the open water in the
middle of the west pond.  I was surprised to find 3 adult HERRING GULL on the
rock line in the west pond, and a juvenile on the main pond.  Colby located 2
more juveniles after arriving.  A flock of 13 Wigeon passed overhead twice. 
There is still a Plegadis Ibis (presumably White-faced) in the southwest corner
of the west pond, that doens;t look to be doing to well).  In the east pond
several Ring-billed Gull were feeding on a dead American White Pelican.

  Redhead - Aythya americana     6
  Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis     10
  Horned Grebe - Podiceps auritus     1
  Eared Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis     6
  Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis     2
  American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos     1
  Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus     13
  White-faced Ibis - Plegadis chihi     1
  American Avocet - Recurvirostra americana     4
  Herring Gull - Larus argentatus     6

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Location:     Salt Air Marina
 Number of species:     6
The water was like glass looking north and visibility was probably 10~ miles.  A
smattering of Eared Grebe could be seen on the water, but very few gulls were
present as opposed to past trips.  4 Redhead were on the pond before the
entrance station.

  Redhead - Aythya americana     4

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Location:     Salt Lake International Center
 Number of species:     19
Passerine migration is now on decent, and warblers were all but absent.  We did
manage to find one female or juvenile MACGILLIVRAYS'S WARBLER north of the
Unisource building, and 1 Yellow-rumped along Mitchell Drive.  Colby had a
Mountain Chickadee at the southwest corner of the Compeq building as well.

  Mountain Chickadee - Poecile gambeli     1
  Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus calendula     16
  Yellow-rumped Warbler - Dendroica coronata     1
  MacGillivray's Warbler - Oporornis tolmiei     1
  Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina     2
  Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     1
  Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis     35

Parts of this report were 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