[Birdtalk] 06Aug07-Lakefront: Garr Ranch major FALLOUT!

[Tim Avery]

I headed out to Antelope Island and Garr Ranch today in hopes of tracking down a
Red-eyed Vireo and Winter Wren for the year.  Those two species did not
disappoint.  More so, from the minute I walked into the trees at the ranch I
knew it was something of a "special" day.  The first bird I saw was a very
bright adult CASSIN'S VIREO.  In fact so bright I would have to say it was more
likely a hybrid than a pure Cassin's.  By day's end I would see at least 2 and
maybe 3 more birds that fit this hybrid clade.

I have often wondered what a fallout at Garr Ranch would look like.  I have
birded a number of locales in the midwest that had "suffered" a fallout and was
always amazed by the quantity of birds and the variety of species.  But in 12
years I had never seen such an event at Garr Ranch... Until this morning!  I
started birding at 10 am and didn't leave till 2 pm when it got a little warm
and the bird activity died down.  But for 4 hours it was somewhat...
ridiculous!  I  had 3 high counts for myself in Utah, the most impressive being
a total of 65 WILSON'S WARBLER.  They were literally crawling all over the
place.  At one time I had 6 birds in my field of view at one spot.  The second
most impressive number was Cassin's "type" Vireo, of which 14 were seen,
exhibiting a wide array of plumages.  And thirdly was the number of Hammond's
Flycatchers, 11.  Along with 6 Dusky, and 3 other species of empid it was
astonishing.

As with Rick Fridell's prediction, I managed to eek out 3 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.
 More so impressive was the array of mountain birds that were present.  6
CASSIN'S FINCH, 4 PINE SISKIN, 8 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, 2 DARK-EYED JUNCO, 6
SWAINSON'S THRUSH, and 4 HERMIT THRUSH rounded out an impressive group of
"unexpected" birds.

Finally, along with the number of Wilson's Warblers, there were 6 other species
including 4 TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, another high number in a day for me.  Below is
a list of all the highlights, pictures to come later:

Black-chinned Hummingbird     1
Rufous Hummingbird     3
Western Wood-Pewee     1
Willow Flycatcher     1
Hammond's Flycatcher     11
Gray Flycatcher     1
Dusky Flycatcher     6
Cordilleran Flycatcher     1
Cassin's Vireo     14
Red-eyed Vireo     1
Red-breasted Nuthatch     3
Rock Wren     1
House Wren     4
Winter Wren     1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     2
Swainson's Thrush     6
Hermit Thrush     4
Orange-crowned Warbler     1
Nashville Warbler     1
Yellow Warbler     1
Yellow-rumped Warbler     1
Townsend's Warbler     4
MacGillivray's Warbler     2
Wilson's Warbler     65
Western Tanager     3
Chipping Sparrow     4
Brewer's Sparrow     1
Vesper Sparrow     2
Lark Sparrow     20
Savannah Sparrow     1
White-crowned Sparrow     8
Dark-eyed Junco     2
Black-headed Grosbeak     1
Lazuli Bunting     2
Cassin's Finch     6
Pine Siskin     4


Cheers

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