[Birdtalk] International Center Birding

[Tim Avery]

As mentioned on birdnet, I had several great birds at the IC tonight
(International Center is way too long to write).  If you haven't spent some
time birding there yet, it would be well worth your time.  As Colby has figured
out, and I have followed, being on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake, and
having quite a bit of tree cover, and understory, the IC works out as somewhat
of  a large migrant trap during fall migration.  Passerine migrants over the
Great Salt Lake, don;t have a whole lot of choices for places to forage once
daylight comes and the birds find themselves out over barren soil, or what
remains of the salty water.  The IC is in a great location and thus far this
fall has proven its worth.  According to eBird, we have recorded 67 species
this month, 3 of which have been vagrants.

The IC is located just to the west of SL International Airport, and just north
of Interstate 80.  It can be accessed by both Wright Brothers Drive and 5600
West, and has plenty of spots to check for birds to keep someone busy an entire
day.  The best times to bird the area are on weekends when most of the
businesses are closed or have little activity.  I believe Colby has birded the
area several evenings as well when business dies down.  Mornings haven't worked
out well, and during the day it is a mess so...

Here is a list of the highlights from this evening:

Location:     Salt Lake International Center
Observation date:     9/16/07
Number of species:     44

White-faced Ibis     200 (flying south as per the last couple visits)
Peregrine Falcon     1 (chasing a Kestrel at Earhart and Lindbergh)
Great Horned Owl     1 (roosting at Earhart and Lindbergh)
Red-naped Sapsucker     1
Western Wood-Pewee     2
Hammond's Flycatcher     1
Gray Flycatcher     1
House Wren     1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     1
Townsend's Solitaire     1
Nashville Warbler     1
Yellow Warbler     1
Yellow-rumped Warbler     40
BLACKPOLL WARBLER    1
MacGillivray's Warbler     7
Wilson's Warbler     2
Western Tanager     5
Chipping Sparrow     680
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW     1
Brewer's Sparrow     20
Vesper Sparrow     1
White-crowned Sparrow     15
Dark-eyed Junco     3
Black-headed Grosbeak     2
Lazuli Bunting     1
Cassin's Finch     1

Cheers

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