[Birdtalk] Long-eared Owl at Willard Bay

[Kristin Purdy]

Walt Betts and I saw a LONG-EARED OWL at Willard Bay State Park in Box Elder 
County today...serendipity! The owl was roosting low in a phragmites-choked 
tree along a channel about 25 yards west of Willow Creek Campsite #15. I 
think this bird was just passing through as it appeared to be alone and not 
near a potential nest site. I also believe the owl was a female by virtue of 
a relatively rusty facial disk and dark coloration. Walt and I were the only 
two from the Wasatch Audubon group who saw the bird because we were the 
slowpokes and the rest of the group had left by then. Just for reference, 
campsite #15 is the same one where Mumps the Squirrel and a Harris's Sparrow 
hung out last winter.

Seems to me that Long-ears should be paired up at nest sites by now, so I 
find some element of mystery in this sighting.

Other highlights included four HORNED GREBES; two in the sewage treatment 
pond north of the park, one in Willard Reservoir's exit channel and one in 
the pond at the north end of Willow Creek Campground. Three of the four 
birds were in half n' half winter/summer plumage; the fourth was purely a 
winter bird.

Our group found lots of turkey feathers along one of the paths between the 
day use parking lot and Eagle Beach; we wondered if one of the three turkeys 
seen consistently during the winter had met its demise at the teeth of a 
coyote. Later, I saw only two hen Wild Turkeys in Willow Creek Campground.

Several folks saw a pair of Eurasian-collared Doves near the parking lot; 
the sighting may constitute the first of this species in the park.

I also saw what I believed to be Humpback Whales breaching in the exit 
channel at the north end of the reservoir; on closer inspection I came to 
the conclusion that these creatures were just really large carping jumping 
above the water's surface.

Other species in and around the park:

Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ring-necked Pheasant
California Quail
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Franklin's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Caspian Tern
Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
One White Bunny

Kris