[Birdtalk] Bear River Refuge - this morning

[Betsy_Beneke at fws.gov]

Sharon and Cal Andrus, Sarah Yates, Jean Hawrylo, Carolyn & Ted McGrath,
Steve Brown and Betsy Beneke surveyed the avifaunal resources of the Bear
River Migratory Bird Refuge today, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  We recorded
61 species of birds.

We saw 12 species of WATERFOWL.  We saw no tundra swans.  Common goldeneye,
hooded, red-breasted, and common mergansers, bufflehead, and most of the
pintails appear to have moved on as well.  Shoveler numbers are down too,
from a week ago.  Canvasbacks made a good showing, with a few redheads
mixed in.  Green-winged teal numbers are still high.

We saw 4 species of GREBES - Clark's, western, eared and pied-billed;
looked hard for a horned, but no luck.

We saw a few SNOWY EGRETS today - first ones I've seen on the refuge this
year.  No great or cattle egrets were found.  There were good-sized flocks
of BLACK-NECKED STILT and WHITE-FACED IBIS - they're just starting to
appear in larger numbers the last few days.

Several pairs of SANDHILL CRANES were found along the county road and on
the Refuge.  Franklin's gull numbers are increasing daily.  We got a brief
glimpse at a single PEREGRINE FALCON.

MARBLED GODWITS are present in large numbers.  We saw both greater and
lesser YELLOWLEGS, several WILLETS, more than 25 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS
(largest group was between 2 and 3 miles west of the wildlife education
center),  ONE LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and ONE LEAST SANDPIPER in basic
plumage.  American avocets are abundant.  No other shorebird species were
seen, except for killdeer.

We also found a single VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW mixed in amongst hundreds of
TREE SWALLOWS; CLIFF, BARN and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS too.

For SPARROWS, we recorded vesper, savannah, and song.  No lark or
white-crowned sparrows were seen.  There were two BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS seen
and our first brown-headed cowbird of the season.

The only hawk seen was a northern harrier.  No terns were seen.  No owls
were seen.  No flycatchers yet.  No warblers yet.  No mountain bluebirds
this time...dang...

THANK YOU, Sharon Andrus, for keeping our trip list!!!


Betsy Beneke
Outdoor Recreation Planner
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
2155 West Forest Street
Brigham City UT  84302
435.734.6436  office
http://bearriver.fws.gov