[Birdtalk] ABA birding

[Tim Avery]

Having the ABA convention in town this past week was a great escuse to get out birding.  I was the local help on 2 field trips, both to Brighton and the ISSR, on Thursday and Saturday.  I also took several private groups out for Owls and other local specialties.  From Wednesday to Saturday, I recorded 114 species in Salt Lake County, including a couple notable sightings already posted to birdnet.  At the convention I was able to catch up with a few old friends, as well as meet a number of people I had only been in contact with thru email, as well as a number of other recognizable names in the birding world.  This event brought birders from across the United States, as well as a number of individuals from around the world to our backyard, shining a spotlight on what Utah has to offer in terms of birding.  Many professional guides were here to help with the field trips as well.  I had the pleasure of having Steve Howell (author of  A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America , 
Hummingbirds of North America: The Photographic Guide, and co-author of the newest gull guide with Jon Dunn, Peterson Reference Guides: Gulls of the Americas), Jeff Gordon, Jeff Bouton, Jim Danzenbaker, and Adrian Binns on one or the other trips as guides.  A number of  participants on each trip saw life birds, including one gentelmen form Africa who had to have ticked off 50 or so lifers on Thursday.

Some highlights included:

2 White-winged Crossbills in Brighton
2 Northern Goshawk at Silver Lake
3 Snowy Plover at Lee's Creek Preserve
Both Prairie and Peregrine Falcon
5 Dusky Grouse in Big Cottonwood Canyon
All 3 species of Teal at the ISSR
Virginia's and MacGillivray's Warblers for almost every participant

I had the opportunity to chat with Ted Floyd who presented the 10 Greatest Birds in the World on Thursday night.  The guy seems to be an endless pot of bird knowledge.  Throughout the convention I found myself time and time again chatting with Paul Lehman who's persepctive on birding in North America pretty much goes unrivaled. It was an impressive gathering to say the least, and alongside all these nationally known birding figures a number of locals were also around: Steve Carr (who basically set everything up form the local side), Colby Neuman, Deedee O'Brien, Dennis Shirley, Bill Fenimore, Lu Giddings, and Merrill Webb were all helping with trips as well.

Good Birding

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