[Birdtalk] Birding Davis County on February 29th

[Ben Palmer]

I spent yesterday birding in Davis County. I had originally planned to
do a big day and focus on seeing as many birds as I could. But about
an hour into it I decided that I was having too much fun looking for
birds and would instead just focus on trying to find some specific
species and explore new locations.

I started at Antelope Island Causeway. The first bird heard after
driving through the gate was a KILLDEER. Once I got a little further
out I found flocks of RING-BILLED GULLS on the flats and huge flocks
of ducks on the North side of the road. I briefly looked through the
ducks and found hundreds of NORTHERN SHOVELERS with NORTHERN PINTAILS
and GREEN-WINGED TEALS mixed in. I also saw four TUNDRA SWANS fly over
and found a few COMMON GOLDENEYES, two BARROW'S GOLDENEYES, six
AMERICAN WIDGEONS, and some REDHEADS. I continued on to the big bridge
and found five LONG-TAILED DUCKS and. A little ways past the bridge
were three BUFFLEHEADS.

Once on the Island I decided to look for ROCK WRENS at Ladyfinger
Point and was pleased to find three of them. Also at the point were
about 25 CHUKARS and a dozen Jack Rabbits. The other birds seen there
were a single fly-over DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT and numerous gulls.

I spent quite a while looking for Bewick's Wren in the vicinity of
Bridger Bay, but was never able to find any.

I headed on down to Garr Ranch. On the way, I spotted a PRAIRIE
FALCON, a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, two AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, and many
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS. At the ranch, I found a HERMIT THRUSH
ferociously chasing an AMERICAN ROBIN, as well as a SONG SPARROW,
several DARK-EYED JUNCOS, and two GREAT HORNED OWLS.

After leaving the island, I headed to the Bountiful Cemetery.
Unfortunately, it was completely dead. There were just a couple of
BALD EAGLES circling high overhead and a few AMERICAN CROWS in the
trees.

I then headed East toward Mueller Park. On the way up 1800 S in
Bountiful I saw a flock of about ten birds dive into a tree. I pulled
over and was pleased to find that they were RED CROSSBILLS. This was
near the school at about 1175 E.  At Mueller Park, I briefly birded
the trail that starts just outside the gate. On the trail, I found a
couple of STELLER'S JAYS, a single RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, a few
DARK-EYED JUNCOS, and I heard three PINE SISKINS.

After that, I decided to head North to Adam's Canyon in East Layton. I
hoped to find flocks of Chickadees with Kinglets foraging in the scrub
oak, but was disappointed to only find AMERICAN ROBINS. I headed up
the canyon but again did not find much. Only a single TOWNSEND'S
SOLITARE was seen on the south-facing side of the canyon.

Birds for the day:

Antelope Island and Causeway
Northern Flicker
Loggerhead Shrike
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Rock Wren
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
American Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
American Wigeon
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrows Goldeneye
Chukar
Ring-necked Pheasant
Double-crested Cormorant
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Prairie Falcon
American Kestrel
American Coot
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Great Horned Owl


Mueller Park
Steller's Jay
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pine Siskin
Black-capped Chickadee


Bountiful
American Crow
House Finch
Red Crossbill
House Sparrow
Bald Eagle

Layton
Mourning Dove
Red-tailed Hawk
Townsend's Solitare
American Robin