[Birdtalk] SL Itnl Center - Gray Catbird, Empids, Warbs, etc

[Tim Avery]

Reading Jack's post this morning I decided to head back to the International 
Center, on a quiet Saturday Morning.  If Garr Ranch was hopping the IC could 
be too! And it was! I took the Wright Brothers Drive exit and jsut getting 
off the freeway I could hear BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS singing from multiple 
directions.  I decided to park and bird the southeast corner, and area I 
typically avoid due to the amount of traffic.  After getting out of the car, 
the first bird I spotted in a Russian Olive was a BLACK-THROATED GRAY 
WARBLER, a new bird for the IC list in eBird.org. I ended up spending almost 
45 minutes in this small area where I was treated to looks at lots of YELLOW 
WARBLERS, a few ORANGE-CROWNED, a WILSON'S, and a number of YELLOW-RUMPED, 
including a bright male "Myrtle's" subspecies. Several LAZULI BUNTINGS were 
buzzing, while numerous AMERICAN GOLDFINCH were singing. In one tree I found 
two empids, one nice looking CORDILLERAN and a DUSKY FLYCATHER for nice 
comparison.  Walking back to my car I hear a distinct "mewwwing" from the 
west side of Wright Brothers drive, where I discovered a GRAY CATBIRD 
working its way through a large patch of Russian Olive.  Back near my car I 
tracked down a lingering WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW and an arriving HERMIT 
THRUSH.

Near the center of the IC, around the T intersection of Earhart and 
Lindbergh were a couple more arrivals including BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (new 
for the IC), a BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD (another new one), a beautiful 
MacGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and several BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. 
And my favorite bird, of course, a WESTERN TANAGER flew by headed west down 
Earhart.

Finally, 2 CASSIN'S FINCH along 5600 West were an oddly late lowland find. 
And on the dirt road heading north from Wright Brothers Drive was an EASTERN 
KINGBIRD at the turn around near the river, another new bird for the list 
that has grown to over 135 species in the last year. To see a complete list 
click below:

http://tinyurl.com/6pdcgw

The water in the playas along 7200 West are all but dry and shorebird-less, 
but 4 SWAINSON'S HAWKS were hovering over the fields jsut south of I-80. Lee 
Kay Ponds hosted its usual fair including 2 late CANVASBACK, 5 or 6 
FORSTER'S TERN, a single PELICAN, several BLACK-NECKED STILT, and 3 
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE.

Here is a complete list of birds from the IC today:

> Location:     Salt Lake International Center
> Observation date:     5/10/08
> Number of species:     56
>
> Canada Goose     4
> Mallard     5
> Cinnamon Teal     2
> Eared Grebe     2
> White-faced Ibis     11
> Turkey Vulture     3
> Red-tailed Hawk     1
> American Kestrel     1
> American Coot     3
> Killdeer     10
> California Gull     20
> Rock Pigeon     2
> Mourning Dove     30
> Broad-tailed Hummingbird     1
> Hammond's Flycatcher     1
> Dusky Flycatcher     1
> Cordilleran Flycatcher     1
> Western Kingbird     30
> Eastern Kingbird     1
> Black-billed Magpie     2
> Common Raven     1
> Violet-green Swallow     10
> Northern Rough-winged Swallow     10
> Bank Swallow     5
> Cliff Swallow     200
> Barn Swallow     25
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet     1
> Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     1
> Hermit Thrush     1
> American Robin     20
> Gray Catbird     1
> European Starling     50
> Orange-crowned Warbler     3
> Yellow Warbler     40
> Yellow-rumped Warbler     10
> Black-throated Gray Warbler     1
> MacGillivray's Warbler     1
> Common Yellowthroat     1
> Wilson's Warbler     1
> Western Tanager     1
> Green-tailed Towhee     1
> Chipping Sparrow     10
> Song Sparrow     1
> White-crowned Sparrow     1
> Black-headed Grosbeak     8
> Lazuli Bunting     2
> Red-winged Blackbird     30
> Western Meadowlark     10
> Yellow-headed Blackbird     15
> Brewer's Blackbird     100
> Bullock's Oriole     5
> Cassin's Finch     2
> House Finch     40
> Lesser Goldfinch     1
> American Goldfinch     20
> House Sparrow     30
>
> This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Good Birding

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