[Birdtalk] GSL Birdfest Marathon Birding Results...

[Tim Avery]

This is long, so hti delete if you dont want to read a story...  

Yesterday, (May 15), I was joined by Michael Bateman, Ned Bixler, Dave Hanscom, Larene Wyss and our driver Steve Kirkham for 16 hours of birding in northern Utah.  It was a beautiful day to be out birding, minus the wind... However, it was obvious that migration is a bit behind schedule, and above 6000 feet, there are very few deciduous trees with foliage.  Much of the day was spent checking patches of trees that were all but silent of migrants, minus the melodic tune of YELLOW WARBLERS, which were everywhere.  We started the morning at the Ponds at Glover Lane just after 6:00am, where most of the target birds for that stop were present. 2 RING-NECKED DUCK were the only seen all day,  From here we headed to Farmington Bay WMA where we picked up SNOWY EGRET, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW and 3 BLUE-WINGED TEAL.

WE hopped on the freeway and made our way to Antelope Island Causeway which was covered with a shorebirds.  At first glance I thought there was the usual 1,000's of phalarope off to the north around the first bridge.  However, upon closer inspection, it was obvious that the majority of the birds to the north were actually SANDERLING, and I am talking a lot of them.  I estimated there were about 10,000 along with a couple hundred BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, a bunch of WILSON'S and RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, and smaller numbers of WESTERN SANDPIPER, and a handful of BAIRD'S SANDPIPER.  Along the causeway was a nice surprise in 2 late northbound BONAPARTE'S GULL, in the midst of moulting.  On the island we snagged SAY'S PHOEBE, CHUKAR, ROCK WREN and our only BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER of the day before taking off.  Back near I-15 two AMERICAN CROW were seen, the only for the day.

Just south of the town of Willard in a pasture with a herd of cattle were several CATTLE EGRET, again the only of the day.  2 OSPREY could be seen from the interstate in the trees at Willard Bay State Park.  On the actual bay was an amazing site with well over 100 FORSTER'S TERN and at least 30 BLACK TERN feeding out over the lake in the gusty winds.  The usual fare of waterbirds was also present.  In the north campground we started adding a few passerine migrants, including one of only two WESTERN TANAGER seen all day, a few LAZULI BUNTING, a ton of WESTERN KINGBIRD, YELLOW WARBLER, a few YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, a single chipping MacGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, a singing BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER (the last two were the only recorded all day), a CHIPPING SPARROW,  WARBLING VIREO, a number of BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK and a ton of BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.  A lone WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW was lingering, and a surprise BARN OWL was the only owl for the day. An obvious sign of slow migration was the lack of either Gray Catbird or Eastern Kingbird, both mid May staples at this locale.

A huge miss was Great-tailed Grackle which weren't at the Flying J or the Wal-Mart in Brigham City.  Our next stop was at Mantua Reservoir which was covered with at least 500 Western/Clark's Grebe's (probably an underestimate), and a SPOTTED SANDPIPER picked out of the rocks by Larene. Our first BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD buzzed by as we were scanning the lake as well.

We cruised into Cache County, and made our way up the west side of the Valley through Mendon, where there were nearly 50 SANDHILL CRANES scattered in the fields. Nothing of Note at Benson Marina.  A stop at the Logan River Golf Course surely had to improve our situation with migrants, but the woods were dead... Yellow Warblers and the other WESTERN TANAGER for the day were about it.  We stopped at 3rd, 2nd and 1st dam in Logan Canyon, which were all pretty dead.  We made a flurry of stops while going up Logan Canyon, where the only DUSKY FLYCATCHER, FOX SPARROW, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, and VIRGINIA'S WARBLER were heard/seen.  One small flock of WHITE-THROATED SWIFT were seen among the cliffs while NO American Dipper or Northern Flicker were seen or heard.  At Franklin Basin Road just below Beaver Mountain we found 8 RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER in a small patch of Aspen, along with several HOUSE WREN, DARK-EYED JUNCO (including an "Oregon" race!!!), and a very cream colored VESPER SPARROW.  On Beaver Mountain we managed to snag a couple of much needed montane species, including a number of RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, a lone RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, a single GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET and several MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE.  At the actual resort there was still plenty of snow on the slopes, but in a large melt patch was a mixed flock of juncos, Chipping Sparrow and lone male CASSIN'S FINCH.  A MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD was perched atop a pine here, and the only thrush for the day was a calling SWAINSON'S THRUSH off in the woods.

Besides missing dipper, we struck out on Red Crossibill, Canyon Wren, Spotted Towhee, and a few other needed birds.  Perhaps the biggest misses in terms of mountain birds were no Steller's Jay and no Pine Siskin.  We also missed Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawk, as well as Hairy Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Lincoln's Sparrow and Cedar Waxwing and a handful of other birds I would expect to pick up this time of year.

We kept on moving driving through Garden City to Laketown where we stopped briefly when I thought I saw a Caspian Tern on the beach.  No Caspian, just a pair of California Gull, and a couple Forster's Tern.  The turquoise blue water of the lake was a welcome site in the mid-afternoon however.  Just outside of Laketown  as we continued east on HWY 30, our driver spotted a hawk in a sagebrush low off the ground.  Something looked off about the bird, as it looked about size of a Red-tailed Hawk, but with a strange pattern.  I asked him to go back so we could take a look. Upon getting back to the spot along the road, I exclaimed, that it was a Cooper's Hawk... for about 10 seconds, before I realized that it was actually a NORTHERN GOSHAWK (not yet in adult plumage).  The bird seemed nervous, and when it attempted to fly it was obvious why, as it appeared to have an injured wing.  The bird made its way into a juniper where it sat for the remainder of the time we watched it.

We hit SR-16 and headed south to Randolph, where there was a RING-BILLED GULL with a flock of California Gulls in a field just outside of town. Nothing else of note however.  Right before making our way into Woodruff, a lone male COMMON GRACKLE flew north past the car, with a male Brewer's Blackbird hot on its tail harassing it. Up to this point I was surprised we hadn't yet seen any collared-doves, especially in Woodruff or Randolph.  In what was literally the last house heading south out of town there were 2 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE trying to blend into a tree.  We headed onto Deseret Ranch where we wrangled up SAGE THRASHER, BREWER'S SPARROW, more VESPER SPARROW, SAVANNAH SPARROW and a few waterfowl.  We just happened to see the mini-bus with the Deseret Ranch tour heading towards the ranch house, so we followed them in, where Bill Fenimore told us it would be alright to bird around the property, not that it was all that birdy... The trees were all lacking leaves, and it was pretty dead.  Dave spotted our only LARK SPARROW of the day feeding on the road here. A couple CASSIN'S FINCH were present as well as a Sandhill Crane, House Wren, and smattering of Yellow Warblers and Bullock's Oriole.  2 SAY'S PHOEBE were working on a nest under the eaves of one of the barns.  We only stayed about 15 minutes before heading out and back across the ranch.  At the pond along the main east-west route through the ranch property were a few birds we had missed earlier in the day.  Among about 10 LEAST SANDPIPER, was a lone SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.  We finally picked up NORTHERN PINTAIL, AMERICAN WIGEON, and NORTHERN SHOVELER here as well.  And Along with a couple White-faced Ibis, there were several WILSON'S and RED-NECKED PHALAROPE.  A surprise miss along the road here was Sage Sparrow, as well as Ferruginous Hawk.  Also, no terns, and not a single Wilson's Snipe.  Just as we were almost to the main road I was mentioning the lack of raptors and how we hadn't seen a Golden Eagle all day. As if on command 2 GOLDEN EAGLE appeared above the car, circling for everyone to see.

>From here we headed into Wyoming and made a pit stop in Evanston.  The heavy winter we had really put the squeeze on the alpine birding I would have liked to have done with the group, but Mirror Lake Highway, Monte Christo Highway, East Canyon to Parleys, Gaurdsman Pass and The Alpine Loop are ALL still closed according to UDOT.  So from here we decided to "wing-it", I know, I should have been a comedian..  Anyways.  We sped (the speed limit) down Parley's Canyon and made our way to Dick and Deedee O'Brien's house in the Millcreek area to try for Band-tailed Pigeon.  Dick allowed us to view their feeders, but no pigeons came in while we were there.  However, we picked up a much needed WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD, and I heard the only LESSER GOLDFINCH of the day here.  With daylight fading we raced across the valley to Lee Kay Ponds were 3 CANVASBACK and 3 COMMON GOLDENEYE remained, as well as a flock of LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, and the strange Gull that Colby and I found about a month ago was still there, although it has moulted even more and now resembles.... well nothing...  The bird may very well be a "Vega" Hering Gull, but the primaries have lightened up considerably, leaving me to wonder... What the heck is this thing.  Oye.  In any event, there was also a SPOTTED SANDPIPER here, and numerous Forster's Terns.

We cruised along to 7200 West where we were greeted by 7 MARBLED GODWIT in a small pool along the road.  The light was amazing, leaving me wishing I had my camera... But alas this was a day for birding, so I left it behind. We received permission to bird Kennecott's Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve,  thanks to Ann Neville who happened to share that her field trip out there earlier in the day had found 4 WHIMBREL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We made our way onto the property where a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON was seen, the first of the day.  We arrived at the location where Ann told us the Whimbrel were, but did not see any :( ... Until we turned around to head back and one of the WHIMBREL could be seen with 3 Long-billed Curlew.  As we were watching the bird, 3 more WHIMBREL flew through and landed in a field nearby.  An awesome sighting in Utah!  Thanks Ann!  We finished out the day light at the ISSR, where we snagged LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, and our last new species for the day, SNOWY PLOVER.

We attempted to find Sora and Virginia Rail... Without success.  We then decided to scrap owling in Millcreek Canyon as everyone was pretty zonked out.  Instead we headed to the cemetery where I didn't expect much.  No Great Horned or Screech-Owls, and no Poorwills to boot.  

We made our way back to Farmington to drop off the van, and part ways.  Just under 400 miles traveled, in 16 hours, we managed to scrape together 133 or 134 species for the day, about 20 short of what I had expected to see.   My hand checklist and my eBird checklist show different numbers... This always happens...  Anyways.  Despite a number of huge misses it was still a great day of birding, thanks to all the participants and our fantastic driver who had a nack for spotting other wildlife.  Besides the birds (with a complete list below), we saw a wide variety of mammals and other wildlife: Elk, Mule Deer, Pronghorn, Bison, Red Fox, Porcupine, Raccoon, Jack Rabbit, Cottontail Rabbit, Feral Rabbit, several squirrels and chipmunks, prairie dogs and gophers, Muskrat, a Garter Snake, a chorus of frogs, and numerous butterflies.

Good Birding

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


Location:     Marathon Birding
Observation date:     5/15/08
Notes:     GSL Bird Festival Marathon Birding Trip
Number of species:     133

Canada Goose     100
Gadwall     40
American Wigeon     4
Mallard     200
Blue-winged Teal     4
Cinnamon Teal     150
Northern Shoveler     16
Northern Pintail     5
Green-winged Teal     60
Canvasback     3
Redhead     20
Ring-necked Duck     2
Lesser Scaup     4
Common Goldeneye     3
Chukar     5
Ring-necked Pheasant     10
California Quail     4
Pied-billed Grebe     3
Eared Grebe     400
Western Grebe     500
Clark's Grebe     20
American White Pelican     30
Double-crested Cormorant     25
Great Blue Heron     3
Snowy Egret     2
Cattle Egret     2
Black-crowned Night-Heron     2
White-faced Ibis     500
Turkey Vulture     15
Osprey     2
Northern Harrier     4
Northern Goshawk     1
Swainson's Hawk     5
Red-tailed Hawk     6
Golden Eagle     2
American Kestrel     3
American Coot     200
Sandhill Crane     50
Black-bellied Plover     250
Snowy Plover     9
Killdeer     10
Black-necked Stilt     30
American Avocet     200
Spotted Sandpiper     2
Willet     25
Whimbrel     4
Long-billed Curlew     20
Marbled Godwit     7
Sanderling     10000
Semipalmated Sandpiper     1
Western Sandpiper     500
Least Sandpiper     10
Baird's Sandpiper     6
Long-billed Dowitcher     50
Wilson's Phalarope     5000
Red-necked Phalarope     1000
Franklin's Gull     100
Bonaparte's Gull     2
Ring-billed Gull     1
California Gull     1
Herring Gull     1
Black Tern     30
Forster's Tern     100
Rock Pigeon     300
Eurasian Collared-Dove     2
Mourning Dove     100
Barn Owl     1
White-throated Swift     5
Black-chinned Hummingbird     1
Broad-tailed Hummingbird     3
Red-naped Sapsucker     8
Downy Woodpecker     4
Dusky Flycatcher     1
Say's Phoebe     4
Western Kingbird     40
Loggerhead Shrike     2
Warbling Vireo     2
Western Scrub-Jay     1
Black-billed Magpie     20
American Crow     2
Common Raven     5
Horned Lark     10
Tree Swallow     20
Violet-green Swallow     100
Northern Rough-winged Swallow     25
Bank Swallow     4
Cliff Swallow     1000
Barn Swallow     200
Black-capped Chickadee     2
Mountain Chickadee     1
Red-breasted Nuthatch     1
House Wren     3
Marsh Wren     20
Golden-crowned Kinglet     1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     1
Mountain Bluebird     3
Townsend's Solitaire     1
Swainson's Thrush     1
American Robin     100
Sage Thrasher     3
European Starling     500
Orange-crowned Warbler     2
Virginia's Warbler     1
Yellow Warbler     100
Yellow-rumped Warbler     25
Black-throated Gray Warbler     1
MacGillivray's Warbler     1
Western Tanager     3
Green-tailed Towhee     1
Chipping Sparrow     20
Brewer's Sparrow     3
Vesper Sparrow     10
Lark Sparrow     1
Savannah Sparrow     7
Fox Sparrow     1
Song Sparrow     5
White-crowned Sparrow     6
Dark-eyed Junco     10
Black-headed Grosbeak     10
Lazuli Bunting     20
Red-winged Blackbird     100
Western Meadowlark     20
Yellow-headed Blackbird     500
Brewer's Blackbird     100
Common Grackle     1
Brown-headed Cowbird     10
Bullock's Oriole     30
Cassin's Finch     3
House Finch     20
Lesser Goldfinch     1
American Goldfinch     10
House Sparrow     25

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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