[Birdtalk] Cache Co. gulls (today), raptors and Dunlin (earlier)

[Ryan O'Donnell]

This morning I took a brief trip to Sue's Ponds (Logan River Wetlands)
and the Logan Landfill in search of rare gulls.  I didn't see any - only
California, Ring-billed, and Herring.  The lone Ross's Goose continues
at Sue's Ponds.  
 
In response to Jerry's question about raptors in Cache Valley:  There
was a group from Hawkwatch International that went on a raptor search
around Cache Valley after the Bridgerland Audubon trip on Saturday, but
I haven't seen a report from anyone on that trip.  Last I heard (nine
days ago), at least one pair of Ferruginous Hawks was still in
Clarkston.  Rough-leggeds, Red-tails, and Kestrels should be pretty
common now and have all been seen in decent numbers in the last couple
of weeks, although I don't know if they've increased at all recently.
It seemed like there was a big peak in Buteos a month or two ago but now
they're back to "normal" levels, which are still pretty high.  That's
all just my impressions from driving around the valley once or twice a
week for the last several months.  I don't know how much that helps.
 
In response to Kris's comments about Dunlin: According to my records in
Ebird, I saw one Dunlin in Cache County on October 23rd, November 4th,
and November 5th this year.  These were all at the same spot and may
have been the same bird, although I suspect it was two different birds,
one in October and one in November, because I checked that spot several
times in between and didn't see any Dunlin there.  I haven't been
birding in Utah long but compared to how rare I expected this species to
be, based on what other people said, I'd agree that numbers are higher
than usual this year.  
 
Good birding,
Ryan
 
Ryan P. O'Donnell
Department of Biology and the Ecology Center
Utah State University
5305 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-5305
 
http://200birds.blogspot.com