[Birdtalk] Hawk Flight, White-winged Crossbills, Provo, Utah County, Apr 5/09

[Matt Mills]

Hey all,

Eric Huish, Luke Hau, Steph Nolasco and I spent about 6 hours this afternoon (11:15 am to 5:45 pm) hawkwatching in Provo. The first and last hours we spent watching from the park on 800 E Centre St. in Provo, and between 1230 and 3:45 we were at the 'Y' Parking lot on the side of 'Y' mountain. It was an excellent day.

At the park in the morning and evening were at least 3 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS. They were in the spruce trees at the NE corner of the park.

Between the two sites we recorded the following migrant raptors:
Turkey Vulture: 135
Red-tailed Hawk: 40
Swainson's Hawk: 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 4
Cooper's Hawk: 15
Bald Eagle: 1
Golden Eagle: 3
American Kestrel: 2
Peregrine Falcon: 1
Prairie Falcon: 1
Osprey: 1
Unidentified - Buteo: 6
Unidentified - Accipiter: 5
Unidentified - Eagle: 1
Unidentified - Raptor 11
Total: 229

We noticed that many RED-TAILED HAWKS  were visible from the valley floor but that they were more difficult to pick out from the mountain, it is likely that there was a much greater Red-tailed flight than we were able to record. We did have several kettles of >25 TURKEY VULTURES.

Along the trail close to the Y Parking Lot were 3 BUSHTITS and a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET amongst the Robins and Towhees.

129 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS were seen kettling past the 'Y' Lot today in groups of 2 to 26. 

Also today, at 200 E 500 N in Provo we had a single EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE, which was the first time I had ever seen one right in Provo, just about downtown at that!

Take care,

Matt Mills
mattymills2005 AT yahoo.com