[Birdtalk] Sage Sparrow, Prairie Falcon, Provo Airport Dike, Ut Co. 2/17/09

[Eric Huish]

Ned Bixler, Matt Mills and I drove the Provo Airport Dike this afternoon.  In the fields East of the East end of the PAD the were a few hundred Canada Geese.  At the Southeast corner of the loop there was a lot of waterfowl.  They would fly up, spend some time in the air, then disappear into the marsh, then fly up again and land again.  They kept flushing and settling over and over.  We finally found a couple Bald Eagles circling way up in the sky and then had a Prairie Falcon fly past us.  

 

Along the South leg of the Dike we didn't see anything but a few Northern Harriers out on the Airport.  At the Southwest corner the storm hit.  It was windy with a heavy downpour of 'bouncy snow'.  Here we saw a few sparrows at least one of which was acting suspiciously like a Sage Sparrow.  After several minutes of trying to get a good look the storm finally let up a little and we got a good look at a Sage Sparrow feeding on the side of the road with a White-crowned Sparrow. I looked up arrivals for Utah County in eBird and the earliest date for Sage Sparrow was a bird I saw on the Provo Airport Dike March 12, 1997.

 

Here is a list of the Birds we saw.  Matt also got a look at some Cinnamon Teal that I never got a very good look at in the flocks of waterfowl. 

 

Location: Provo Airport Dike - Utah Co. UT
Observation date: 2/17/09
Notes: Windy. Heavy snow storm for 20 min.
Number of species: 18
 
Canada Goose 325
American Wigeon 50
Mallard 100
Northern Pintail 75
Green-winged Teal 20
Redhead 3
Common Goldeneye 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Northern Harrier 4
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Bald Eagle 2
Prairie Falcon 1
Rock Pigeon 20
Northern Flicker 1
American Robin 1
Sage Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 4
 
This report was generated automatically by eBird

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We also stopped at Utah Lake State Park.

 

Location: Utah Lake SP - Utah Co. UT
Observation date: 2/17/09
Number of species: 13
 
Canada Goose 10 Fly Over
Mallard 6
Northern Shoveler 2
Common Goldeneye 2
Pied-billed Grebe 1
American Coot 45
Ring-billed Gull 8
Northern Flicker 1
Black-capped Chickadee 1 Heard Only
American Robin 5
Song Sparrow 1 Heard Only
White-crowned Sparrow 20
House Sparrow 1
 
This report was generated automatically by eBird

 

We saw a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds along Center Street which had at least 1 Yellow-headed Blackbird in it.  (Matt had a large flock of blackbirds last week along Center Street which had 11 YH Blackbirds).

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Yesterday I drove out to Tooele to visit family.  I made a few birding stops along the way.

 

Location: Wildlife Park / Jordan River Parway - Utah Co. UT
Observation date: 2/16/09
Number of species: 16
 
Canada Goose 6
Mallard 5
Pied-billed Grebe 4
Great Blue Heron 1
American Coot 1
Ring-billed Gull 25
Northern Flicker 1
Black-billed Magpie 2
American Robin 60
European Starling 125
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Spotted Towhee 2
Song Sparrow 8
White-crowned Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco 1 Heard Only
Red-winged Blackbird 50
 
This report was generated automatically by eBird

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In Fairfield a bunch of EC Doves started calling and a Great Horned Owl called back.  I was able to find it in an evergreen tree near the stagecoach inn.

 

Location: Fairfield - Utah Co. UT
Observation date: 2/16/09
Notes: GH Owl called, seemingly in response to the EC Dove calls.
Number of species: 9
 
Mallard 2
Bald Eagle 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove 6
Mourning Dove 2
Great Horned Owl 1
Common Raven 3
American Robin 214
European Starling 10
House Sparrow 1
 
This report was generated automatically by eBird

--------------------------------------

 

Location: James W Fitzgerald WMA - Tooele Co. UT
Observation date: 2/16/09
Notes: Windy - light snow
Number of species: 11
 
Canada Goose 26
Mallard 25
Cinnamon Teal 1
Ring-necked Duck 1
Common Merganser 4
Rough-legged Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Great Horned Owl 1
Common Raven 4
European Starling 2
Red-winged Blackbird 1 Heard Only
 
This report was generated automatically by eBird

-----------------------------------

 

At Middle Canyon I found a Merlin along the road before the road enters the canyon.

 

Location: Middle Canyon - Tooele Co. UT
Observation date: 2/16/09
Number of species: 8
 
Wild Turkey 21
Merlin 1
Northern Flicker 2
Western Scrub-Jay 1
Black-billed Magpie 7
European Starling 5
Spotted Towhee 1
Dark-eyed Junco 15
 
This report was generated automatically by eBird

 

 

Eric Huish 
Pleasant Grove UT 
poorwill_ at hotmail.com 
801-360-8777 
 
 
 
 


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