[Birdtalk] Huntsville, Willard Bay, Antelope Island (WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS / SANDHILL CRANES/ HUNDREDS OF SNOW GEESE)

[Jeff Bilsky]

A long day of birding.
Lists at the bottom. Highlights here:
I started by going after BARROW'S GOLDENEYE and it was quite easy - first
bird I looked at when I got to the 21st South Jordan River Parkway area. It
was the only one I saw there, but a good looking male bird.

Then I decided to join in the WHITE WINGED CROSSBILL craze and found Paul
Higgins' Huntsville City Park group quite easily. The singing EURASIAN
COLLARED-DOVES made for a nice background soundtrack.

Then I headed back down to the valley and stopped by the Willard Bay area.
The coolest thing here was a singing AMERICAN TREE SPARROW. I coaxed him a
bit, but pretty neat to hear this bird in song. Also, two SANDHILL CRANES
flew in and landed in a field. First ones of the year for me. The water had
open areas and was packed with ducks. The X's below mean lots of em. There
was one DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT making for the second one of the day as I
had seen one fly by the spaghetti bowl downtown earlier in the morning.

The highlight of my day was at my next stop - Antelope Island causeway.
There were TUNDRA SWANS around and a single  LONG-TAILED DUCK remained at
the last bridge, on the South side now - hanging with some GOLDENEYES. While
getting ready to leave and head out, I saw a large flock of birds flying
from the North heading South by South-east. They were SNOW GEESE in large
numbers. They flew back and forth from North to South and back again several
times - I am not sure what the behavior was exactly - they seemed somewhat
confused to me but maybe they were just looking for the ideal place to put
down for the night. There were a lot of different groups around and they'd
split off and come back together some North some South. It was crazy and I
decided to play storm chaser and get myself underneath them if I could. I
watched and tried to predict where they would be - I waited in the field to
the South East of AI and eventually I was rewarded with some great looks.
I've compiled a video to detail the sheer numbers there were (several
hundred) - who needs Delta????? Wow. Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yza7y9hLPRc

My guess is this group set down somewhere in the vicinity of the Shorelands
Preserve and will be gone tomorrow.


Location:     Jordan River Parkway - 21st S - 33rdS
Observation date:     2/28/09
Number of species:     2

Common Goldeneye     5
Barrow's Goldeneye     1

Location:     Huntsville, Weber County, UT, US
Observation date:     2/28/09
Number of species:     14

Bald Eagle     1
Red-tailed Hawk     1
American Kestrel     1
Sora     X
Eurasian Collared-Dove     8
Northern Flicker     1
Black-billed Magpie     X
Black-capped Chickadee     2
Red-breasted Nuthatch     5
American Robin     7
European Starling     X
Dark-eyed Junco     5
Red-winged Blackbird     X
White-winged Crossbill     15

Location:     Willard Bay State Park
Observation date:     2/28/09
Number of species:     27

Canada Goose     X
Mallard     X
Canvasback     X
Redhead     X
Ring-necked Duck     X
Common Goldeneye     X
Ruddy Duck     X
Ring-necked Pheasant     1
Double-crested Cormorant     1
Bald Eagle     2
Northern Harrier     1
Red-tailed Hawk     2
American Kestrel     2
American Coot     X
Sandhill Crane     2
Mourning Dove     1
Black-billed Magpie     X
Common Raven     2
American Robin     8
European Starling     X
Spotted Towhee     6
American Tree Sparrow     5
Song Sparrow     7
White-crowned Sparrow     X
Dark-eyed Junco     X
Red-winged Blackbird     X
House Finch     X


Location:     Antelope Island  Causeway
Observation date:     2/28/09
Number of species:     6

Snow Goose     X
Canada Goose     X
Tundra Swan     X
Northern Shoveler     X
Long-tailed Duck     1
Common Goldeneye     5


-- 
Jeff Bilsky
Salt Lake City
jbilsky at gmail.com
www.endlesswilderness.com
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