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

[Jeff Bilsky]

Like I said, it was a long day and a good one, but I didn't really see a
SORA in Huntsville. That was supposed to be Pine Siskin with an X. My
mistake - sorry! I fixed the ebird report.

Jeff

On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 11:07 PM, Jeff Bilsky <jbilsky at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
> Pine Siskin     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
>
>
>
>


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