[Birdtalk] Salt Lake County Mini Big Day Results

Tue May 26 12:53:28 MDT 2009

My advice for those wishing to do the all-nighter: Make sure you brings lots
of coffee and energy drinks and/or you have a driver like Tim who will
scream in your ear if you start to doze off when you should be checking
fence posts for Eastern Kingbirds!

On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 12:32 PM, Tim Avery <tanager at timaverybirding.com>wrote:

> On Saturday (05/23) Jeff Bilsky and I ran through a Salt Lake County Mini
> Big Day.  Our plan was for 17 hours of birding in the county.  We ended up
> actually cutting our day short, but learning a lot about what to try next
> year if we do this again.  WE ended the day at 104 species in Salt Lake
> County.  I added 6 other species just over the county line in Summit County
> that we did not count.  We actually DID NOT bird any mid-elevation conifer,
> or aspen habitats and skipped a few stops that would have added a few more
> species.  However, the day did turn up a number of great birds.  Most
> notably was the flock of 500+ WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, just out of the count
> area, and a singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROW just north of Salt Lake
> International Airport.  Here are some pics:
>
>
> http://timaverybirding.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=584&page=1&sort=td&ecid=bd01
>
> Now onto the recap... (LONG!)
>
> We started off at midnight in Sugarhouse, where at 11:55pm we were
> listening to a singing Western Screech-Owl.  I kid you not at 11:59pm, the
> bird stopped singing, leaving us shaking our heads in disbelief.  It took us
> 15 minutes to finally find one about a block or so away from where we
> started, but we were on our way.  From Sugarhouse we headed up Parley's
> Canyon, to Mountain Dell Reservoir where we added a Great Horned Owl via
> spotlight about 100 yards away.  From the reservoir we continued up
> Emigration Canyon to Big Mountain Pass.  We had our obligatory Flammulated
> Owl at the pass, and headed back down Emigration Canyon about a mile to a
> pullout where I planned on getting poorwill.  Upon stepping out of the car
> however, we were greeted by a singing NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL.  After
> whistling a bit a second bird got into the mix and both sang while we stood
> and listened.  To add to the chorus, a Common Poorwill finally broke into
> song giving us a sweep of our expected montane nocturnal species.
>
> WE drove back to the city and made our way to Millcreek Canyon.  We decided
> to hike along the Desolation Trail and see what turned up.  At the parking
> area, a CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER called out as we started up the trail.  We
> hoped to possibly add a pygmy owl, but instead had another Flammulated Owl,
> and several singing poorwills.  Near Pipeline Trail further down the canyon
> a Western Screech-Owl was singing as well.
>
> After leaving Millcreek we made our way downtown and got a glimpse of a a
> PEREGRINE FALCON in the nest box near the temple grounds.  That was
> definitely a new night bird for me.  Heading west we went to the
> International Center, where we were disappointed to find that the dirt road
> that leads north from Wright Brother's Drive to the canal was closed off
> with new airport gates.  Apparently the area is no longer open to the
> public... This killed what is one of the best public locations for Eastern
> Kingbird in the county... Driving through the IC we picked up singing
> Western Kingbird and American Robin, before heading out to Saltair.  Along
> SR-202 going south we added Virginia Rail and Sora then hit SR-201 back into
> Magna.  Heading south now along the Bacchus Highway we still had hopes for
> possible Short-eared or Barn Owl.  But the only thing we saw was a Red Fox
> crossing the road.
>
> Our next stop was in the Jordan Narrows near the Utah County line where a
> Yellow-breasted Chat responded to tape in the dark. This was a relief as
> this species can be difficult to get along the river.  We stopped at 12600
> South on the Jordan River adding Barn Swallow, Song Sparrow and Red-winged
> Blackbird singing in the dark. We headed into South Jordan and grabbed a
> bite to eat as it started to lighten outside.  We added Killdeer while
> eating breakfast. Heading back west into Herriman as it got lighter we added
> meadowlark, cowbird, Horned Lark, House Finch and Brewer's Blackbird.  The
> onslaught was beginning.
>
> We headed into Rose Canyon/Yellow Fork, and pretty much nailed every
> juniper species we could hope for.  Juniper Titmouse, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
> Black-throated Gray Warbler and Plumbeous Vireo.  In the Yellow Fork portion
> we added Virginia's, MacGillivray's, Yellow-rumped and Yellow Warbler.  We
> also picked up most of our riparian breeders here as well including numerous
> Dusky and Cordilleran Flycatcher.
>
> In Herriman we picked up Collared-Dove, Mountain Bluebird and Lark Sparrow
> before heading up Butterfield Canyon.  We missed any woodpeckers that I had
> hoped to see here, but did get both goldfinches. Leaving the canyon we added
> Brewer's Sparrow, and made our way east back to the Jordan River at 12600
> South.  We hiked south along the river picking up a few species as expected
> such as Ring-necked Pheasant and Yellow-headed Blackbird.  The best birds
> however were 3 BLUE GROSBEAK about 1/2 mile south of 12600 south.  WE missed
> Willow Flycatcher here, and ducks and shorebirds were minimal at the
> mitigation area.  Also, sparrows in the sage patch were only the expected
> Brewer's and Lark. Not even a Vesper Sparrow :(
>
> We made our way north stopping at Decker Lake, and then Lee Kay Ponds.  At
> Lee Kay we added a bunch of species, the highlights being a COMMON LOON on
> the west pond, a COMMON GOLDENEYE also on thewest pond, and most of the
> expected waterbirds. We went back to Saltair adding a surprise pair of
> CANVASBACK in the pond at the marina.  And thanks to Jeff paying attention
> we nabbed  a sleeping RUDDY DUCK here too.  We were already at 90 species
> and it wasn't even noon.
>
> A drive through eh International Center during daylight was a waste of
> time.  The radar the night before was lackluster, showing minimal
> migration.  It was apparent in the fact that we added NO birds! Continuing,
> we headed to 2100 North on the north side of the airport. Turning north onto
> 3200 West, I swore I heard a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW sing.  We backed up to
> where I heard it and the bird buzzed off.  Jeff didn't quite believe me, so
> I asked him to play his iPod for kicks.  The minute the song whipped out,
> the bird came shooting out of the grass onto the road about 6 feet form the
> car.  Hard to argue with that.  It was only the 2nd one I have had in the
> county! We added BALD EAGLE here as well.
>
> We made our way to Warm Springs Ponds, which were mostly dry and void of
> any new birds.  It was time to get back into the mountains.  We decided to
> go up to Summit Park and see if there was anywhere where we could get over
> the county line in coniferous habitat.  There wasn't, but thank goodness we
> made the trip.  As we were headed back to the freeway I heard a chattering
> that sounded like hundreds of birds. I told Jeff that I thought it was
> crossbills, but the odd thing to me was that it was the wrong kind.  Pulling
> the car back around I got my binocs up in the trees where about 15
> WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS filled my binoculars!  We got out and started to
> grasp how big the flock was.  It wasn't just 15 birds, nor 50--and not even
> 100.  Maybe a couple hundred... Okay how about 500+.  I had never seen such
> a flock of any crossbills before, and chattering was so loud it sounded
> unreal.  Someone who lived there came out to ask what we were looking at.
> After Jeff explained, she told us that they had seen about 1000 of these
> birds in the previous weeks at times covering their yard, looking like a
> large moving mass.
>
> The birds moved into the woods, away from the road, so we drove down a side
> road to where it looked like they were headed.  We wandered into the woods
> and soon I was in the midst of a storm of crossbills.  They were covering
> the ground, they were on logs, in bushes, on limbs small and large.  They
> were EVERYWHERE!  Talk about the craziest thing I have ever seen
> birding--this may have taken the cake.  I snapped some shots, and then we
> were on our way.
>
> The crossbill experience kind of put me in a daze. Jeff and I talked and
> decided to cal it a day.  All we wanted to do was pass 100 species, so we
> headed down to Mountain Dell Reservoir, adding American Wigeon and Spotted
> Sandpiper.  Where Parley's Creek goes under the road we added GRAY CATBIRD ,
> Fox Sparrow and Orange-crowned Warbler--putting us at 103 species for the
> day.
>
> We headed back to Salt Lake adding last a lone Western Scrub-Jay a few
> houses up from where Jeff lives.  IT was 3 o-clock and only 15 hours in I
> was beat.  Next year a real 24 hour county big day will have to ensue, and
> maybe 130-150 species in a day in the county can be done!
>
> Good Birding
>
> Tim
> Salt Lake City, Utah
> tanager at timaverybirding.com
> http://www.timaverybirding.com <http://www.timaverybirding.com>
>
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-- 
Jeff Bilsky
Salt Lake City
jbilsky at gmail.com
www.endlesswilderness.com
twitter.com/Bilsky
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