[TopOfUtah] Short-billed Dowitcher still in Logan

[Craig Fosdick]

The SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER was still at the Logan Fish Hatchery in Logan
(Cache Co.) at 115 pm today.  After hearing that Ryan O' Donnell was able to
locate the bird and get excellent looks at it, Mo Correll and I tried again
today.  We too were rewarded with excellent looks at the bird.  Both Mo and
I were able to see a tail pattern that is apparently distinct for at least
some Short-billed Dowitchers.  The pattern is irregular white tail bands
that are much wider than the black bands that they alternate with.  This
pattern is shown in Fig. 26, p. 70 of Advanced Birding (a Peterson Guide),
as well as p 180-181 of Shorebirds: An Identification Guide (by Hayman,
Marchant, and Prater).  I'm confident in calling this bird a Short-billed
Dowitcher based on the fact that (1) there are no other dowitchers
present at this location that I could confuse it with (and Long-billed
Dowitchers have probably been absent from Cache County since late October);
(2) it has been identified and seen by other people (it was originally
located on the Logan CBC on Dec 15), and no one has suggested it might be
anything else; and (3) Mo and I were able to see the unique tail pattern.
We also heard it call once, and the call sounded to me to be more like a
Short-billed Dowitcher than a Long-billed, but I could not be sure, even
though I listened to recordings only 20 minutes after seeing and hearing the
bird.

If anyone else sees the bird, I would be curious to hear what people think.
The bird is frequenting the Logan Fish Hatchery, along UT 30 in Logan, just
west of UT 30 and 1000 W.  If you reach 1900 W, you have gone too far. To
see the bird without spooking it, it's best to park in the Logan Fish
Hatchery parking lot and walk west along the north shoulder of UT 30
(carefully!) until you get to the water.  Don't spook the ducks, the single
Greater Yellowlegs or the 5 Wilson's Snipe that are hanging out at the same
location, because the dowitcher will flush with them.  I would advise
against parking on UT 30, you'll just get run over, and there's no room to
park on the shoulder anyway.

A GREAT EGRET has been frequenting the same location, and was seen there Jan
3.  Mo and I also saw a NORTHERN SHRIKE today in front of the Logan Fish
Hatchery, on the shoulder of UT 30.  It was carrying a nice bloody morsel in
its bill.

Craig.
Logan, Utah
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