[TopOfUtah] The Oh-So-Lovely Monte Cristo Range, Rich and Cache Counties

[Kristin Purdy]

I performed the Monte Cristo bird count today...oh, wait! There's no such 
thing. I guess I just went birding in the Monte Cristo Range in Rich and 
Cache Counties. It was lovely. Wildflowers haven't yet reached their peak 
and a breeze kept the air comfortable all day. I spent a lot of time 
watching two species of woodpeckers in Monte Cristo Campground (mile 47.7 of 
SR-39) or nearby and just absorbed everything else that was moving or 
singing. Here's the list:

Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Common Nighthawk
WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER (likely the same pair as last year, reply for 
directions)
AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER (nest cavity at campsite #11)
Western Wood-pewee
Warbling Vireo (On a nest in an aspen sapling just 4 feet or so above the 
ground. I was shocked to discover this nest so low [I accidentally flushed 
her off the nest and then I peered inside to see four white eggs] until I 
read this blurb in Baicich and Harrison: "Usually 20-60 feet up, 
occasionally lower, and in the west, frequently lower, sometimes in shrubs 
down to 4 ft.")
Clark's Nutcracker
Common Raven
PURPLE MARTIN (overhead at Curtis Creek Road, mile 48.8 of SR-39)
Tree Swallow
Mountain Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Mountain Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Western Tanager
Chipping Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak (always a surprise at high elevations)
Cassin's Finch
RED CROSSBILL (small flocks of 3-5 birds eating from spruce cones near 
campsites 9-11; need a chiropractor for the charley horse in my neck now)
Pine Siskin
Paul Higgins (not sure if this is where he fits in the taxonomic order, but 
I didn't know where else to list him)

The most numerous winged species of the day was not a bird at all; it was a 
butterfly, I believe the Milbert's Tortoiseshell. Lepidopterists, feel free 
to correct me if that sounds unlikely. There were phenomenal numbers of them 
alit on the road in the high country and I'm sure many are stuck in the 
grille of my truck. I looked into a roadside sinkhole and must seen thirty 
or forty swarming there along with a token fritillary.

Best wildflower of the day was a lovely little fungus parasite, a delicate 
red-and-white striped orchid called Striped Coralroot in the deep shade 
under a fir tree just to the right of campsite #18's parking space.

And finally, I sure am glad Buck took a load of mosquitoes home from Monte 
Cristo in his car yesterday. There were few to deal with today and the place 
seemed practically mosquito-free. Buck, can I schedule you to make another 
mosquito haul before my next trip as well?

Kris