[TopOfUtah] Utah/Wyoming Birding

[Kristin Purdy]

Wasatch Audubon headed north and east this morning to bird Bear River 
Meadows northeast of Randolph in Rich County and Woodruff Narrows Reservoir 
just over the Wyoming line in Uinta County. The highlights:

Despite significant snow in deep rotting drifts and no apparent buds yet on 
the aspens in the Monte Cristo area along SR-39, we saw a good number of 
mountain species. We stopped at mile 48.8 at the intersection with Curtis 
Creek Road to look for Purple Martins and saw decent numbers of them, along 
with a nest cavity along Curtis Creek Road that I've never seen occupied in 
the past three years. This brings to six the number of Purple Martin nest 
cavities around that intersection that the birds have occupied this year, 
2007 or 2006. We couldn't check all of them for occupancy this year due to 
the snow. Just as our car caravan left our early-morning meeting spot in 
Ogden, I joked that I shouldn't leave my snowshoes in my truck as I got in 
another. Wrong move.

A pair of Golden Eagles kiting in the significant breeze east of Bear River 
Meadows and along the west face of the Crawford Mountains.

Many Western Tanagers along the base of the Crawford Mountains. This is not 
at all "normal" Western Tanager habitat--it's the spot where dry sagebrush 
hills meet a high wet meadow--and may still be a sign of the late spring. 
Also, a Warbling Vireo in sagebrush in the same area, with few trees nearby.

A good collection of waterfowl in a particular area of the meadows, 
including Canvasbacks--a surprise.

Black Terns in distant scope views and a flock of about two dozen picking 
bugs from the water in a marsh off Crawford Mountain Road. The flock made 
the grass over the meadow appear to be rippling in a heavy breeze. Two Black 
Terns also stood on fenceposts just 15 yards or so from our party.

A pair of Spotted Sandpipers mating and a third bird nearby, likely a male, 
complaining that he should have been the one the female chose.

A quad of Northern Pintails seemingly engaged in a turning, twisting, 
competitive aerial display, but the show was more likely three drakes 
pursuing one hen.

And a few lowlights: no Great Blue Herons, hummingbirds, or woodpeckers for 
the day.

Here are all the species I can remember by location:

Monte Cristo at Curtis Creek Road

California Gull: weird for montane woodlands at 8500 feet
Empidonax sp.
Western Wood-pewee
Warbling Vireo
Clark's Nutcracker
Common Raven
Purple Martin
Violet-green Swallow
Mountain Chickadee
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Dark-eyed Junco
Brown-headed Cowbird
Cassin's Finch
Pine Siskin

Woodruff, Randolph, and Bear River Meadows

A few of the above plus:

Canada Goose
Gadwall
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
American White Pelican
Snowy Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Kestrel
Sora (audible)
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
American Avocet
Yellowlegs sp.
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Wilson's Phalarope
Franklin's Gull
California Gull
Black Tern
Eurasian Collared-dove
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
Say's Phoebe
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Rock Wren
Sage Thrasher
European Starling
Yellow Warbler
Western Tanager
Vesper Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Bullock's Oriole
House Finch
House Sparrow

Woodruff Narrows Reservoir:

Many of the above, including another Canvasback, plus:

Two leucistic Canada Geese
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Forster's Tern
Caspian Tern
Brewer's Sparrow

That brings the trip list to around 80 and if you consider all the ones I 
probably forgot, it's more like double that. Ha!

You can access Bear River Meadows by driving north on SR-16 out of Randolph 
and turning east on Crawford Mountain Road about a mile and a half north of 
town. Remember, though, that the street sign no longer exists and you'll 
have to guess where the turn is. There might be only one. We chose a 
different route and headed north on SR-16 to the intersection with SR-30, 
east on 30 to an intersection with a secondary dirt road on the east side of 
the highway just over the Wyoming border, and then south along the west base 
of the Crawford Mountains until we reached Crawford Mountain Road.

You can reach Woodruff Narrows Reservoir from SR-16 by taking Wyoming Uinta 
County Road 101 at the state line and driving north 2.7 miles. Views of the 
inlet end (south) were all by scope.

Trip participants included Betty and Keith Evans, Moi, Sharen Perry, Jack 
Rensel, Carolyn and Mort Somer and Les Talbot.

Kris