[TopOfUtah] Sherwood Hills Report

[Kristin Purdy]

Jack Rensel and I birded the Sherwood Hills Resort and Conference Center in 
Wellsville, Cache County, today. The trees are just budding out and the area 
isn't yet at peak passerine migration, but it was still a pleasant walk. 
Dusky Flucatchers, Warbling Vireos, Barn Swallows, Yellow Warblers and 
Chipping Sparrows were the predominant singers. Here are the others that I 
remember:

NORTHERN GOSHAWK*
Peregrine Falcon**
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Dusky Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow (on nest)
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Brown-headed Cowbird
Cassin's Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch

*Flyover by what appeared to be a young (brown) bird. The bird headed 
upslope into the fir above the resort.

**The most surprising bird of the day. Sherwood Hills definitely does not 
offer Peregrine habitat; the resort is nestled on Mountain Maple-covered 
foothills to the Wellsville Range. Jack and I emerged from the maple onto a 
small open patch of sagebrush and a medium-sized falcon flushed from the 
ground. We saw it for just a few seconds. Both of us concluded the bird was 
a falcon and that it was gray-blue, not brown. We could only assume the bird 
was nesting on the high rocky cliffs above the resort and making good use of 
the ground squirrel population in the patch of sagebrush.

Sherwood Hills is located between mile marker 12 and 13 of US-89/91.

Kris