[TopOfUtah] GBBC in Cache County: White-winged Crossbills, etc.

[Ryan O'Donnell]

Stephanie Cobbold and I birded around several locations in Cache County
this afternoon for the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC).  Most of the
birds we found were to be expected.  Gull numbers and diversity are
increasing in Cache County, with California Gulls now common (still
outnumbered roughly 10:1 by Ring-billed Gulls) and Herring Gulls
accounting for maybe one out of every 100 gulls.  Some rare ones must be
here by now, but we weren't able to find them today.  We did relocate a
VIRGINIA RAIL I previously posted about, a tough bird to find in winter
and still providing nice close looks on occassion.  BALD EAGLES are
still numerous in the valley, but our count of four or five today is on
the low end of what I've seen lately.  At least two CACKLING GEESE were
still in the flock of 500-1000 Canada Geese along Sam Fellow Road.
There was also one partially leucistic Canada Goose in the flock, with
white feathers interspersed throughout its black neck sock.  The
highlight for me, though, was a flock of about eleven WHITE-WINGED
CROSSBILLS feeding in the spruces of a residential area.  Red Crossbills
are usually much more common here in Cache County, but we couldn't find
a single Red among this flock of White-wingeds (or anywhere else).
Here's the best photo I could manage:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n105/Tsirtalis/WWCRsmall.jpg
 
Good birding,
Ryan
 
Ryan P. O'Donnell
Department of Biology and the Ecology Center
Utah State University
5305 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-5305
 
http://200birds.blogspot.com