Saturday, December 29, 2007
Okay so when I left Salt Lake on Thursday morning for my final trip to Washington County for 2007, I had one goal in mind, and that was finally pinning down a Vermilion Flycatcher, by far the biggest miss on Utah resident species to date. Thanks to Marilyn and Keith Davis for providing the location of a bird found on the 26th during the St. George CBC, I was able to track a female bird down within 20 minutes of arriving in St. George.
Female Vermilion Flycatcher in Bloomington, Utah. December 27, 2007
It would have been great to get a male and end the year on such a beautiful bird, but at this point its kind of hard to complain about any new bird. So I drove 300 miles and saw the bird, now what? I birded Tonaquint Park where the appeared to be a GadwallxMallard Hybrid or the most screwed up Gadwall I have ever seen. I swung by Southgate Golf Course, and then headed out of town to try and bird Lytle before it got dark. I arrived just after 4:00pm giving me about an hour of sun light, and I used it to walk up through the orchard and around the housing and picnic areas. Unfortunately, the wind was howling down the wash and bird life was fairly dead. By the time I got to one of my usual camp sites, I decided it was too cold to camp out, so I headed to Mesquite, NV to spend the night.
Friday morning started early and cold. I headed across the Beaver Dam Slope in the early morning gloom. There were some clouds, but the sun hadn't yet peaked above the Beaver Dams onto the slope. The wash to the south in Arizona was lit up and made for some great pictures. It was an odd feeling (yesterday too) driving across the desert through the Joshua Trees, and seeing snow on the ground. I mean this is par tof the Mojave desert... snow! In any event I arrived at the ranch with most of the area still in shadows, sun barely hitting the tree tops. I birded all the way to the north end of the ranch, before hitting Beaver Dam Creek and following it back down stream to the actual Beaver Dam near the parking area. Highlights included a very cooperative Black-tailed Gnatcatcher as well as 2 "Myrtle's" Yellow-rumped Warbler, numerous Phainopepla, and Crissal Thrashers.
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher at Lytle Ranch. December 28, 2007
I started birding the camping area when I got glimpse of what appeared to be a Sapsucker in a very juvenile plumage. Being late December this was intriguing as most Red-naped have lost this plumage by this time. The bird flew before I could get great looks so I followed it around. It ended up in the pine trees at the kiosk in the parking area. When I finally caught up I got my binoculars on not a Yellow-bellied or Red-naped, but instead a Red-breasted Sapsucker. It flew out of the pine and dropped into a fruit tree below, and was immediately followed by the juvenile Sapsucker, and an adult female Red-naped Sapsucker. For about 5 seconds all three birds were together in one tree, not something you see everyday in Utah.
I approached the birds, and they flew up into the cottonwoods above. I was able to get my binoculars ont eh juvenile bird confirming my suspicion that it was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The bird had basically no red on the top of the head yet, and none on the throat, leading me to believe it was a female bird. It showed nice tracking on the back and have olive and brown stains over most of the white feathering on the body.
1st winter Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Lytle Ranch. December 28, 2007
Just about this time, Larry Tripp walked in the front gate and had seen the Red-breasted before it jettisoned. I pointed out the Yellow-bellied, but it decided to fly just as he got his eyes on it. We spent about an hour trying to track down the bird, but did not see it or the Red-breasted again. It is amazing how some birds just fade away into the ranch and wash despite their obvious nature.
I headed back towards St. George and made my way to the Hurricane SR-9 ponds to check out the waterfowl, before stopping at Sand Hollow State Park to scan the lake. 3 Tundra Swan were feeding along the south side of the reservoir. I worked my way through the dunes on the loop, into Hurricane Fields. I spent some time trying to look for the Lark Bunting that Rick Fridell had found about a month ago, that I am assuming is wintering in the area. I didn't find it, but there were two "Prairie" race Merlin harassing American Pipits out over the fields. I also saw Ferruginous, Rough-legged, and Red-tailed Hawks as well as Northern Harrier and American Kestrel in the area.
As I was leaving on the main east-west route (3000 South I believe), I came into a large flock, of around 1,500 Red-winged Blackbird, with smaller numbers of Starlings, Cowbirds, and Brewer's Blackbirds. I spent some time looking through these birds, when I noticed a large group of 90 or so Brewer's Blackbirds sitting on some fencing around a corral a littler further east. I drove up and parked on the other side of the road and almost immediately was drawn to a female bird that looked to be a Rusty Blackbird. I was thinking there is no way that I am seeing this, but there it was a beautiful, rust stained female bird.
Female Rusty Blackbird in the Hurricane Fields. December 28, 2007
After I got my fix, I rove through Hurricane to Stratton Pond to finish up my birding for the trip. I opted to come home a day early as it looked like the weather would be a little nicer than on Saturday. Now, with 61 hours left in 2007, I will try my luck at one more year bird on Sunday... Who knows, with my luck I might turn up 2 more year birds! What a year.
Female Vermilion Flycatcher in Bloomington, Utah. December 27, 2007It would have been great to get a male and end the year on such a beautiful bird, but at this point its kind of hard to complain about any new bird. So I drove 300 miles and saw the bird, now what? I birded Tonaquint Park where the appeared to be a GadwallxMallard Hybrid or the most screwed up Gadwall I have ever seen. I swung by Southgate Golf Course, and then headed out of town to try and bird Lytle before it got dark. I arrived just after 4:00pm giving me about an hour of sun light, and I used it to walk up through the orchard and around the housing and picnic areas. Unfortunately, the wind was howling down the wash and bird life was fairly dead. By the time I got to one of my usual camp sites, I decided it was too cold to camp out, so I headed to Mesquite, NV to spend the night.
Friday morning started early and cold. I headed across the Beaver Dam Slope in the early morning gloom. There were some clouds, but the sun hadn't yet peaked above the Beaver Dams onto the slope. The wash to the south in Arizona was lit up and made for some great pictures. It was an odd feeling (yesterday too) driving across the desert through the Joshua Trees, and seeing snow on the ground. I mean this is par tof the Mojave desert... snow! In any event I arrived at the ranch with most of the area still in shadows, sun barely hitting the tree tops. I birded all the way to the north end of the ranch, before hitting Beaver Dam Creek and following it back down stream to the actual Beaver Dam near the parking area. Highlights included a very cooperative Black-tailed Gnatcatcher as well as 2 "Myrtle's" Yellow-rumped Warbler, numerous Phainopepla, and Crissal Thrashers.
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher at Lytle Ranch. December 28, 2007I started birding the camping area when I got glimpse of what appeared to be a Sapsucker in a very juvenile plumage. Being late December this was intriguing as most Red-naped have lost this plumage by this time. The bird flew before I could get great looks so I followed it around. It ended up in the pine trees at the kiosk in the parking area. When I finally caught up I got my binoculars on not a Yellow-bellied or Red-naped, but instead a Red-breasted Sapsucker. It flew out of the pine and dropped into a fruit tree below, and was immediately followed by the juvenile Sapsucker, and an adult female Red-naped Sapsucker. For about 5 seconds all three birds were together in one tree, not something you see everyday in Utah.
I approached the birds, and they flew up into the cottonwoods above. I was able to get my binoculars ont eh juvenile bird confirming my suspicion that it was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The bird had basically no red on the top of the head yet, and none on the throat, leading me to believe it was a female bird. It showed nice tracking on the back and have olive and brown stains over most of the white feathering on the body.
1st winter Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Lytle Ranch. December 28, 2007Just about this time, Larry Tripp walked in the front gate and had seen the Red-breasted before it jettisoned. I pointed out the Yellow-bellied, but it decided to fly just as he got his eyes on it. We spent about an hour trying to track down the bird, but did not see it or the Red-breasted again. It is amazing how some birds just fade away into the ranch and wash despite their obvious nature.
I headed back towards St. George and made my way to the Hurricane SR-9 ponds to check out the waterfowl, before stopping at Sand Hollow State Park to scan the lake. 3 Tundra Swan were feeding along the south side of the reservoir. I worked my way through the dunes on the loop, into Hurricane Fields. I spent some time trying to look for the Lark Bunting that Rick Fridell had found about a month ago, that I am assuming is wintering in the area. I didn't find it, but there were two "Prairie" race Merlin harassing American Pipits out over the fields. I also saw Ferruginous, Rough-legged, and Red-tailed Hawks as well as Northern Harrier and American Kestrel in the area.
As I was leaving on the main east-west route (3000 South I believe), I came into a large flock, of around 1,500 Red-winged Blackbird, with smaller numbers of Starlings, Cowbirds, and Brewer's Blackbirds. I spent some time looking through these birds, when I noticed a large group of 90 or so Brewer's Blackbirds sitting on some fencing around a corral a littler further east. I drove up and parked on the other side of the road and almost immediately was drawn to a female bird that looked to be a Rusty Blackbird. I was thinking there is no way that I am seeing this, but there it was a beautiful, rust stained female bird.
Female Rusty Blackbird in the Hurricane Fields. December 28, 2007After I got my fix, I rove through Hurricane to Stratton Pond to finish up my birding for the trip. I opted to come home a day early as it looked like the weather would be a little nicer than on Saturday. Now, with 61 hours left in 2007, I will try my luck at one more year bird on Sunday... Who knows, with my luck I might turn up 2 more year birds! What a year.
posted by Tim Avery at
9:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home