Slaty-backed Gull?

Yep, that is a question mark. Today, Lee Kay Ponds showed why it is the new Utah gulling hot spot with at least 9 species of gull present, including an adult Western Gull (probably the same bird from last year), at least 3, and maybe 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 Mew Gulls, 1 Glaucous-winged Gull, 1 Glaucous Gull, 4 Thayer's Gulls, 115 Herring Gulls, 750 Ring-billed Gulls, and ~2500 California Gulls.

However, the most interesting bird was a 3rd winter gull that I think is a Slaty-backed Gull. However, since I have never seen one, and haven't spent a great deal of time studying this species, I am unsure of a few field marks which were off. In any event I will try to get back out there the next couple days to look around some more.

possible Slaty-backed Gull at Lee Kay Ponds. December 29, 2007

If it isn't a Slaty-backed, then it is a Western Gull, so a good bird, none-the-less!

353... 354.. and 355!?!?!

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.

The Final Week

Here it is, Christmas Eve, December 24th... The final week of 2007. It's almost hard to believe that it has been 358 days, and that the year will be over, and my big year will be coming to an end. It seems almost too soon, and yet at the same time, couldn't get here any quicker. I've often heard that after doing big years, many birders are simply worn out, burned out, or just plain sick of birding. I for one promised myself that wouldn't be the case.. Ha ha. Yet when December rolled around I can honestly say I was burned out. I spent the first week of the month in New York City, and enjoyed several days of birding, of course I was seeing lifers and nemesis birds, so it was a different story. When I got back to Utah I should have hopped in my car and went out to find that next rarity. Instead, I sat on the couch and worked on my website... I spent time with many of the friends I've neglected over the past 11 months... And in all honesty, just took a break. A mush needed rest.

I don't have the numbers right in front of me, and I also want to hold off till I do a recap of the year next week, but needless to say I have spent more than 150 days birding this year, and drove well over 30,000 miles. It will be fun to see what the true totals end up being. Anywho, back to December. It should have been a December to remember, with a large invasion of Bohemian Waxwing, a CBC where I was fortunate to find an Anna's Hummingbird, and a smattering of winter gulls showing up. But, it really did finally catch up to me. When I got word of the Chestnut-collared Longspur last week, instead of running home to get my equipment and hurrying up, I caught a ride with the Sommerfeld's. I was a sight for sore eyes, standing in the cold, freezing in a hoody and tennis shoes. No camera... No binoculars... And a general lack in spirit. I must say it isn't the me that I am.

So with a week left, I am making a pact... to myself. I will end the year with a BANG! I plan on birding for at least 1 hour every day till the year is over. More so, I will find or see at least 1 more year bird, so I can end with at least 353 species for my Utah big year. And finally, I will go back and thank EVERYONE, every single person who in some way encouraged me, pushed me, cheered me on, cheered me up, found me birds, found me something to drink, called me with info, called me just to say hi, drove me, drove with me, slept while I drove, talked turkey with, talked gulls with, camped out with, dragged along, made me smile, helped me financially, went owling, went to the dump, walked in the snow, hiked in the heat, or in some way impacted my 2007.

It has been quite a year, and will hopefully go out with a bang. I have seen a lot this year, I have learned more, and have been grateful for all the help along the way. It will be something to remember, and not something I do again, any time soon. So here is to the final week of 2007, one hell of a year!

#352 with 10 days to go

As I spent the afternoon trying to finish up with my Christmas shopping for 2007, I didn't expect to do any birding until the weekend... But when my phone rang and Bryan Shirley explained that he had a Chestnut-collared Longspur at Farmington Bay WMA, I knew that I needed to get up there as fast as I could to not only tick the bird off my year list, but add it to my Utah life list. I called Colby Neuman to see if he was up for it but got no answer, so I called the Sommerfeld's who just so happened to be home and wanted to go. I just so happened to be a few blocks away and asked if I could tag along. Of course I had no camera equipment or optics, so I was going into it blind.

In any event we made it up but found out as we were arriving that Bryan had lost track of the bird as it finally flew off due to the traffic on the rather busy dirt road at the bay. He said it had come back each time it left earlier so we had high hopes. We were soon joined by Paul Higgins, and later both Larene Wyss and Pat Jividen. For about an hour and a half, Paul, the Sommerfeld's and I worked our way around Egg Island, up and down the main dike at the bay and checked out every Song, White-crowned and American Tree Sparrow, as well as a number of Pipits and a lone Horned Lark looking for the bird... unsuccessfully...

Finally, we decided to head towards Glovers Lane as the bird was last seen flying out around the northwest side of Egg Island. We drove out to the ponds, and then up to the turn around at the north end near the giant "ball". We flipped around and headed back south towards the 90 degree turn onto Glovers Lane. As we got to the corner a small bird took off, with the white tail edging flashing. I yelled to stop the car and managed to wiggle out and see the bird land behind the car behind us which had Larene Wyss in it. I managed to get up to Larene and get her on the the bird as Steve tried to get Cindy on the bird, while Paul got his looks in. At this point we took to watching the bird while Paul started shooting away. The bird was amazingly cooperative and didn't seem to mind the group of people that were watching it. Paul being the generous guy he is, allowed me to shoot several shots through his camera, so I could have one for my big year. A big thanks to Paul for that, and thanks to Steve and Cindy for the ride, and of course thanks to Bryan for a great find and my 352nd species for 2007 in Utah!

Chestnut-collared Longspur at Farmington Bay WMA, 12-21-07

600 Waxwings in Bountiful

I was doing a little scouting this morning for the North Salt Lake Bountiful quad of the Salt Lake CBC. There wasn't much out and about... except for WAXWINGS! Several blocks from where Jeff Bilsky reported them last week, I found a flock that I estimated had around 400 birds in it. However, being curious I decided to count the birds in a flight shot I took and came up wit at least 553 individuals in the flock, with a 10:1 ratio for Bohemian to Cedars, not a bad little flock.

Bohemian Waxwings in Bountiful, Utah December 14, 2007

This area was between Davis Boulevard and 400 East, from 2450 South to 2600 South. The birds were moving between several yards, and trees, and often worked in smaller flocks. Several blocks away I had another flock of about 50 Bohemian Waxwing feeding in a crab apple tree. And out of the Cont Circle on Mills Drive/Lane 13 Bohemian Waxwing were in an ornamental Juniper.

Other birds of note included 25 RED CROSSBILL at the Bountiful Cemetery, several STELLER'S JAYS around the bountiful bench, at least 20 WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, and a couple small coveys of CALIFORNIA QUAIL...

Red Crossbill at the Bountiful Cemetery, Bountiful, Utah, December 14, 2007

Purple Sandpipers in Brooklyn

Just finsished setting up my new blog so I decided to try a quick post here. This morning I went over to the Lower New York Bay along the I guess east side of the Verrazano Narrows just to the south of the Verrazano Bridge to look for Purple Sandpiper again. Earlier in the week the wind was gusting to 40mph and the waves were smashing into the sea wall making it difficult to look for the birds. Today the wind was calm as were the seas. And as if that wasn't going to help the birds literally were waiting for me when I got there. As I walked up to the railing along the sea wall and started looking at a Great Black-backed Gull, I caught some movement in the rocks about 30 feet away and found myself looking at a Purple Sandpiper. I moved towards the bird and soon found 6 more in the rocks with it! What a great way to finally come across this species after being skunked time and time again on Lake Michigan.

Purple Sandpiper in Brooklyn, NY. 12/05/07

I spent about an hour photographing the birds, and in that time had another flock of 15-20 birds fly past me. What awesome birds! There were also numerous Brant and Ring-billed Gull. A lone 2nd winter GBBG mentioned above, American Black Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers and the usual city fare.