bear river bird refuge

[qrs2 at email dot byu dot edu]

Hi birders,
End of the semester means I have got to take a vacation.  Thursday the 25th I 
did so by spending a half day at the Bear River migratory reserve.  It was a 
great trip where I saw 53 species for the day.  The highlights for me included 
6 new lifers:  Bonapartes Gull, Cattle egret, Bank swallow, Great Egret, 
American Pipit, and 1 male Ruddy duck.  Also, I saw a pair of hawks that 
appeared to be rough-legged hawks.  I know they are only supposed to be winter 
visitors, so I was wondering if they could still be around this late in the 
year.  They had the distinctive dark "patches" on the underside of their wings 
and they had whitish breast area and head that became dark lower down.  Does 
this sound like anything else to you guys?  Anyway, a great trip.

Quinn Shurtliff