Sand Hollow Reservoir

["William J. Hunter" <dixiewili at redrock dot net>]

Hi folks.

This be a wee bit late in posting, but things being as they are, better late
than never.  The intrepid Dixie Birders hit a few of the watering holes last
Thursday, with emphasis on Sand Hollow Reservoir.

Oh, boy! Was I surprised to see the amount of water in this new focal point.
I thought we had a drought down here. Not so. This reservoir is filling up
and measured by surface area, will be the largest body of water in
Washington County, if not in all So. Utah, 'cept for Lake Powell.

Anyway, there was the White-winged Scoter, moved over from Quail to avoid
the skiers I would assume.  Normal assortment of waterfowl, a Common Loon,
some 400+ Ring-billed Gulls, and in the mix, 7 Bonaparte's Gulls. A nice
find and a state bird for this birder.

But the treat of the day occurred as we were about to leave. We noticed
several gulls dropping in on the already large mass of gulls on the surface
of the water. Then I looked above us and the sky was full of white sparkles
as gulls were dropping into view all over the place. Twisting, barrel
rolling, diving, and wings drawn-in stooping. Hundreds of gulls literally
falling out of the sky, dropping thousands of feet to come in to view and
eventually landing with the gulls on the lake. We estimated over 200 birds
just falling out of the sky. I've never been involved in a fallout before,
this was remarkable... to see migrating gulls who decided they wanted to be
down here, instead of up there - now!  Chicken Little was right!

Take care... and enjoy the snow. :-)

Dixie Willie
St. George

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