Dixie birders Bird Zion.

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

Just watching a Cooper's sitting on my truck eating a bird. I wonder
if...damn, he did!

Hi folks.

The Dixie Birders spent Thursday (December 5, 2002) looking for some "Golden
Crowns" as target birds in Zion. While each of us had an assortment of
leftovers we needed to finish out the year, our primary goal was
Golden-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Sparrow and American Dipper.

We successfully found two out of three.

We began the day at 6am for breakfast and ended it at 6pm for dinner. We
started birding in the marshy area to the north of the town of Virgin on the
road to the Kolob Plateau. We also checked out the agricultural area within
the small town of Virgin.

Then we proceeded into "South" Zion, that part of the park more normally
associated with "Zion National Park". We stopped first at the Sand Bench
Trail, traveling a short section of that up and away from Birch Creek. Then
up to Weeping Rock beyond the lodge. We finished at the Temple of Sinawava.
Most birds were found below the lodge either along the road or on the
"trail". It was chilly and quiet in the upper end.

After leaving the park, we finished the day at the Springdale Pond. A total
of 36 species were seen. A good day, but not a notable quantity of species,
although there were some terrific individuals found. The following is an
account with some further explanation:

VIRGIN (32 degrees, with a brisk north wind - North Slope conditions)
Pied-billed Grebe
Ring-necked Duck
Hooded Merganser (2)
Red-tailed Hawk
VIRGINIA RAIL (3) (two seen, a third heard)
Wilson's Snipe (7) 
Marsh Wren
American Robin (abundant along the whole trip)
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark

VIRGIN RIVER in the Grafton area.
Bald Eagle (1 adult)
Common Raven
Western Bluebird (7)

ZION NATIONAL PARK, mostly in area below lodge
Mallard
Wild Turkey (7 Tom's)
RED-BREASTED x RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER (1 bird that had ALL the markings of a
Red-breasted, except for that tiny little black dot on the back of it's
head)
Hairy Woodpecker (3)
Northern Flicker
Western Scrub-Jay
Black-capped Chickadee (2 - a necessary bird not yet found on this birders
Washington County list)
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
AMERICAN DIPPER (2)
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET (2 - what a success this was)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (abundant; seems there's an explosion in the population
of Kinglets this year from Zion Park to Lytle Ranch)
Mountain Bluebird (7)
Townsend's Solitaire (2)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)
Dark-eyed Junco (5 Oregon, 2 Slate)

SPRINGDALE POND
Mallard
Ring-necked Duck
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
WINTER WREN (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
HERMIT THRUSH (1)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)
Spotted Towhee (Rufous-sided is so much nicer)
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch

All target birds but the Golden-crowned Sparrow were achieved with the
Hermit Thrush thrown in for good measure. No Varied Thrush, though we tried
long and hard. So another good day in the field.

The Dixie Birder's want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a birding
good New Year. See you on the CBC's, and later at the ABA Convention in
January.

Mahalo

Dixie Willie
Dixie Birders
St. George, Utah

PS: Charlie Sheard on Saturday "Went up to Oak Grove* and got 9 GC
Kinglets". It's interesting to note that the birds follow the Oak habitat
and aren't limited in their distribution to just Zion Park.

* Oak Grove = Oak Grove Campground, 6562' elevation at the edge of the Pine
Valley Mountain Wilderness.

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