Southeastern Utah Grouse --Ut. Co. Birders Fieldtrip

[George Merrill Webb <gmw26 at email dot byu dot edu>]

     Reed Stone, Ut. County Birders President, made arrangements with personnel
from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to visit one of the leks of the
Gunnison Sage Grouse near Monticello, Utah this past Saturday.  Due to the low
numbers of grouse and the necessity of cooperating with the land owners in the
area where the leks are located it is necessary to coordinate with division
personnel to arrange for entry onto the land where the grouse can be viewed.
Before daybreak Saturday morning nineteen of us were able to load into four cars
to drive onto the land where the lek is located.  We were able to get good looks
at five-six males and one-two females from a distance far enough away that there
was little human disturbance.  Seeing this grouse, which was recently split off
from the Greater Sage Grouse as a new species,was an interesting experience; it
was a "lifer" for most of us.
     We returned to Monticello and then drove down to Devil's Canyon and
searched for nuthatches and bluebirds.  Then we continued on to Recapture
Reservoir just north of Blanding where we saw all three species of mergansers
plus quite a few species of waterfowl.  Driving on through Blanding we visited
the water treatment ponds south of town and finished off our list of waterfowl.

     The group then split into three with Dana Green and her husband driving on
towards St. George, three cars headed toward Hite and the other three cars
headed back toward Monticello and Moab.  I was in the group that headed toward
Hite, so don't know what species of birds the other groups saw at this point in
time.
     Driving on past Hite (Lake Powell is really low--it didn't even reach the
Hite Bridge which went over the Colorado River) towards Torrey we stopped for a
short time and birded Capitol Reef National Park.  (Just before reaching the
national park, Reed spotted four Desert Bighorn Sheep resting right on a rock
outcrop overlooking the highway...a "lifer" for those keeping mammal lists.)
The fruit trees were out in bloom at the park, but there weren't many birds to
look at.
     Reaching Torrey we drove south toward the Boulder Mountain with the Acorn
Woodpecker as our target bird.  After reaching the area where numerous birders
have seen it we located the woodpecker and watched it for about 20 minutes.  It
was quite cooperative.  We then retraced our path back towards Torrey and headed
back to Utah Valley.
     We covered more than 600 miles in about 30 hours; the trip list of about 58
species for our group of three carloads of birders is listed below.

D.C.= Devil's Canyon
R.R.= Recapture Reservoir
B= Blanding Water Treatment Ponds
F.C.= Fry Canyon
C.R.= Capitol Reef Natl. Park
B.M.= Boulder Mountain
T= Torrey area
M=Moab area
Mont=Monticello area

Birds:

Common Loon  R.R.
Gt. Blue Heron  R.R.
Canada Goose   R.R. and B
Green-winged Teal  R.R.
Mallard  R.R. and B
Cinnamon Teal  R.R. and B
No. Shoveler  R.R.
Gadwall   B
American Wigeon   B
Ring-necked Duck  R.R.
Lesser Scoup  R.R.
Hooded Merganser  R.R.
Common Merganser  R.R.
Red-breasted Merganser  R.R.
Turkey Vulture  Price
Northern Harrier   B
Sharp-shinned Hawk  B.M.
Red-tailed Hawk  Price and Mont.
Golden Eagle  Mont.
American Kestrel  Price
Gunnison Sage Grouse  Mont.
American Coot  B
Ring-billed Gull  R.R.
Rock Dove  Price
White-throated Swift  Nr. C.R.
Acorn Woodpecker  B.M.
Red-naped Sapsucker  D.C.
Hairy Woodpecker  D.C.
Northern Flicker  B.M.
Say's Phoebe  F.C.
Tree Swallow  Nr. Torrey
Steller's Jay  B.M.
Scrub Jay  T
Pinyon Jay  T
Clark's Nutcracker  B.M.
Black-billed Magpie  Price and Mont.
American Crow  Moab
Common Raven  many areas
Mt. Chickadee  D.C.
White-breasted Nuthatch  D.C.
Pygmy Nuthatch  D.C.
Brown Creeper  C.R.
Rock Wren  Hite
Western Bluebird  D.C. and B.M.
Mountain Bluebird  D.C.  and B.M.
American Robin  many areas
European Starling  "   "
Yellow-rumped Warbler  C.R.
Spotted Towhee  D.C.
White-crowned Sparrow  F.C.
Dark-eyed Junco  D.C.
Red-winged Blackbird  B
Western Meadowlark  Quite a few areas
House Finch  Hite
House Sparrow Mont.

Birders on the trip were:
Reed Stone, Kay Stone, K.C. Child, Glenn Barlow, Merrill Webb, Dennis and
Carolyn Shirley, Pomera Fronce, Eric Huish, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Robinson, Alona
Huffaker and son, Dwayne Huffaker, Bonnie williams Carrie Walters, Dana and
Arnie Green, Alton Thygerson and Mike Monson.

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