Lesser Black-backed Gull, Longspur, Bunting

Eric Huish and I went up to Davis County this afternoon to do some birding. Our first stop at Bountiful Landfill produced an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Cliff Weisse had told me he thought he had seen a second year Lesser Black-backed Gull at the landfill, so we went up today to see if we could find the bird. We were not able to locate that bird, but we saw an adult Lesser Black-backed out on the ice behind the dump with all the gulls. Its darker mantle stuck out while scanning. We got several pictures of the bird as well. We also saw Thayer's Gulls there.

On Antelope Island Causway we were able to find one Lapland Longspur, which was in a large flock of Horned Larks on the south side of the causway. We also saw the Snow Bunting in a different large flock on the south side of the causway. Most of the Horned Larks seemed to be on the south side of the causway. There was also 3 Long-tailed Ducks near the bridge by mile marker one. On the island all the Chukars were gathered near the feeders at the visitor center. There was a Loggerhead Shrike at the marina as well. It was a terrific day to be out. The Lapland Longspur and Lesser Black-backed Gull were lifers for me. Plus clear sunny weather to boot.

KC Childs