grasshopper sparrows and a dunlin

["L. D. Giddings" <seldom74 at xmission dot com>]

Following up on Mark Stackhouse's report  (4/24) of grasshopper sparrows
near Nucor steel, I went in search of them this morning. Between 7:30
a.m. - 9 a.m. I heard nine different individuals (I assume, given the
distances separating the areas in which each call was heard, that each
was a different bird) singing their distinctive rattlesnake buzz song. I
got good looks at several different birds. I patrolled the dirt roads
north and west of the plant (21200 North and 7600 West) with my windows
down listening for their call. They were hard to miss. There is also a
bank swallow colony in the vicinity, about 1 mile WNW of the plant. And
the most unexpected bird of the morning was a common loon, swimming by
itself in the little Nucor pond.

I stopped to search for black-bellied plovers on the way home. Julie is
correct about the midges. They are present in near-Biblical numbers
along the causeway. I was curious how many might make their way into my
vehicle if I left my windows down. Since I was alone and driving my
wife's car, I made my trip across the causeway with all windows down. By
the time I reached Antelope Island, the car's interior was shaggy with
midges. I estimate there were insect densities of at least 50-100 per
square foot on all non-glass surfaces inside the car, and in some areas,
more. As we drove to dinner this evening and midges continue to appear
from heaven only knows where within the car, my sweetheart was unamused.
I shall make restitution on Mother's Day.

At 11:00 a.m. there was a single dunlin sharing the rusty culvert on the
north side of the causeway around Mile 2 with several hundred
sanderlings and western sandpipers. A number of the sanderlings are now
sporting their breeding plumage.

Lu Giddings


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