Washington county birds

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

Dennis Shirley and I drove to Washington county early yesterday morning
and returned home this evening. This morning we visited Lytle Ranch with
Kevin Wheeler. Things were generally pretty dead, except for a few
sapsuckers in the orchard. A second-fall male yellow-bellied sapsucker
was observed, and also a second bird that may be also be a
yellow-bellied sapsucker of similar age or younger. Four or five
red-naped sapsuckers were also readily available for comparative
purposes.

Other birds of interest:
- a vermilion flycatcher in Washington fields
- a merlin in Washington, and also Eurasian collared and white-winged
doves (no Inca doves, one of our few disappointments this trip)
- a flock of nine or more evening grosbeaks behind the LDS chapel in
Leeds
- hooded mergansers were darn near abundant; 8 pairs were seen this
evening on Stratten pond in Hurricane, and others were seen elsewhere in
the county (the greater scaup previously reported on Stratten pond were
not observed)
- a greater white-fronted goose on the Springs Estates pond
- two white-winged scoters were seen on Sand Hollow Reservoir as were
previously reported
- a great egret and an American white pelican were seen on the Southgate
golf course pond
- a cactus wren was seen on the Beaver dam slope
- the common moorhen was seen in its usual place on the Red Hills GC
pond
- and Dennis and I both saw - or simultaneously hallucinated - a
roadrunner sprint across the road in Gunlock near the post office.

Also of note: the recent rains have done amazing things to Washington
county. Gunlock Reservoir has risen to capacity and is running over its
spillway, after being at last 30 feet below capacity this summer. The
same is true of Baker Dam Reservoir just up the road. Evidence of the
downpours is unavoidable and unmistakable across much of the county.

Lu Giddings


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