June Field Trip to Pine Park - Almost!

[Bill Hunter <dixiewillie at sunrivertoday dot com>]

Undaunted, 12 or so brave birders headed north last Saturday to one
of the more picturesque places in Washington County on the monthly
Red Cliffs Audubon Field Trip.

It wasn't but a short time when the desert rats called off the trip
and headed home. A few die hards ventured forth anyway, but it was a
cold, wet day and even the ducks didn't see fit to come out and play.

Beaver, UT received .67" of rain. Enterprise, UT got .35" and the
whole time we were out and about we were under a Severe Thunderstorm
Warning... and it doesn't rain in So. Utah - HA!

So, discretion being the better part of valor, we turned the "horses"
around at Shoal Creek Reservoir just east of Enterprise and went home
the back way, hoping to find some birds on Gunlock and Ivin's Reservoir.

And find a few birds we did, 37 species in total. I'll just provide
the highlights. Bird of the day was a Blue Grosbeak in the town of
Gunlock.

Enterprise, UT
     Turkey Vulture - 13 sitting, huddled in a Spruce tree attempting
to stay out of the rain... I know, that's an anthropomorphic
statement; but, people were in the rain and birds were huddled under
cover.. go figure.
     Red-tailed Hawk
     Prairie Falcon
     Eurasian-Collared Dove - where aren't they anymore? I've seen
them from as far north as Lyman, WY on a cold winters day to the area
of Warm Springs outside Moapa, NV. And you are frequently reading
reports from all along the Wasatch Front.
     Yellow Warbler
     Western Meadowlark
     Great-tailed Grackle - a common So. Utah bird anymore.

Shoal Creek Reservoir
     Cinnamon Teal
     Ruddy Duck - struttin' their stuff... whatever that means.
     Eared Grebe
     American Coot - we wondered if this wasn't the most common bird
around anymore.
     California Gull
     Northern Rough-winged Swallow
     Cliff Swallow

Baker Dam Reservoir
     Tree Swallow

Gunlock, UT
     Black Phoebe
     Lucy Warbler
     Black-headed Grosbeak
     Blue Grosbeak - male and female gave us fantastic views along a
hedgerow. The owner of the property on the other hand was a bit
dubious, seeing four people with binoculars staring in his kitchen
window, or so he thought; "You're looking at a 'what' bird?"
     Golden Eagle

Gunlock Reservoir
     Violet-green Swallow - that makes four of the species of
swallow. We looked for Bahama... well, it looks like a Violet-green,
but no luck!
     Black-throated Sparrow - close second for bird of the day.
     Ash-throated Flycatcher
     Rock Wren
     Graylag Goose - just seeing if you're still with me. But there
was one there. Totally out of character, so we did some impressive
driving to get a good scope look before dismissing.

Ivin's Reservoir
     Double-crested Cormorant

And home. Murphy's Law - abort a filed trip and within several hours
it will clear up. Well, it cleared up in the St. George area, but it
still looked mighty dark to the northwest. Hope our friends didn't
try a dirt road in the rain. Such roads have a way of turning into
"Elephant snot", I know from experience.

See yah next time.

Dixie Willie



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