Birding

[Bruce & Lynn Robinson <dbruce at prodigy dot net>]

What is 202.5 miles long, lasts 15.5 hours, and is a
lot more fun than doing laundry?  A "Salt Lake County
Big Day", of course (you did guess the answer before I
told you, didn't you?)!!
KC Childs and I (and later Steve & Cindy Summerfeld
joined me)set out on Tuesday the 27th hoping to find
100 species in Salt Lake Co.  We ended up a little
short (some of the "slam dunk" birds failed to
materialize), but we had a great day.  I'm getting
ahead of myself, though.
We headed out at 6 AM, and our first stop was at
Decker Lake.  Some of the better birds we got there
included WHITE FACED IBIS, CASPIAN TERNS, CLARK'S
GREBE, and CINNAMON TEAL.  By 7:00 we had 25 species,
100 was going to be a breeze!!!
Our next stop was at Jordan River Parkway and 2320
South where we hoped to see a Pied Billed Grebe. 
Whoops!  Oh, well, we'll see one later (not!!!)
Parley's Gulch was loaded with birds!  There we added
15 more to the list, including nesting BLACK HEADED
GROSBEAKS and WARBLING VIREOS.  After we left the
maternity ward the best birds we encountered included
BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, BLACK CHINNED HUMMINGBIRDS, FOX
SPARROW, ORANGE CROWNED WARBLERS, DOWNY WOODPECKERS,
and BLUE GRAY GNATCATCHERS.
Little Dell and Mountain Dell were devoid of ducks,
although we did get several CATBIRDS at Mtn. Dell. 
Washington Grove Park gave up BROAD TAIL HUMMINGBIRDS,
COOPER'S HAWKS, CEDAR WAXWINGS, RED NAPED SAPSUCKER,
WESTERN TANAGER, SWAINSON'S THRUSH, OLIVE SIDED
FLYCATCHER and YELLOW BREASTED CHAT.
At 2300 North and I-15 we saw WILSON'S PHALAROPES and
SNOWY EGRETS (and I suspect some scowls from passing
truck drivers!!)
We were able to add WILLET, RUDDY DUCK, and DOUBLE
CRESTED CORMORANTS to the list at Saltair.
Lee Kay Ponds added HORNED LARK, LARK SPARROW, a
female BUFFLEHEAD, and REDHEADS.  We missed the "slam
dunk" Least Tern and the Blue Winged Teal I had seen
there a couple days earlier (thanks to Glen Warchol!).
Butterfield Canyon gave us LAZULI BUNTING, CHIPPING
SPARROWS, LESSER GOLDFINCH, SHARP SHINNED HAWK, and a
HOUSE WREN  that had homesteaded a Bluebird nest box. 
And it gave KC a migraine headache to the point that
he decided to end his birding for the day.  So at 4
o'clock, I dropped him off at his car, and stopped by
my house for a few minutes.  We had 77 species at this
point.
When I got home I saw that Steve and Cindy had been
trying to reach me.  I wondered why they hadn't call
my cell phone?  (It turns out the pencil wrote down
the wrong number, and some stranger was getting pretty
peeved that they kept calling him and asking for me!!)
 I heard from them as I was heading down the road
heading for Brighton.  We agreed to meet at Silver
Lake Flats and continue in the pursuit of 100 birds.
After leaving the heat of the valley, Brighton felt
very good.  The temperature was in the mid 60's and
there was still snow around the lake.  A hike around
the lake gave us STELLER'S JAYS, VIOLET GREEN
SWALLOWS, more RED NAPED SAPSUCKERS, WESTERN WOOD
PEWEE, WHITE CROWNED SPARROWS, and PINE SISKIN.  I
also saw a DOWNY WOODPECKER which was a treat as KC
was the only one to see the earlier bird.
We decided to finish the day by birding the Jordan
River Parkway at 4800 South in hope of seeing
Pheasants (again we struck out).  We did add
CALIFORNIA QUAIL and BELTED KINGFISHERS to the list.
As the sun settled all to quick on a great day of
birding, we had logged 83 species.  Not quite the 100
I had hoped for, but a very good day nonetheless!!! 
And I learned some things to apply in my next attempt
for a Salt Lake County Big 100 Day!!!
Ain't Birding Great!!!
Bruce

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