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Hi all
Jill and I went on the Bridgerland Audubon's field trip to the
Amalga Barrens. On the way, we stopped at the Bear River Oxbow, and after
the Barrens, we stopped at the Newton Dam and a couple of other places, before
returning to Logan.
The trip was led by Sue Drown, who did an excellent job of
leading, not to mention the flying Short-eared Owl that she found. We rode
with Steve Peterson and Reinhardt Jockel, both excellent birders, and wonderful
companions.
After we got home and had lunch, we went to Riverton to do
some shopping, and on the way, we stopped off at Willard Bay. Here's
what we saw on the day:
Bear River Oxbow/Amalga Barrens/Newton/Hyrum/Willard Bay,
4/24/2004
Length: 66
Contents:
Common Loon
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Cattle Egret
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Ross's Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Ring-necked Pheasant
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Short-billed Dowitcher
Franklin's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Short-eared Owl
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Marsh Wren
American Robin
European Starling
American Pipit
Savannah Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Sparrow
The highlights were many. We had two lifers, the SE Owl
and the Marbled Godwit, along with several year birds, county birds and state
birds. We totaled 66 species for the day. We saw several duck
species, including all three species of Teal, something we haven't done since we
were at Port Aransas, Texas, last year, many shorebirds, including the Godwits,
both Yellowlegs, Willets, Killdeer, Avocets and Stilts, and four species of
swallows. If I've omitted anyone, it's because there were too many to
list.
Utah is turning out to be birdier than I had thought it would
be. So far, I'm over 160 species for the year (but who's counting....lol),
and over 120 for Utah. I'm also over 110 species in Cache
County.
All in all, it was a great trip with a great bunch of birders
(myself excluded).
Good birding,
Richard
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