Piute and Salt Lake Counties

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

I took Lynn to her sister?s house in Redmond, UT on
Saturday to spend the week, and you know what that
means!!!  BGB*!!!!
I birded what I believe is City Creek Canyon near the
town of Junction, and the dirt road that connects it
with Circleville.  There were quite a few birds, and
not much traffic (probably because there was a gate
across the highway saying ?Road Closed?, but sometimes
it is an advantage to have bad eyesight so I couldn?t
read the sign!!).
Some of the highlights included a Blue Grosbeak,
several Red Naped Sapsuckers, a White Throated Swift
that flew by and checked out my van antenna for bugs
(and I swear she winked at me as she flew by!!), Blue
Gray Gnatcatchers near Circleville, and a couple of
Lazuli Buntings in the Circleville Cemetery.
On the way back to Mount Pleasant where I was camped,
I had to slow down while a small covey of Gamble?s
Quails crossed Highway 89 near Big Rock Candy
Mountain.
This morning  (Monday) I decided to check out
Butterfield Canyon, a little closer to home.  I was
surprised at the numbers and variety of birds that
were near the summit.  There was a quaking aspen that
had several ?woodpecker? holes.  A pair of Red Naped
Sapsuckers occupied the top hole, while the hole just
below it was rented out to a pair of House Wrens.  In
the same area were also MacGillivray?s Warblers (I
found one on the Tooele side of the summit that had
met its demise with a vehicle.  It still surprises me
just how small they really are!!), many Green Tailed
and Spotted Towhees,  Western Tanagers, a Hammond?s
Flycatcher (I?m assuming because of the elevation that
it was not a Dusky), Virginia?s Warblers, Orange
Crowned Warblers, and a Clark?s Nutcracker.  
I had a brightly colored male Western Tanager come
within 6-7 feet of me, but by the time I got my camera
turned on and focused for the Kodak Moment it had
become a Kodak Memory.   No turkeys were seen this
trip which gives me an excuse to check it out again
later!

Bruce
*BGB = ?Bruce Goes Birding?

_______________________________________________

"Utah Birds" web site: http://www.utahbirds.org
     BirdTalk:
To subscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-subscribe@utahbirds.org
To unsubscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-unsubscribe@utahbirds.org
To send a message, e-mail:  birdtalk@utahbirds.org
_________________________________________________