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Misc. Sightings & Arrivals (a little long)

Hello All,
I've been meaning to post for a while but have been pretty busy. Its beautiful out these days I've been noticing a few newer arrivals as well. Today from the bus, at Point of the Mountain, just west of the I-15, I saw a probable SWAINSON'S HAWK. It was teetering a bit like a Turkey Vulture but was certainly built more like a hawk. Apparently Red-taileds are a bit heavier and don't get tossed around quite as much. At the American Fork Park & Ride, a flock of about 20 IBISES flew over...I can only assume with pretty strong confidence that they were White-faced. A bit earlier at a little pond just NW of the Meadowbrook Trax Station, I saw a COOT and a strange duck that, for lack of a better guess (and a better look...my train was coming), I would call it a possible? WHITE-CHEEKED PINTAIL. Is this a frequently seen domestic bird in the Salt Lake area? I also had a WILSON'S SNIPE in a similar little Trax-side pond at around 3600S late last week.

Also, for some very delayed sightings, I was lucky enough to get out for much of the afternoon/evening on Saturday (4/9). It was incredibly windy but still pretty good to be out. Along River Lane, on the south shore of Utah Lake, I heard a couple singing RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and saw BARN and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS. WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were singing from nearly every field with suitable habitat and there were a couple of LONG-BILLED CURLEWS out there as well. I almost headed back to Provo since the lake seemed too windy but my first 3 FRANKLIN'S GULLS of the year were headed north and that inspired me to check a few other places in the area. At Benjamin Slough, there were lots of B-N STILTS, AMERICAN AVOCETS, AM. WHITE PELICANS and lots of ducks. Anatids included L. SCAUP, G-W & CIN. TEAL, GADWALL, A. WIGEON, MALLARD, PINTAIL, N. SHOVELER, REDHEAD, BUFFLEHEAD & C. GOLDENEYE. While scoping, Leila Ogden & nameless (because I forgot) passenger stopped by to see if there was anything exciting. They were headed to Lincoln Point and I eventually headed the same way. I swung around south of the slough and saw a hawk on the ground. I think it had been eating something. Distracted by blackbirds, I assumed it was a Red-tail until I actually looked at it. It was a dark/intermediate SWAINSON'S HAWK. I have some pretty backlit but ID-able photos of this bird. I think someone reported one from Nephi the same day but I thought it was a little early.

At Lincoln point, I found incredible north wind off of the lake. There were Several gulls on the leeward (south) side of the marina. Most were CALIFORNIA but there were a few RING-BILLEDS, some FRANKLIN'S (nice 'n' rosy) and a 1st year HERRING GULL. 2 WILLETS had me confused for a bit until one of them showed its distinctive wings. An AVOCET flew, a N. HARRIER flew by and flocks of blackbirds included the occasional, easy to pick out, male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. A few CLIFF and one BANK SWALLOW flew past going north, essentially ignoring the insane headwind. There was also a large flotilla of G-W TEAL in the flooded vegetation off to the south. Further North and West around the point, I found 3 CLARK'S GREBES and several EARED GREBES (at least 1 in winter plumage) but wasn't able to find Tuula's Horned Grebe. The wind made viewing tough, though.

Anyway, the warblers should be back soon, according to my new Stokes Warbler's guide. It is a pretty simple guide but it draws in all the best features of many of the other warbler guides. Undertail sketch, nice diversity of photos, maps with approx. arrival dates and migration routes are all in one place and western/eastern populations of species are treated separately. Maybe not too useful out here where species are somewhat limited but certainly a good one for any warbler enthusiast or migrant-crazed individual.

Good Birding,
Matt Williams
Provo, UT


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