St. George Specialties

[Tim Avery <western dot tanager at gmail dot com>]

I made my first trip to St. George for the year over the weekend. 
Saturday was spent mostly driving, with a quick stop at Red Cliffs
campground, where Verdin, Spotted Towhee, and Gambel's Quail were in
attendance.  The CG host told me that a Hummingbird has been visiting
his feeder all winter.  At Quail Creek were Common Goldeneye, an over
abundance of Ruddy Duck, Western Grebes, DC Cormorant and the rest of
the common stuff.

Sunday I met up with Rick Fridell and Merrill Webb at the Red Hills
Golf Course, where we located a "Western" Flycatcher, almost certainly
a first winter record for Utah, the only question is to what "Western"
bird is it?

http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/janu06/wefl_01.jpg

Also at the Golf Course were Verdin, Black Phoebe, Northern
Mockingbird, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, and a smattering of waterfowl:

http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/janu06/nomo_01.jpg

Next, Rick and I headed to Tonaquit Park where we saw at least 6 Abert's Towhee:

http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/janu06/abto_01.jpg

After that it was over to the Southgate Golf Course, where we saw 2
Ross's Geese, 3 Snow Geese, several Canvasback's, and what could only
be called an absolutely stunning male Vermillion Flycatcher, which
Rick spotted across the Club House Pond:

http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/janu06/vefl_01.jpg

At the Zion's RV "Resort", we saw 3 Inca Dove:

http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/janu06/indo_01.jpg

And at Stratton Pond were around 7 or 8 Hooded Merganser and several
Greater Scaup, not to mention an Orange-crowned Warbler, as well as a
Bewick's Wren.

I split up from Rick, and headed to Sand Hollow State Park, where the
water was choppy and the sand was a'blowin.  On the loop towards
Hurricane Fields I located 2 Cactus Wren in a cholla patch based off
Rick's suggestion.  In the Hurricane Fields I saw both Vesper and
Savannah Sparrow, but Raptors were rather, absent.

Today (Monday), I ventured onto the Beaver Dam Slope, and to Lytle
Ranch, my first such trip, and quite memorable, with 2 life birds, and
a number of my target birds for the year.  Highlights were Crissal
Thrasher, Greater Roadrunner, Western Bluebird and:

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher (pair working their way along the slope right
before the river):

http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/janu06/btgn_01.jpg


Phainopepla (1 of 3 birds seen around the ranch area):

http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/janu06/phai_01.jpg

I stopped at Welcome Springs, where a flock of about 15 White-crowned
Sparrow's didn't include anything special and 4 Scrub-Jay's mocked me
as I walked around the trees in the cold wind.

A great weekend and back in a real bed tonight will be great.  Another
shot at Varied Thrush in the morning I guess…

Good Birding

Tim
http://www.timaverybirding.com
http://www.birdingwyoming.org
Salt Lake City, Utah

"I cannot help but think a curious event is this life of mine."
- John James Audubon

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