Red Cliffs Audubon May Field Trip

["William J. Hunter" <dixiewili at redrock dot net>]

Title: Red Cliffs Audubon May Field Trip

Greetings

Last Saturday (May 10, 2003), members of Red Cliffs Audubon, some folks from way far up North and a number of Zion Park employees (total of 32 birders) joined forces with Bob Showler of Zion National Park on our annual Grafton, Utah trip. This year it also included Springdale Pond, Blue Springs and Kolob Reservoirs, as it did last year.

Grafton wasn't as good as last year, though Shirley George allowed us access to some private land along the Virgin River which proved interesting. Thanks Shirley for your hospitality. In total we notched 69 species. 

Those at Grafton included: 
Cooper's Hawk
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Lewis's Woodpecker
Epidomax sp
Say's Phoebe
Cassin's Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Swallows: Tree, Violet-green, Northern Rough-winged, Cliff
Rock Wren; great displays and very accommodating
Bewick's Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Cedar Waxwing
Lucy's Warbler 
Yellow-breasted Chat
Spotted Towhee
Sparrows: Brewer's, Lark, Black-throated
Blue Grosbeak
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole

Before leaving Grafton though I must mention a very rare bird called the Woodpecker Rooster. Charlie went home and looked through some of those old Boeing Engineering Manuals and sure enough, was able to find it and identify it: "I just ran across the Latin Name for the rooster we saw on our field trip. This comes from a very obscure field guide and the Latin name is:  Falsipennis Zionii." 

On to Springdale Pond:
Sora
Downey Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Vireo: Plumbeous and Warbling
House Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Western Bluebird; pair nesting
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)
Common Yellowthroat
Summer Tanager

Blue Springs Reservoir: By now we were down to 6 die hard birders.
Double Crested Cormorant
Ring-necked Duck
Osprey; with a fish in its talons
American Coot
Spotted Sandpiper
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bluebird: Western and Mountain
Sparrow: Chipping and Vesper
Brewer's Blackbird

Kolob Reservoir: No snow, lots of fishermen, even fisherwomen.
Common Loon
Grebe: Eared and Western
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Caspian Tern
Tree Swallow

Some of the more common species seen at two or more stops:
Turkey Vulture
Mallard
Ruddy Duck
Red-tailed Hawk
Black Phoebe
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Common Raven
Bewick's Wren
Yellow Warbler
Black-headed Grosbeak
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch

Also seen on the road up to the reservoirs:
American Kestrel
Mourning Dove
Western Scrub-Jay
Song Sparrow

It was a gorgeous day for an all day outing: 8AM to 4PM. And an elevation gain of 3773' at Grafton to 8100' at Kolob.

May 24th is our next field trip, this time to the Kanab area. Meet at the St. George BLM at 7AM.

Bill Hunter
Red Cliffs Audubon, St. George, UT