Field Trip and Painted Redstart

["kevin wheeler" <turtleherder at hotmail dot com>]

On Saturday, 22 May, the Red Cliffs Audubon took a field trip out to 
Grafton, Springdale, and Zion Canyon.
Grafton was noisy with birds, and we saw a large flock of Cedar Waxwings 
that moved from tree to tree picking berries.  Two adult male tanagers - one 
Summer and one Western sat next to each other in a tree for us.  A 
Yellow-breasted Chat sat high in another tree and sang for us.  At the 
cemetery, we got great looks at a pair of Black-throated Sparrows and a Rock 
Wren.  The highlight of Grafton though, was a pair of mating Gophersnakes 
entwined with each other.
At the Springdale Pond we saw a lone Western Bluebird, and a House Wren 
singing his little heart out.  There were lots of Phainopeplas, and Yellow 
Warblers seemed to be everywhere.  We stopped at the Pioneer Cafe for lunch, 
where we saw a Turkey Vulture fly by.
We then went into Zion National Park, parked at the Visitor Center, and rode 
the shuttle up to the Temple of Sinewava, then hiked up the Riverside Walk.  
The highlight there was a PAINTED REDSTART, which at first would only show 
quick glimpses before vanishing.  Then we saw it in a tall cottonwood right 
next to the trail and it sang and showed off for us for several minutes.  We 
were even able to point it out to a nice British couple of birders that came 
along.
Here's our trip list:
Mallard, Turkey Vulture, Mourning Dove, White-throated Swift, Black-chinned 
Hummingbird, Red-naped Sapsucker, Western Wood-Pewee, Black Phoebe, Say's 
Phoebe, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Violet-green Swallow, 
Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Phainopepla, Cedar Waxwing, Rock Wren, House 
Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Western Bluebird, American Robin, Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher, Common Raven, European Starling, Warbling Vireo, Yellow 
Warbler, Painted Redstart, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Western 
Tanager, Black-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli 
Bunting, Western Meadowlark, Bullock's Oriole, House Finch, Lesser 
Goldfinch, House Sparrow.
Kevin

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