Misc. Sightings

["Colby Neuman" <scythebill83 at hotmail dot com>]

Here are a couple of sightings from this past week...

While walking to work, I have seen anywhere from 2-10 AMERICAN CROWS on 
several occasions in Sunnyside Park (~ 700 South & 1600 East).  Does anyone 
know if they bred in the Salt Lake Valley this year?

While mountain biking with a friend yesterday up above the Avenues, I heard 
a flock of BUSHTITS in an oak covered ravine.

Finally, there were a couple of peeps at Warm Springs today including 1 
juvenile SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, 1 juvenile LEAST SANDPIPER and 6 (5 adults 
and 1 juvenile) WESTERN SANDPIPERS.

Also for those interested, Tim Lenz (a Cornell birder from Nevada) posted 
some photos of the juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper I photographed back on 
the 24th of July up at Bear River.  Here's the link...

http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/tcl6/juvpeep.html

After reviewing the photos we began to wonder if I had photographed a 
juvenile Little Stint.  I was able to get some feedback from people around 
the country (with some birders voting for Little Stint and others voting for 
Semipalmated Sandpiper).  However, Tim Lenz and I have both come to the 
conclusion that this bird is a VERY brightly plumaged juvenile Semipalmated 
Sandpiper.  I would be happy to email those of you that would like to know 
the field marks that suggest each species and those field marks which don't 
seem quite right.  I can definitely say that I have learned a lot in the 
past week about peep/stint identification including the incredible amount of 
variation that these birds can show.  Just drop me an email...

Colby






Colby

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