Utah County Birders Newsletter
July 2013

Contents   
    July Meeting
    Upcoming Field Trips
    Captains Log
    Bird of the Month
    Field Trip Report - Highland Glen, Battlecreek
    Field Trip Report - Stewart Falls
    Backyard Bird of the Month
    June Hotline Highlights

JULY MEETING:

Thursday, July 11th, 2013 - 7:00 PM

Evening Field Trip

Instead of our normal meeting we will have an evening field trip up Payson Canyon.  Target birds - Purple Martin, Flammulated Owl. Meet at Payson Walmart at 7:00pm.  We will be back at walmart by 10:30pm.

FIELD TRIPS:

11 July 2013 (Thur):  Instead of our normal Thursday night meeting we will have an evening field trip up Payson Canyon. Target birds - Purple Martin, Flammulated Owl. Meet at Payson Walmart at 7:00pm.  We will be back at walmart by 10:30pm.

20 July 2013 (Sat):  Mirror Lake Highway. 7am-late afternoon. Meet at the parking lot at the mouth of Provo Canyon at 7am.  We will drive up into the Uintas in search of cooler temperatures and higher elevation birds. Depending on the crowds, we may stop at various campgrounds or trail heads along the Mirror Lake Hwy. Bring lunch/snacks, water, sunscreen, and bug spray.

We are actively recruiting people to lead local half-day field trips, any time, any place.  If you would like to lead a field trip or if you have any ideas for this year’s field trips, please contact Bryan Shirley at - bt_shirley@hotmail.com  
 

Finding the time to bird on family vacations – June Captain's Log
by Keeli Marvel

photo by Keeli Marvel

photo by Keeli Marvel

I'm writing this on a borrowed computer, while visiting family in the Pacific Northwest for the 4th of July holiday, so this month's musings will be brief. I have extended family who live just about midway between Seattle and Canada near Puget Sound. The summer weather up here is generally on the much cooler side than Utah-especially these last couple of weeks -making it an ideal summer escape. On top of that, the neighborhood gathers on the banks of the lake to shoot off really big fireworks and the display is unlike any we have back home. Another thing they have plenty up here are huge temperate forested areas that surround the homes and the neighborhoods which provide excellent bird habitat, among other things.

The home we're visiting has back deck with a view that will take your breath away. It is also handy for scoping out the neighbor's bird feeders and huge conifers surrounding the neighborhood. A couple of great birds I've seen here include Steller's Jays and Red-breasted Sapsuckers in the trees in the yard, and Chestnut-backed Chickadees which sound like squeaky-toy versions of Black-Capped Chickadees I'm more familiar with. I've heard Swainson's Thrush almost every day that I've been here as well. On previous trips, the "pigeons" my uncle complained about hanging out on the deck turned out to be Band-tailed Pigeons.

Today my cousin and I went for a walk along the sound at a nearby park. Our highlight birds were Pigeon Guillemots in the water. I pointed out their bright orange feet to my 12 year old cousin (maybe I'll recruit him yet!)

I hope you all are staying cool and seeing good birds this summer!
 

Bird of the Month

No Bird of the Month this month.


If you would like to write an article for the Bird of the Month, please contact Eric Huish - erichuish@gmail.com

Click here for past 'Birds of the Month'.
 

Field Trip Report
Highland Glen Park and Battle Creek Canyon - 13 June 2013
by Keeli Marvel

UCB at Highland Glen - 13 June 2013 - photo by Eric Huish

We had a very windy evening for a field trip, but fifteen birders braved the high winds to bird at Highland Glen Park and Battlecreek Canyon. Highlights at Highland Glen park were a pair of Caspian Terns catching fish and a resident pair of Canvasback ducks on the pond. We also saw several Black-capped Chickadees which seemed unfazed by the wind.

From there we traveled to Battlecreek Canyon where it was much calmer. We hiked up the trail a ways and listened for Poorwills until it got dark. Along the way we heard Lazuli Buntings and Spotted Towhees calling, and heard several Broad-tailed Hummingbirds zipping around. Between 8:45 and 9:45 we were able to hear at least three Common Poorwills calling back and forth across the canyon. Our complete list of birds seen/heard:

Highland Glen Park , Utah, US-UT
Jun 13, 2013 7:20 PM - 8:25 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.4 mile(s)
Comments: UCB Field Trip. Very, very windy!
14 species (+2 other taxa)

Mallard 10
Mallard (Domestic type) 20
Canvasback 2 Continuing.
California Quail 2
Caspian Tern 2 Very windy. It was fun to watch the terns flying in the wind. The pond had whitecap waves. One of the Terns caught a large fish through the waves. It had a hard time swallowing the fish.
Mourning Dove 1
diurnal raptor sp. 1 I didn't get a good look. Some others saw it better and thought it was a harrier.
Black-billed Magpie 1
Barn Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 4
American Robin 5
European Starling 1
Black-headed Grosbeak 1
Yellow-headed Blackbird 2
Bullock's Oriole 1

Battle Creek Canyon, Utah, US-UT
Jun 13, 2013 8:46 PM - 9:58 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.25 mile(s)
Comments: UCB Field Trip. We hiked just a little ways into the mouth of the canyon at dusk. Our goal was to listen for poorwills.
6 species (+1 other taxa)

Mourning Dove 1
Common Poorwill 3 Heard Only
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1
swallow sp. 20 Flying high over the canyon in a tight flock. Odd for swallows. Too far to ID to species.
American Robin 2
Spotted Towhee 3 Heard Only
Lazuli Bunting 1 Heard Only

Field Trip Report
Stewart Falls - 15 June 2013
by Eric Huish

Stewart Falls - 15 June 2013 - photo by Eric Huish

Three Utah County Birders met at 6:30 for hike up to Stewart Falls on June 15th.  We were hoping to see Black Swifts but we never saw any.  We were maybe too late in the morning. We did find some fun mountain birds and enjoyed stunning scenery. 

Sundance, Utah, US-UT
Jun 15, 2013 7:05 AM - 10:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.55 mile(s)
Comments: We hiked from the end of Brickerhaven Rd up to the base of Stewart Falls.
17 species

Turkey Vulture 3
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 3
Western Wood-Pewee 1
Cordilleran Flycatcher 1
Warbling Vireo 2 Heard Only
Violet-green Swallow 3
American Dipper 2 Flying high in the sky above us and landing up at the top of the lower falls.
Swainson's Thrush 2 Heard Only
American Robin 7
Orange-crowned Warbler 1 Heard Only
MacGillivray's Warbler 3 Heard Only
Yellow Warbler 2
Green-tailed Towhee 1
Chipping Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1 Heard Only
Black-headed Grosbeak 3
Lazuli Bunting 1

 

Backyard Bird of the Month

June 2013

Herb Clayson - Salem
I saw an Osprey fly over my house as I brought in the paper in the morning.

Jeff Cooper - Pleasant Grove

My backyard bird of the month is "baby bird." I saw fledgling House Sparrows, House Finches, Robins, Starlings, and Black-billed Magpies during the month of June. I was surrounded by nests and fledglings and that amazed me considering how small our backyard is compared to all the other possible nest areas in the neighborhood.

Eric Huish - Pleasant Grove
Turkey Vulture - soaring lazily over the house.
 

Milt Moody - Provo

Western Screech-Owl - I saw an adult in my small bird bath and at least one immature owl in the box.

Report your favorite backyard bird each month to Eric Huish at 801-360-8777 or erichuish@gmail.com
 

Newsletter Announcement.  The Utah County Birders Newsletter is now online only. 

We've decided to stop the regular paper mail version of the UCB Newsletter.  This will save our club on Printing, Postage and Paper.  If you would like an email notice each month when the Newsletter is posted online please send an email to Eric Huish at erichuish@gmail.com or subscribe to the ucbnet mailing list.  To subscribe to ucbnet just send an e-mail to ucbnet-subscribe@utahbirds.org

We are willing to print the online version of the newsletter and mail it out to anyone who still wants a paper copy or who doesn't have internet access.  If you know of anyone who enjoys the UCB Newsletter but doesn't have internet access please let Eric Huish or Keeli Marvel know and we will make sure they get a copy.