Utah County Birders Newsletter
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Contents
March Meeting
Upcoming Field Trips
Captain’s Log
Bird of the Month
Field Trip
Report - Antelope Island
Backyard Bird of the Month
February Hotline Highlights
MARCH MEETING:
Thursday, March 10th, 2016 - 7:00 pm.
Our topic for our March meeting will be
how to maximize your use of eBird, both for
those who already use it, and for those who haven't taken that step yet.
Keeli Marvel will do an eBird demo. If you
don't yet have a free eBird account, but would like one, she'll get you set up
with one and show you what you need to do to get started. If you have any photos
of birds you would like help identifying, any questions about birding or
identification, or any lists you would like to enter in eBird, bring those as
well and we will discuss them!
Meet at 7:00 pm at the Monte L. Bean Museum. 645 East 1430 North, Provo, UT http://mlbean.byu.edu/
Saturday March 12, 2016: 8am - 2pm - Meet at the Provo East Bay Sam's Club Parking lot. We will bird South Utah County. We'll plan to bird around the Goshen Valley and Goshen Canyon area and possibly the Tintic Mountains up around Eureka, weather and road condition dependent.
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
Utah County Birders Captain’s Log:
March 2016
by Keeli Marvel
Utah County Birders
Captain’s Log: March 2016
It feels like spring is in the air. I’m not sure if I’m ready yet, but the
sunshine sure feels good! I look forward to the next couple of months as the
migrants all return. In spite of the nasty inversion fog (which we hopefully
have seen the last of this season) we had a successful field trip up to Antelope
Is. a couple weeks ago where we saw the Varied Thrush, Northern Shrike, and both
Burrowing and Great Horned Owls. It was fun to see the Tundra Swans along the
causeway.
A couple of interesting sightings from my neck of the woods:
There’s been a pair of American White Pelicans hanging out in the Saratoga
Springs gated harbor just south of Inlet Park. The Great Horned Owls in my
neighborhood put on a nice show for me this week calling back and forth to each
other in the dark. Less notable, but still interesting, I spotted a Say’s Phoebe
on my way in the gate at work last week, and I’ve been hearing one from the
parking lot calling – assuming what I’m hearing is actually a phoebe, and not
the starlings doing a really good mimic.
My sister and I got to experience the mimicking power of Steller’s Jays a couple
weekends ago. We went up to Summit Park near Park City in search of the
White-throated Sparrow. We did not locate the sparrow, but instead, watched a
Steller ’s Jay doing a very convincing Red-tailed Hawk impression. In spite of
dipping on the sparrow, we spent an enjoyable morning with our nephew checking
out the House Finches and chickadees, and we even spotted a couple of moose on
our way back through Parley’s Canyon.
Not much else to report from the front line. Nesting season for raptors like
Golden Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks and for Great Horned Owls has officially
begun, and I’d like to remind everyone that as birders, we should be especially
careful of our behavior in regards to nesting birds during this sensitive period
in their life cycle. That means maybe not sharing the location of a known active
nest or keeping our distance and maybe refraining from playing call backs during
this sensitive time. Ultimately, we want to have as little impact as possible so
that they can carry on the business of being birds and having bird offspring for
future generations to enjoy.
Hope to see you all out birding, where I will be enjoying the warm weather while
it lasts. If you have any suggestions/requests/desire to volunteer to lead field
trips, you know how to get in touch with me!
Happy Birding!
Keeli
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Savannah
Sparrow. |
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Savannah
Sparrow Stakeout in Japan. |
Savannah Sparrow
Passerculus sandwichensis
by Bryan Shirley
Two days ago I was birding in Japan and was on a stakeout for a very rare bird.
According to the locals, this bird had been around for a few weeks. This was the
second of this species in Japan this year, but typically it is only recorded
about every 3rd year. I didn’t know the exact spot, but once we got close it was
obvious due to the crowd of photographers with their cameras pointing into a
small row of weeds surrounded by rice fields. We joined the crowd and waited.
And waited. Finally, after over 2 hours I saw a small bird scamper across an
opening. Then it popped out. A beautiful Savannah Sparrow!
Savannah Sparrows are a lot more common here. They are common breeders in Utah
in grassy or brushy habitat. (they breed across most the USA and Canada). After
the breeding season they head south into warmer areas. Most move out of northern
Utah, but some years we find a straggler on our Christmas Bird Count.
They have a streaked breast and a yellow eyestripe (can be very variable). They
can also easily be identified by their call - a couple of notes followed by a
long buzz.
They should be showing up in Utah County soon. Next time you see one take an
extra minute to enjoy it – there are a lot of places in the world where it would
attract a pretty good crowd!
If you would like to write an article for the Bird of the Month, please contact Machelle - machelle13johnson@yahoo.com
Click here for past 'Birds of the Month'.
Field Trip Report
Antelope Island -
February 13th, 2016
by Keeli Marvel
Sixteen Utah County Birders met for a field trip to
Antelope Island on Saturday, Feb. 13th. The weather was still pretty hazy, but
visibility at the causeway and around the island wasn't too bad. We got pretty
much all of our target species for the field trip, plus a bonus or two.
Highlights included Tundra Swans and a female Barrow's Goldeneye at the bridge
closest to the island, a Northern Shrike along the road to Garr Ranch, the
Varied Thrush and a pair of Great Horned Owls continuing at Garr Ranch, Great
Horned Owls at the Bison Corral Barn, a Burrowing Owl west of the visitor
center, and Chukars in the rocky area just north of the visitor center. Rumor is
the Barn Owls were/are also nesting at the corral, but they must have been too
far back in the nest box for us to get a peek. Links to the ebird checklists are
below. Thanks to all who braved the fog and joined us!
Happy Birding!
Keeli Marvel
Antelope Is. Causeway:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27478376
Road to Garr Ranch:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27559063
Garr Ranch:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27558982
Visitor Center and Loop Road:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27559200
February 2016
Jack Binch - Sandy
Nothing new here, still enjoy the Yellow-rumps.
Jeff Cooper - Pleasant Grove
It was nice to
see Pink-sided Dark-eyed Juncos at the feeders. It was interesting to see
them adapt to circumstances and feed from the sock feeder when the ground had no
food for them. As in other years when we've had heavy snow cover the Red-winged
Blackbirds showed up at the feeders as well.
Eric Huish - Pleasant Grove
Cooper's Hawk -
A regular visitor
every winter.
Milt Moody - Provo
A Hermit Thrush showed up at my bird bath to drink a little water from the melted snow.
Leena Rogers - Provo
A Spotted Towhee has visited our yard. It was right out in the open under
our feeder near the patio. No other birds around so it was quite brave. Fun to
watch as it foraged for seeds on the ground!
Kay Stone - Lehi
We have had Spotted Towhees in our yard this past month, also Mountain
Chickadees.
Alton Thygerson - Provo
Brown Creeper - Appeared briefly on the last day of the month.
Report your favorite backyard bird
each month to Eric Huish at 801-360-8777 or
erichuish@gmail.com
The Utah County Birders Newsletter is now online only/mostly.
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.
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.
Printable Version of this UCB Newsletter