Utah County Birders Newsletter
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Contents
April Meeting
Upcoming Field Trips
Captain’s Log
Bird of the Month
Backyard Bird of the Month
March Hotline Highlights
APRIL MEETING:
Thursday, April 14th, 2016 - 6:00 pm - 9:00
pm.
For this month's
meeting, Dennis Shirley has volunteered to lead an evening field trip around the
county to find 10 target species. Meet at the Provo East Bay Sam's Club at 6pm.
Saturday, April
9, 2016: Fish Springs - led by Esther
and Flora Duncan. Meet in Lemington by the City building (town hall & museum) at
8:45 am. It is about a 1.5 hour drive to Fish Springs from there. Please call
Esther Duncan if you plan to go. Call 435-864-5311 after 5:15 pm. If there are
enough people coming from utah county and north we can meet at Payson Wal-Mart
at 7:30 am to car pool to Lemington.
Thursday, April 14, 2016: Evening
Field Trip/Meeting.
For this month's
meeting, Dennis Shirley has volunteered to lead an evening field trip around the
county to find 10 target species. Meet at the Provo East Bay Sam's Club at 6pm.
Saturday, April 16, 2016: 7am-early afternoon.
Tooele county and the Tintic Mountains.
Meet in the southwest corner (near the Chase bank) of the Saratoga springs
Walmart on Redwood Road in Saratoga Springs. We will visit some west Utah county
and Tooele county hotspots including Ophir and the Tintic Mountains.
Friday - Sunday, April 29 - May 1, 2016:
Washington County Specialties Field Trip - Dennis Shirley has
volunteered to lead a trip to Washington County. Tentative plans include birding
around the St. George/greater Washington County area with Saturday morning spent
at Lytle Ranch. Details are being worked out on meet up spots if you can only
come down for part of the weekend and would like to meet up with the group at
various points. Please RSVP to Keeli and Dennis by email (keeli.marvel@gmail.com
and colimawarbler@yahoo.com) if: 1- You are planning on attending
the field trip, 2- You would like to stay in the bunkhouse at Lytle on
that Friday night if we can get a reservation (there may be a minimal $10-$15
cost per person to do so). - Everyone will make their
own arrangements to stay in the St. George area on Saturday night.
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
Captain’s Log:
April 2016
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Gunlock Reservoir |
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Taking a picture of a Canyon Wren. |
by Keeli Marvel
I spent last week down in St. George for the Utah Chapter of the Wildlife
Society Meetings. The meetings are a chance for all the wildlife professionals,
educators, and students to get together, present current research and management
projects that are being conducted, hold coordination meetings, and share
information. The first morning of the meetings I went out early to do some
birding with a couple of biologists at Tonaquint Park. It was cold and windy,
but the park was alive with birds, and we picked up a Costa’s Hummingbird,
several Great Egrets on the pond, a Black Phoebe, and a few other usual species
like Abert’s Towhee. I spent the rest of the week stuck in meetings, but planned
to go out again when my sister came down that weekend.
On Saturday morning we headed out early for what turned out to be a seriously
EPIC day of birding. There are few days in our lives when the stars fall in
line, the gods smile down on us, and we find all of our target birds. Saturday
was one of those days.
The weather had been sunny, but blustery for the few previous days as the front
that dumped snow in the northern part of the state brought windy conditions for
southern Utah. Saturday dawned windy and a little cool as well, but determined
to get our birds, we headed out for Utah Hill to find our first target bird: the
Black-chinned Sparrow. We parked at the turnoff and walked up the hill, and were
rewarded with the faint but recognizable bouncy-ball call of a Black-chinned
Sparrow. Check!
Our next goal was to see the Common Black Hawks at Gunlock Reservoir, however,
we got sidetracked on the way and stopped at a little side canyon just south of
the reservoir. I wandered across the road to take in the view of the valley and
was rewarded with a Canyon Wren calling its echoing call across the valley. Even
better, it was calling from a ledge just off and below the road so my sister got
great views for her lifer Canyon Wren. Back on the east side of the road we
wandered up the little slot canyon a couple hundred feet and were rewarded with
a Rock Wren, a Costa’s Hummingbird, a pair of Say’s Phoebes, and some
White-crowned Sparrows.
We pulled in briefly to the Gunlock State Park entrance to check out some Turkey
Vultures and when I rolled my window down we could hear a Cactus Wren calling
from the top of a Cholla. That made three wren species within a 20 minute
window! The gods were smiling down on us indeed. Up past the north end of the
reservoir, we pulled a little ways up the dirt road that forks to the left and
immediately spotted a bunch of birds to the west circling and mobbing. We pulled
over and discovered a whole bunch of Common Ravens chasing after one of the
nesting pair of Common Black Hawk. We also spotted a smaller, lighter bird, but
I was never able to get a fix on it. John Crawley-a fellow Utah County Birder
who also happened to be birding the area-pulled up beside us to let us know the
other black hawk was perched on the south end of the grove of trees. Back out
along the main road we pulled into the dirt area next to the road and got brief
looks before that bird flew deeper into the trees. Now I’ve tried to find these
birds before, but I’ve never managed to be in the right place at the right time.
So this was a lifer for me (a Utah lifer and a LIFER lifer as well), which is an
accomplishment worth doing a little dance to celebrate. At that point we were 5
for 5 and we still felt like we had the whole day ahead of us. It was pure
magic!
A quick scope from a pull off on the way back past Gunlock produced a smattering
of duck species on the lake and some gulls and Long-billed Curlew along the east
shoreline. From there we headed into St. George for a wander around the Red
Cliffs reserve for a few minutes and to grab some lunch.
After lunch, we drove back out through Santa Clara to the Anasazi Trailhead for
a quick hike up to the petroglyphs where we picked up a Black-throated Sparrow
(another target species nabbed), a Sage Thrasher, and a flock of Gambel’s Quail.
After our nice hike we drove back into St. George and found the White-winged
Dove on the corner of 100 west and 500 north right on top of the tree with the
broken off top exactly where Carol reported it! If you go looking for it and it
isn’t immediately obvious, I would listen for their calls, as they sound fairly
different than the Eurasian collared doves we also saw around that neighborhood.
A quick stop at Spring Park and Seegmiller Marsh produced our only dip of the
day. No Crissal Thrashers were to be had. But after such a successful day we
could hardly complain. Instead, we saw a pair of Black Phoebes at the pond,
which was almost a consolation prize. The pond was full to the brim and water
was flowing across the trail on the northeast corner of the pond and filling up
all the low areas between the pond and the marsh, so if you head over there, be
aware that you might not be able to walk around the north side.
As a last ditch effort at the end of the day, we took the long way back to
Hurricane around the east end of Sand Hollow Reservoir and picked up our last
target species of the trip – a Greater Roadrunner basking in the glory of the
setting sun on the desert sand. We were doing our roadrunner dance. It was
indeed an epic day of epic target bird getting. I’ve never had as good of luck
as we did that day, and I probably won’t ever again.
Happy Birding!
Keeli Marvel
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Sharp-Tailed
Grouse |
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Sharp-tailed
Grouse |
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Tympanuchus phasianellus
by Suzi Holt
On March 18th, Amanda, Joellen, and I, got up early and left the house at 3:30
am to head for Layton. We met Billy Fenimore our awesome tour guide and owner of
“Wild About Birds” at 5:00 am. We picked up Dickson Smith an awesome
photographer in Brigham city and headed North to the Utah/Idaho border.
We arrived at the lek a little before 6:00 am. It was a cold, 17° and the moon
was trying to peek out through a mostly cloudy sky. Upon arrival, Billy and
Amanda saw two grouse on the lek. It was still dark so we sat in the almost
silence and patiently waited.
As the minutes ticked by the grouse began to vocalize in their odd hoots and
started rattling their tails. We made some amateur recordings of this phenomenon
in the dark.
As time rolled by, sounds of what Billy called a “wind up toy” joined the hoots.
Then began the stomping of feet. This is something you have to experience
because one cannot fully explain this thrilling sound. By 6:15 am you could see
more displaying males as dawn was breaking. But there still wasn’t enough light
to get a decent photo. So we quietly enjoyed the show. By 6:30 am they really
got going. Billy counted 17 males on the lek.
What a sight! On the left a dancing duo was beginning, on the right another. Out
the window, no less than 1015 feet, another dance began. But wait, there are two
out the front windshield. I sat there in surround sound heaven with a smile from
ear to ear trying to avoid screaming out, because if you have gone birding with
me, you know that I can get pretty excited and scare off any birds within half a
mile. But I controlled my excitement, enthralled in the dancing of these
sharp-tailed grouse or “wind up toys” just outside the truck window. By 7:30 am
with the light and potential raptors flying about looking for a morning snack,
the males fly off the lek to hide among the sagebrush and await another showdown
at dawn.
The Sharp-tailed Grouse according to the Cornell lab of Ornithology-All about
Birds:
A chicken-like bird of open prairies and parklands, the
Sharp-tailed Grouse uses a wider variety of habitats than its close relatives
the prairie-chickens.
Cool Facts
● Male Sharp-tailed Grouse display to attract females on communal dancing
grounds, called leks. The male provides no parental care. A female may visit a
lek up to 10 or more times, and she may sample two different leks.
These Sharp-tailed grouse are often found on upper grassland areas. They forage
for small shoots of grass as they dance about displaying for the females. The
females choose a suitable male according to his “dancing skills”. These females
make their nests on the ground under the brush, well hidden from the Ravens.
Even f you are not a morning riser, make sure to wake up and take this
opportunity. It is well worth the missed ZZZZZZ’s.
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'.
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Brown Creeper in Jack Binch's yard. |
March 2016
Jack Binch - Sandy
Aw yes, I have one for last month. First ever at home (that I have seen)
Brown Creeper.
Yvonne Carter -
Highland
More than usual numbers of Lesser Goldfinches among the usual. plus a
Hairy Woodpecker, Western Scrub Jays, Pine Siskins.
Jeff Cooper -
Pleasant Grove
It was like a chance meeting with an old friend when I heard the dawn song of a
Say's Phoebe while working in the yard early one morning at the beginning
of March.
Eric Huish - Pleasant Grove
Cassin's Finch - The males are very bright this time of year.
Milt Moody - Provo
Saw a Townsend's Solitaire sipping at my bird bath -- probably a break from a tree top perch somewhere.
Bruce Robinson - West Jordan
Long-billed Curlew, OK it flew overhead. 2nd favorite was a brown
creeper, IN my yard
Dennis Shirley - Elk Ridge
Sandhill Crane - Had a pair circling high over house on 15 March. Could
only hear at first, but later saw way up.
Kay Stone - Lehi
We had a Spotted Towhee in our yard in March.
Alton Thygerson - Provo
Brown Creeper - Slowly making its way up a large Silver Maple tree.
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