Utah County Birders Newsletter
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Contents
July Meeting
Upcoming Field Trips
Captain’s Log
Bird of the Month
Field Trip Report
- Chimney Rock Pass
Field Trip
Report - Soldier's Pass
Backyard Bird of the Month
June Hotline Highlights
JULY MEETING:
Thursday, July 14th, 2016
Our meeting this
month will be an evening field trip on
Thursday, July 14th, 7:00 pm. We will bird the Provo River Oxbow and the Provo
Airport Dike. Led by Keeli Marvel. Meet at the Provo River Oxbow parking lot at
7:00 pm. Click
here for a map with a marker on the parking area. or
click
here for written directions.
Saturday, July 9th, 2016:
-
Mirror Lake Highway. Meet at the mouth of
Provo Canyon at 6am to carpool (parking lot on the north side of 800 North just
before you enter the canyon). We will plan to be back by mid afternoon. Bring an
Interagency or Forest Service pass if you have one, or cash to help pay the use
fee if you don't. Also bring bug spray and a lunch. We will bird various stops
along Mirror Lake Highway looking for specialties such as Clark's Nutcracker,
Gray Jay, and Red Crossbills.
Thursday,
July 14th, 2016:
- Our meeting this
month will be an evening field trip on
Thursday, July 14th, 7:00 pm. We will bird the Provo River Oxbow and the Provo
Airport Dike. Led by Keeli Marvel. Meet at the Provo River Oxbow parking lot at
7:00 pm. Click
here for a map with a marker on the parking area. or
click
here for written directions.
Saturday, July 30th, 2016:
- July 29-30 -
Join us in search of Ptarmigan! - It is up
to you to find a place to stay in Vernal (or camp) for Friday night. We will
meet Saturday morning in Vernal and drive to the trailhead for
Leidy Peak. Plan on walking a few miles.
Bring water and a lunch. Other targets will be the regular Uinta specialties.
- Meet at the Maverick Gas station 951 US-40, Vernal at 7 AM. Contact Bryan
Shirley with any questions. 801-722-9346 bt_shirley@hotmail.com
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 Keeli at -
keeli.marvel@gmail.com
Utah County Birders Captain’s Log:
July 2016
by Keeli Marvel
July is upon us! The days are long and hot, and it’s time to head to the
mountains.
I read an article recently about a study that was done on great frigatebird
flight using satellite transmitters and body function telemetry data and it
reminded me of the Magnificent Frigatebird that graced southern Utah with its’
presence this last spring. In the study, they discovered that great frigatebirds
fly up to 12,000 ft. above sea level and they do it expending very little energy
by using thermals or updrafts inside clouds. What was cool to me is they’re
literally hitching a ride on the clouds and they’re one of the only bird species
known to do it. Using those thermals helps them save energy, to the point where
one bird in the study flew 40 miles without a single wing flap. That’s
incredible! Frigatebirds aren’t waterproof like many ocean birds, so they can’t
actually land on the ocean. They’ve adapted instead by taking flight efficiency
to the max. The study also showed that they can fly for weeks continuously – up
to two months in one case—and average around 300 miles a day. With those numbers
it’s not hard to see how one wrong turn could put a Magnificent Frigatebird on
our doorstop. I wonder if the day after he left he was down having fish tacos in
Baja California and reminiscing about his vacation in Southern Utah.
If you’d like to read the article from NPR, or the abstract to the study
published in the journal Science, the links are here:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/30/484164544/non-stop-flight-how-the-frigatebird-can-soar-for-months-without-stopping
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6294/74
I wish you all a happy, safe, and birdy 4th of July! The baby birds are cheeping
and fall migration will be here before you know it.
Happy Birding!
Keeli Marvel
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Long-tailed
Jaeger (Nome, Alaska) |
Long-tailed Jaeger
Stercorarius longicaudus
by Machelle Johnson
In May there was a Long-tailed Jaeger at Sand Hollow Reservoir in
Washington County. If this were the Arctic during breeding season this would be
a common sighting. If this was well off-shore in the Pacific Ocean during
migration this would be an uncommon sighting. But a landlocked reservoir in
Utah, in May! This is awesome!
It's not the first time we've had a Long-tailed Jaeger in Utah. There are photos
on utahbirds.org from 1993, 2007 and 2014. But they were juveniles, this was a
beautiful adult. In 2013 there was a Parasitic Jaeger seen from the Big Sit at
the Provo Airport Dike. There are also records of Pomarine Jaeger sightings in
Utah.
My sister and I didn't make it to Washington County with the Utah County Birders
the last weekend of April, but we were able to go the following weekend. The
Jaeger was spotted on May 3rd by Rick Fridell. We drove out to Sand Hollow and
scanned the area for about 30 minutes. No sign of the Jaeger. We decided to
drive around to the other side but no luck there either. We drove back to the
boat ramp one last time. The Iron-Man race was gearing up and the parking lot
was being blocked off but we were able to sneak in for one more look. We weren't
disappointed! We spotted it flying right away. Wow! This bird is so beautiful,
so graceful, so different! We watched for about 20 minutes, he was just cruising
around the boat launch area and the island. There were swimmers and boaters
oblivious to this rare treat. Just a few weeks earlier, in April a Magnificent
Frigate bird was seen at Sand Hollow. This is an equally awesome bird for Utah.
Pete Dunne: "The Long-tailed Jaeger is the smallest, sleekest, lightest and
grayest of the jaegers. The plumage of adult Long-tailed looks trim, crisp,
expensive, and tastefully coordinated. Breeding adults show a trim limited black
cap, pale grayish to grayish brown upperparts, a creamy white breast and upper
belly, a long, narrow, flagellum-like tail that extends half the body length
beyond the end of the wings. Flight is light, leisurely, fluid, buoyant, and
dreamlike. At sea, most often seen flying very high and directly (50-200 ft.
high). Foraging birds cruise low and slow, swoop to pluck prey from the surface,
and are reported to plunge dive. They pursue other seabirds less often than does
Parasitic Jaeger."
There have been some great birds seen in Utah this year, but this one is my
favorite. In 2013 a group of UC Birders went on a Pelagic trip out of Monterey,
CA with Shearwater Journeys. Some Jaegers were seen by some on the trip but they
were quite far out. I didn't see one on that trip. I was sure we would see all 3
Jaegers but we didn't. But, we got to see one here in Utah! Seems odd, but so
what! Utah is a great place for birds and birders!
Reference: Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion
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
Genola and Chimney Rock Pass - June 10th, 2016
by Suzi Holt
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UCB Chimney Rock and Eureka Fieldtrip
10 Birders braved the 95 degree heat and wind on Friday Evening. It was a pretty
slow with only 35 species. But we had lots of fun! Here is our list for the
night,
House Sparrow
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Cliff Swallow
Eurasian Collared Dove
Spotted Sandpiper
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Swainson's Hawk
Mallard
Brewer's Blackbird
European Starling
Northern Harrier
Burrowing Owl
Western Meadowlark
Northern Mockingbird
Rock Wren
Barn Swallow
Western Kingbird
California Gull
Lark Sparrow
Mountain Bluebird
Horned Lark
Common Raven
Turkey Vulture
Empid
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher
Orange-crowned Warbler
Warbling Vireo
Hermit Thrush
Juniper Titmouse
Mourning Dove
Red-winged Blackbird
American Robin
Black-crowned Night Heron
Common Nighthawk
Field Trip
Report
Soldier's Pass - June 18th, 2016
by Keeli Marvel
Last Saturday 9 birders met to bird Soldier's Pass
over Lake Mountain. It was a pretty slow morning, but highlights were seeing a
Gray Vireo just past the summit of Soldier's Pass on the west side, and a couple
of Sagebrush Sparrows down in the Sagebrush Flats on the west side of the pass.
Thanks to all who joined us! It was good to see some new faces.
Our ebird trip report for Soldier's Pass is below.
Lake Mountains -- Soldiers Pass Rd, Utah, Utah, US
Jun 18, 2016 8:02 AM - 11:27 AM
Protocol: Traveling 5.0 mile(s)
Comments: UCB Field trip
14 species (+1 other taxa)
Swainson's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
gull sp. 120 Lots of high flyover gulls
Mourning Dove 13
Common Nighthawk 4
Western Kingbird 1
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Gray Vireo 1
Western Scrub-Jay 1
Common Raven 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Northern Mockingbird 2
Lark Sparrow 5
Sagebrush Sparrow 2 West side of soldiers pass. Sagebrush for miles. Calling
many times. Visually confirmed
Western Meadowlark 3
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30316958
June 2016
Jack Binch - Sandy
I had several California Quail in my yard at once.
Jeff Cooper -
Pleasant Grove
I heard then saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch while I was out doing yard work. It was
a new species for my Pleasant Grove yard list.
Suzi Holt - Payson
Mine was the
Cassin's Finch. I love that in the summer they will sometimes make a visit. A
little more exciting and more color than the regular visitors like the house
finch and the house sparrow.
Eric Huish - Pleasant Grove
Yellow Warbler - pleasantly singing all month.
Keeli Marvel - Saratoga Springs
A Western Kingbird is nesting on my house again in Saratoga Springs. And
yesterday I had flyover Bonaparte's Gulls - that was a new yard bird for me.
Milt Moody - Provo
My favorite yard birds this month were the "young'uns" -- American Robin, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lesser Goldfinch and Cassin's Finch.
Dennis Shirley - Elk Ridge
House Wren - Was singing all around yard and checking out bird box cavities.
Stayed from June 14 to June 18. Had one in yard last year about the same time
and he didn't stay also (same bird?).
Leena Rogers - Provo
Have enjoyed seeing a delightful Black-headed Grosbeak family at our feeders
these few weeks.
Alton Thygerson - Provo
Warbling Vireo - A Warbling Vireo was singing and seen during the early part of
June.
Report your favorite backyard bird
each month to Eric Huish at 801-360-8777 or
erichuish@gmail.com
Printable Version of this UCB Newsletter