Adventures in the Field
July 17, 2010
This field trip really begins at Enterprise when you
turn west and drive through the town. The road takes you past ranches,
pastureland, wetlands, and then winds through rolling hills and
valleys covered with sagebrush, juniper, pinyon, and oak. You are
almost at the end of the road to Pine Park when the road enters
sculptured white shaped hills that the locals call the Ghost Hills.
Then the road steeply drops off into a small valley with a spectacular
small stream and tall Ponderosa Pines. On the day we were there
at Pine Park, no other people were in the area. The quiet of the
mountains, the babbling stream, the fresh smell of pine bark, and the
sound of birds made a delightful setting. When we took the dirt road to Hebron Cemetery and stopped where the stream crosses the road, a bird flew in to get a drink of water. The bird was a Lazuli Bunting and the still surface of the water reflected the bird?s bright colors of blue, rust, and white. Wow!
The birds seen on the Field Trip were: Cinnamon Teal, Mallard, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Killdeer, Eurasion Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Rufous Hummingbird , Hairy Woodpecker, Red-shafted Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Gray Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Plumbeous Vireo, Western Scrub Jay, Steller's Jay, Raven, Barn Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Western Bluebird, Grace's Warbler, Lark Sparrow, Sage Sparrow, Black-throated Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Bullock's Oriole, House Finch, Red Crossbill, and Wild Turkey.
The cool accommodation of Pine Park was exhilarating, and returning home to 109 degrees in St. George was like being stuffed into a hot oven. This summer beat the heat, make your own trip to wonderful areas like Pinevalley, Pinto, or Pine Park. The road to Pine Park is 15 miles west of Enterprise. Take the Forest Road 300 and then turn south (left) on Forest Road 001 for 9 more miles. Take a good map with you as many of the road signs have been destroyed in the area. Detailed maps are available at the BLM office on Riverside Drive. But remember, it may be hot during the summer months, but when December and January comes everyone wants to be in St. George . . . Snowbirds, both human and feathered.
Our field trips are the best!
Cedar
Breaks &
Panguitch Reservoir
June 12, 2010
Each month we plan another ‘neat’ field trip to see birds. Sometimes the weather just doesn’t cooperate, but I can’t remember when I’ve gone on a ‘bad’ field trip with the Audubon. Could be . . . I love birds.
We were filled with wonder when we started up Cedar Canyon . . . wonder if we would get snowed on . . . and wonder if we would have to turn around and come back. We made it up to 10,000 feet in good shape. Ten happy people. Happy they didn’t have to turn around and come back because of snow. We found 54 species: Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Clark’s Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Black-crowned Night Heron, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Eurasian-Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Western Wood Pewee, Dusky Flycatcher, Say’s Phoebe, Steller's Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, Raven, Tree Swallow, Violet Green Swallow, Bank Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Mountain Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Western Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird, Robin, Gray Catbird, Starling, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, Western Tanager, Green-tailed Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-headed Grosbeak, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brewer’s Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Cassin’s Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, and House Sparrow.
There were lots
of great birds, but the rarest to us all was the Gray Catbird, or maybe
it was the Broad-tailed Hummingbird because there was snow all over!
Maybe the best sighting was the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, and
Turkey Vulture sitting on the same fence line next to Panguitch
Reservoir. You should have been there . . . we got to wear our winter
coats! Maybe you should look at the pictures below and see what you
missed.
On top at Cedar Breaks NM Information Center
Cedar Breaks Lookout
Seeing birds!
Snow on top
Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Panguitch Reservoir
Hiking the campground road
We couldn't hike the Alpine Loop, so we went to the Chessmen Lookout
Going home.... maybe that bird in the tree would like to come with us (bald eagle)
~~~
STORK
LEAVES
AREA
-
AND
A
BRAND
NEW
BIRD
WATCHER
GOES ON THE GRAFTON / SPRINGDALE FIELD TRIP
May 15, 2010
You should have been there! Age doesn’t matter. Our youngest birder was one month old. The Field Trip to Grafton and Springdale was the best one ever! We saw such beautifully colored birds on this trip. We were expecting a million mosquitoes and they didn’t show . . . thanks to our feathered friends and cool weather this spring.
On
our
first
stop
in
Grafton,
we were really excited to find Summer
Tanagers, and their strange calls were dead
giveaways to their location. Denise Blyn identified the "police
whistles" of some Yellow-breasted Chats down by the river so
we spread out through the habitat trying to track them down. Finding
them turned
out to be a wild goose chase (so to speak) and they seemed to tease us
with their constant calling. One was finally spotted just as it flew
off to join the others that were laughing at our attempts to find them.
Nature was at her glorious best in Grafton on
this beautiful day.
In
Springdale,
Evening
Grosbeaks
crossed
in
front of us just as we were
beginning our walk to the pond. Magnificently-colored Western Tanagers
and Black-headed Grosbeaks seemed to be everywhere along the trail and
we watched a hummingbird darting back and forth over the river
gathering insects for her young. The real unexpected treat was finding
another bright-red male Summer Tanager.
Birds seen: American Kestrel, American Robin, Bank Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Cassin’s Finch, House Finch, Eurasian Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Lucy's Warbler, Summer Tanager, Western Tanager, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Black-throated Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Western Wood-Peewee, Vermilion Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Chat, Raven, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Bewick’s Wren, Rock Wren, Lesser Goldfinch, Western Bluebird, Black-headed Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, Killdeer, Green-tailed Towhee, European Starling, Great Blue Heron, Woodpecker (heard), and Western Kingbird. Wow!
Watch
for
our
next
field
trip
on
June 12 as we try for the Three-toed Woodpecker
and other high-elevation birds at Cedar Breaks. We hope to see you
there!
 |
 |
~~~
HENDERSON
BIRD
VIEWING
PRESERVE
April
17, 2010
Well
the
fun
is
gone
.
.
.
can’t
tell anyone, any more . . . that I’m driving
all the way to Henderson, Nevada to their sewage lagoons. Nope! That
has all changed. Henderson has the latest sewage treatment plant and
doesn’t need the lagoons to treat their waste. But, the public does
need the ponds, and requested they keep them. 
It is the one wild place
in the middle of a thriving metropolis. The ponds attract wildlife like
a magnet, and so . . . we still have the ponds, that still have the
wildlife, that are still in the same place as before. Yehhhhhhh!
The Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve has new administrators, new hours, and offer a new experience for anyone who hasn’t been there before. It is always a pleasure to visit in the Spring, with the bonus of seeing desert wildflowers in bloom, on the trip to and from.
We made the trip to the ponds and found 36 species. Wood Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Redhead, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Gambel’s Quail, Eared Grebe, Black-crowned Night Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Killdeer, American Avocet, Long-billed Dowitcher, Wilson’s Snipe, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Black Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Raven, Violet-green Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, Verdin, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch, and House Sparrow.
We
were
told
we
were
a
couple
weeks
early
for the expected migration. Maybe
that was true, but what a great time was had by all. All
consisted of Sheila Smith, Denise Blyn, John Iverson, Carl Berger, Bill
Hunter, Keith and Marilyn Davis. The webmaster would like to add that
she was there the week before and had a wonderful time! Her favorite
bird there will always be the Common
Moorhen because that's the first (and only) place she found one to
add to her "life list". Come join us and start your own "life
list" of birds. We guarantee you'll be hooked on birds before you know
it.
~~~