Recent Sightings in Beaver County

Oct 2007

Eric Huish (24 Oct 2007) - On Saturday afternoon I spent 4 hours at Minersville Res. hoping to find the Surf Scoters reported a couple weeks earlier. I was unable to find the scoters but did find a Juvenile Sabine's Gull near the dam. With the VERY strong winds there were many gulls working the edge of the lake where the waves were crashing against the rocks. The gulls were picking out Crawdads. There was lots of waterfowl, including two Snow Geese. And a bunch of shorebirds on the north end of the reservoir, mostly Killdeer with some Dowitchers, Least Sandpipers and Yellowlegs. I also saw a Great Horned Owl in the woods north of the campground.

Rick Fridell - This afternoon (10/17) at about 6:30p I observed two Surf Scoters at Minersville Reservoir / County Park (Beaver County). The striking male and female were resting and foraging near the northwest shore close to the dam...

Sep 2005

Judy Jordan (19 Sep 2005) - There are some springs above Minersville that support a large flock of pinion jays.  I also saw a White-throated Sparrow there around 9 A M this morning.  I could have had a good picture but it was a casual little trip while training my husbands homing pigeons.   There were two immature Snowy Egrets at the reservoir, a Merlin scaring the killdeers. No ducks, perhaps down the other end.

Oct 2004

Dennis Shirley (4 Oct 2004) - Last evening ...I stopped at Minersville Reservoir west of Beaver. The reservoir is just a shallow puddle down by the dam. Very few birds were there, but a small flock of nine shorebirds included eight Pectoral Sandpipers and one Short-billed Dowitcher...

Larry Tripp (31 May 2004) - ...The only other thing of note was a male Purple Martin in the fields south of Milford.

Rick Fridell (25 Sept 2003) - ...Our next stop was in Minersville where we saw nine Eurasian Collared-Doves and a huge flock of 150+ Pinyon Jays. We spent what little remained of the daylight at Minersville Reservoir, and were surprised to see a flock of 5-10 Gambel's Quail going to roost in an old Magpie nest near the north end of the campground.

Rick Fridell - On 9/27 we had a Winter Wren in our camp at Pine Grove.  We met Steve and Priscilla Summers and visited the Wah Wah Valley Ranch (Beaver County; this is a private ranch and permission is required).  Highlights included a Blue-winged Teal, Slate-colored Fox Sparrow, and a Grasshopper Sparrow.

Aug 2003

Eric Huish (21 Aug 2003) - In Beaver a Eurasian Collared-Dove flew right over my head and landed on a power line in a park at the corner of main and center. He posed for me there so I could take a good long look at him.

Feb 2003

Steve Summers - (Thu, 27 Feb 2003)  Today (Feb. 27) I saw 2 Eurasian Collared-Doves in the town of Minersville, Beaver Co. They were in a tree near the corner of Main and 100 West. This is now a third location in sw. Utah for this apparently rapidly expanding introduced species (the other being Cedar Valley and Washington City). Outside of sw. Utah this winter they are being found in Freedonia, AZ (Kanab has to be next); Flagstaff, AZ; and recently Overton, NV.

The immature RED-THROATED LOON, which was first seen at Minersville Reservoir on 11/27, was still present at least through Saturday, 12/01 (RF,SS,KW).

An immature RED-THROATED LOON was seen at Minersville Reservoir on Tuesday afternoon, 11/27 (DS). The best view was from the boat ramp. It was seen again on Wednesday, 11/28, at about 8 am, from the dam (MS,DW,LW). This may be the same bird which was seen at Quail Creek Reservoir on 11/22 and has not been seen there since the 22nd.

On Friday 9/28, a SABINE'S GULL was seen at Minersville Reservoir (MW).

A RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER in adult plumage was seen at Minersville Reservoir on Wednesday, 9/27. The bird was in the narrow-leaf cottonwood trees north of the campground along with several Red-naped Sapsuckers (BW).

September 1999

At Minersville Reservoir, 1 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, 8 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, and a BONAPARTE'S GULL were seen on Sunday, 09/12 (JK,LWi).

August 1999

At Minersville Reservoir, two COMMON LOONS, a SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, and a SOLITARY SANDPIPER were seen on Sunday, 08/08 (SS).

At Minersville Reservoir, a COMMON LOON and four SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS were seen on Saturday, 08/21 (DAl,MJ).

Two SOLITARY SANDPIPERS were seen in a small pond near the east side entrance to the Indian Peak WMA on Saturday, 08/28 (DW). The Indian Peak WMA is located west of the Wah Wah Mountains, near the south end of Pine Valley Wash (Utah Delorme 24, B-2). To get there, take SR 21 west of Milford about 35 miles to the Pine Valley Wash road, take this road south for about 18 miles to the road to Indian Peaks WMA. A high-clearance vehicle is recommended.

Among the birds at Minersville Reservoir on Sunday, 08/29, were 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, 11 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, and a BONAPARTE'S GULL (SS).

July 1999

Eight BLACK ROSY-FINCHES were seen on Delano Peak in the Tushar Mountains on Saturday, 07/17 (JK,P&SS,LW).

June 1999

The MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD which was seen at Minersville Reservoir on Wednesday, 05/26, has been seen and photographed by many birders over the past week. However, there has not been a confirmed sighting since it was seen on Wednesday, 06/02 (MS,YS,LW). The juvenile-plumaged bird was mostly seen along the south shore, east of the state park boat dock, in an area of flooded cottonwoods. This is the first record of frigatebird in Utah.

In a Utah version of "the Patagonia Rest Area effect," a couple of other good birds were reported from near Minersville Reservoir this week. On Monday, 05/31, a SURF SCOTER was seen on the smaller of two ponds on the south side of the road to Minersville Reservoir about 7 miles west of Beaver, and an EASTERN KINGBIRD was seen at the reservoir (DA). An Eastern Kingbird was also seen at the reservoir on Friday, 06/04 (GW, m.ob.).

A BLACK PHOEBE was seen along the Beaver River, in the town of Beaver, on Saturday, 06/05 (P&SS). This may be the first Beaver County record of Black Phoebe. 

May 1999

An apparent MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD was seen at Minersville Reservoir on Wednesday, 05/26. The juvenile-plumaged bird was seen along the south shore, about 1/4 mile east of the state park boat dock, in an area of flooded cottonwoods (BWo). If verified, this will be the first record of frigatebird in Utah.

March 1999

A HORNED GREBE was seen near the dam at Minersville Reservoir on Saturday, 03/06. Also at the reservoir on Saturday were about 1300 SNOW GEESE, including 1 blue phase bird (SH).

At Minersville Reservoir, mixed flock of several hundred SNOW and ROSS' GEESE was seen on Friday, 03/19 (DS,SS,others).