[Date Prev][Date Next][Date Index]

Wellsville Warbler Waves



I witnessed waves of wonderful warblers in Wellsville today.  I birded the trails behind the Best Western Sherwood Hills Resort in Wellsville Canyon (Sardine) on 89/91 between Brigham City and Cache Valley.  I saw more warblers than I've ever seen on one day in my life!  Even though I didn't arrive until noon and the woods were quiet, as I moved above the Mountain Maple and Quaking Aspen to mixed deciduous and open deciduous-coniferous forest, things started heating up. 
 
I perceived I saw about three waves or flurries between periods of quiet as I ascended and descended the east-west Lookout Point Trail.  I lost track of the number of Townsend's Warblers I saw.  I estimate the number is between a dozen and a half and two dozen.  I also saw three brilliant Wilson's and three Black-throated Gray Warblers.  The Townsend's, Wilson's, and Black-throated Grays primarily gleaned and worked their ways through conifer branches.  One of the Wilson's radiated his brilliant yellow from Mountain Maple in bright sunshine.  It was breathtaking.  MacGillivray's and Nashville Warblers popped up periodically out of the understory.  I also saw a female Yellow Warbler at a lower elevation and many Yellow-rumped Warblers throughout. 
 
I was attracted to the last and most significant wave by a Plumbeous Vireo's burry sing-songing--I know; wrong time of year--off trail and I decided to follow the call to find the bird.  Not only did I find bespectacled vireos, but the flurry of warblers in the fir trees caused so much movement I became an automaton--detect movement, lift binocs, ID--detect movement, lift binocs, ID--and so forth.  The activity reminded me of how a still aspen looks when overtaken by a sprinkle shower.  So many branches were moving and birds flitting about at the same time!  In addition to the warblers, other birds contributed to the movement bonanza.  I also lost track of the number of Plumbeous Vireos, although that number is likely near a half dozen.  Black-capped Chickadees, Warbling Vireos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Dark-eyed Juncos, and many Western Tanagers kept things hopping as well.  One Black-capped Chickadee had a serious need to check me out and did so in a decreasing spiral, closing in to a distance of about three feet.  Then it engaged me in a staring contest for a still moment in an unchickadee-like way.
 
I saw a few other birds that were not part of the waves--a Spotted Towhee, a Hermit Thrush who alerted me to its presence with its discrete "chope...chope...chope" call note, and a Downy Woodpecker.  I found it quite ironic that the calls of Pine Siskins and Red-breasted Nuthatches were incessant for the 4 hours I birded these trails, but I only saw one of each.  And I saw bunches and bunches of flycatchers.  Most were Cordillerans and Western Wood-pewees, but a few will remain as unidentified Empids.  The lower trails running north-south are good woodpecker territory.  The Mountain Maple is so thick it chokes out the understory, but the orange-lichen covered bark is flaky and peeling and I saw about 10 Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers making the most of it.  I also saw at least two Northern Flickers. 
 
The warblers were the best part of the day, but other sightings competed for top billing.  A very vocal and mixed mob of Black-capped Chickadees, raspy-voiced Warbling Vireos, and Western Tanagers led me to a young Sharp-shinned Hawk that looked bewildered by all the noise.  The hawk did not detect me through the curtain of branches.  Its tail was folded and the end appeared as two perfect scallops.  I watched the hawk stretch its long tarsus outward at an awkward angle, and then rest with the foot tucked up underneath its long, fluffy belly feathers.  The hawk was just behind the Outdoor Theater at the trailhead.  On McMurdie Hollow Road, I was able to cram eight out of ten Mountain Bluebirds, a Western Kingbird, and a Vesper Sparrow into the same scope view.  I also saw a nice smattering of raptors that included a young Cooper's with an impossibly long tail sitting on a fencepost.  On Highway 101 from Hyrum to Paradise I saw 12 Swainson's and Red-tailed Hawks on a 3-mile stretch.  I don't know how birders can drive this road without running off into the irrigation ditch with all the Buteo distractions.  I didn't think I could, so I pulled to the shoulder and looked at each one in turn.  Two of the Swainson's were lovely dark morphs.  Finally, I had started the morning with an unplanned diversion to Perry Nature Park on Highway 89 in Perry.  This spot is a lovely little tangle with great birding--bunches of hummers, Virginia's Rails and Soras, Common Yellowthroats, flycatchers, goldfinches, and too many others! 
 
Kris
 
P.S.  If you'd like to bird the trails behind Sherwood Hills Resort, you can pick up a less-than-perfect-but-still-useful trail map at the hotel lobby.  The trails are within the Wellsville Wilderness Area and are on public National Forest lands.