Washington County birds

["L. D. Giddings" <seldom74 at xmission dot com>]

Dennis Shirley and I made a trip to Washington county yesterday (Friday,
Jan 31st.). We went in search of great egrets, swamp sparrows,
golden-crowned sparrows, and anything else with feathers. We struck out
on the great egret, despite a morning check of most of the golf course
ponds in town. There was a snow goose at Sunbrook, along with an
American white pelican and various other waterfowl. A group of 10 snow
geese was seen at Bloomington Hills Country Club. We spotted other
Washington county specialties such as a crissal thrasher and Gambel's
quail while driving the neighborhoods. We failed to find the vermilion
flycatcher that was reported earlier this month.

The swamp sparrow was waiting for us at Confluence Park, as was the
Harris's sparrow, but over two hours of careful searching failed to
uncover the golden-crowned sparrow that had been reported in the area.
Verdin and Abert's towhees were common, and a Bewick's wren was seen
keeping company with a flock of white-crowned sparrows.

The Ross's goose was still at Springs Park, as were black phoebes,
canvasbacks, and other waterfowl. We passed a burrowing owl in
Washington fields, and saw great-tailed grackles in a neighborhood tree.

Near the intersection of 200 South and Main Street in Washington we
spotted two Inca doves in a tree sporting several feeders. There were
also eurasian collared coves, mourning doves, and a white-winged dove in
nearby trees. A great one-stop place to check off much of the "Doves and
Pigeons" portion of that new, good-looking "Birds of Washington County"
check list!

There were no loons observed on Sand Hollow, nor on Quail Creek. There
were numerous other waterfowl, including a pair of hooded mergansers and
two double-crested mergansers at Quail Creek. Hurricane sewage lagoon
was crowded with waterfowl (this is why I no longer eat duck!),
including snow geese, a pair of Ross's geese, and a double-crested
merganser.

The road was passable to Oak Grove campground, although last night's
storm may have changed road conditions. We spotted a white-breasted
nuthatch, heard a red-breasted nuthatch that refused to show itself, and
got a good, brief look at several of a flock of 10 pygmy nuthatches.

We started south early and made it home late, not helped by blowing snow
and icy roads from Levan to Payson. But we saw 70 species yesterday, and
Dennis's five new month birds put him at 152 species for January 2004. A
great trip!

Lu Giddings


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