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On Monday 4/19, Kris Purdy and I went early to the
Morgan/Summit County lek and were able to observe the Greater Sage Grouse for
about 45 minutes. I was interesting that we saw very few females, but many
strutting males. From there we went to East Canyon Reservoir, where we saw
many Common Loon. At the reservoir we also saw the following:
Red-tailed Hawk
Common Merganser
Clark's Grebe
Common Goldeneye
Mallard
Killdeer
Black-billed Magpie
American Robin
Green-tailed Towhee (in the bushes along the
road)
Western Grebe
Western Meadowlark
California Gull
American Wigeon
Gadwall
Green-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Belted Kingfisher (pair)
Bufflehead
Ring-necked Duck (2 m.)
We continued on to East Canyon Resort where we were
surprised to see our first Cassin's Finch of the year. We also
saw
House Finch
American Goldfinch
American Kestrel
Common Raven
Song Sparrow
Brewer's Blackbird
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
As we left the reservoir, on our way to Morgan, we
saw another Red-tailed Hawk, three Osprey (one with a freshly caught, wiggling
trout), and two Golden Eagle. Not a bad start with 31 species in
Morgan County.
Then we went to Pineview Reservoir in Weber
County to check on the nesting Great Horned Owls. After turning right
off Trapper's Loop and crossing a bridge, we immediately saw a wet field with
running water. There we spotted Cinnamon Teal and our first pair of
Blue-winged Teal. We also saw:
Mallard
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Canada Goose
White-faced Ibis
Song Sparrow
Black-billed Magpie
Further along the road we found a fishermen's
access, which was encircled with a white plastic fence. From there we had
great looks at a large group of American White Pelican and another pair of
Blue-winged Teal in the distance. We also spotted:
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Greater Yellowlegs (2)
American Coot
Red-breasted Merganser
European Starling
California Gull
Northern Shoveler, and
Common Loon (19)
We continued further north, then turned west, until
we could see the church in the distance. Just before the church and across
the street from a house, in the tree, we saw the pair of nesting Great
Horned Owl. Both were present. It looked like the female was on the
nest and the male was nearby in a tree. We had a nice talk with the owner
of the house across the street from the nest. He also owns the property
where the owls are nesting. He mentioned that he would prefer that people
observing the owl would stay near the road and not cross the fence. There
was also a very rusty Sandhill Crane in the field behind the owls.
Further down the road we again came upon some water
where we spotted a Great Blue Heron on the right. In the water of the north arm of the lake we saw Common Merganser
and Green-winged Teal, and another male Blue-winged Teal, which gave us 5 for
the day.
As we left the reservoir we saw a Red-tailed Hawk,
Northern Flicker, Common Raven, Turkey Vulture, and a Double-crested
Cormorant. This gave a total of 29 species for Weber County and a total of
60 for the day.
It was a great day of birding!
Glenn
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