High Country Birding

["Kristin Purdy" <kristinpurdy at comcast dot net>]

Today I drove up SR-39 northeast of Huntsville because the neighborhood 
rumor mill said the road was open.  And so it is.  The road is clear and 
dry despite some durned high snowbanks at the higher elevations through 
Cache and Rich Counties.  Most of the sideroads I wished to take--Dairy 
and Eli Ridge, Wasatch Ridge, Monte Cristo Campground--are still blocked 
with snow.  No kidding--I was upset that I failed to take my snowshoes 
because I could have gotten into the campground on foot had I been 
prepared.    

Anyway, I still found decent birding at the Dry Bread Pond turnoff near 
milepost 41, Weber County.  The cavity nesters are REALLY busy.  I was 
actually looking for Purple Martins, but I settled for the consolation 
prizes of Tree and Violet-green Swallows tugging grass just 25 feet from 
me, and carrying strands into holes in aspen.  Several pairs of Mountain 
Bluebirds ground-sallied and House Wrens bubbled like mad.  I also saw 
Yellow-rumped Warblers carrying nesting material and a Western 
Wood-pewee nest-building.  Other birds at this location included 
Warbling Vireos, Orange-crowned Warblers, Black-capped Chickadees, 
Red-breasted Nuthatches, Northern Flickers, White-crowned Sparrows, 
American Robins, Dark-eyed Juncos, a Common Raven, Brown-headed 
Cowbirds, and a Turkey Vulture.

I drove past Monte Cristo Campground around mile 48 to a turnoff just 
north and found an Olive-sided Flycatcher, a Clark's Nutcracker, a 
Western Tanager, Cassin's Finches, Ruby-crowned Kinglets going berserk 
with their incessant singing, Mountain Chickadees, a Dusky or Hammond's 
Flycatcher that didn't have the decency to sing long enough for me to ID 
it, Hermit Thrushes singing deep in the firs, and Chipping Sparrows.  On 
the way home near mile post 42 I found a cooperative female Red-naped 
Sapsucker in a tree right next to the road.  She was more intent on 
foraging and preening than worrying about my close approach.  

Across the summit, approximately miles 45-49, the aspens barely show 
signs of budding.  But it was still shirtsleeves weather despite the 
snow and a beautiful sunny day to enjoy it.  Here's how far behind 
everything is up there--the predominant wildflower, and I saw only three 
species in the high country, was Springbeauty.  I only saw one small 
patch of Glacier Lillies and the other species was a low Buttercup.  
>From the book 'Utah Wildflowers' by Richard J. Shaw comes this germaine 
comment:  "When the snow melts and the springbeauties, along with 
glacier lillies and buttercups, all blossom at the same time, a scene is 
presented that few will ever forget." 

SR-39 can be accessed at I-15 exit 347.  The road ends (or perhaps 
begins, if you live in Rich County) at around mile 67 in Woodruff.

Kris

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