West Desert 'Loop'

[Colby Neuman <crn230 at gmail dot com>]

Hi all,
 Tim Avery and I went birding around the west desert this past weekend. 
Although, we did not encounter any 'eastern' vagrants as hoped, we happened
 
to see a few good birds this weekend. We started the weekend by driving to
 
Lucin (Box Elder Co.) via Pilot Peak Road Friday night where we saw several
 
COMMON POORWILLS, 1 SHORT-EARED OWL and at least 15 BURROWING OWLS (nearly
 
hit several) on and along the entire length of the road. The trip then went
 
a little unaccording to plan when we encountered a large group partying 
under the trees at Lucin, and a major windstorm that accompanied the passag
e 
of the cold front around midnight...did I mention, I also left my sleeping
 
bag at home. Anyway, we woke up Saturday morning to much calmer winds, 
hungover people wondering what in the world we were doing (I think they 
figured out we were 'bird watching'), and a few birds at Lucin. Among the
 
more common species, we did find one WINTER WREN. Other species, which we
 
saw that we did not encounter elswhere included one SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, a
 
HERMIT THRUSH, a PLUMBEOUS VIREO, and a GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. Next, we drove
 
north a couple of miles to checkout Owl and Rabbit Springs (Box Elder Co).
 
The highlights here were a LINCOLN'S SPARROW and a HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER tha
t 
allowed close study. Next we headed south along Pilot Peak Road back to 
Wendover where we saw a PRAIRIE FALCON, a GOLDEN EAGLE and a COOPER'S HAWK
 
hunting along the road. Along the way, we stopped and gained permission to
 
bird one property that appeared to be one of the less desirable migrant 
traps (we saw only common species). Although we were not able to find the
 
landowner(s) of the major property(-ies) containing cottonwood stands, the
 
landowner that allowed us to bird his land believed that the other owner(s)
 
of the land along the road would allow us to bird there in the 
future...something I look forward to doing sooner than later! Anyway, Tim
 
and I then headed south and eventually made it to the Pony Express Road. We
 
stopped in Callao (Juab Co.) and saw quite a few migrants from the 
road...some of which included one HAMMOND'S FLYCATHCER, three DUSKY 
FLYCATCHERS, loads of W. WOOD-PEWEES, one CASSIN'S VIREO (apparently Tim's
 
500th or 501st life bird...depending on the outcome of the jaeger), a HOUSE
 
WREN, lots of WILSON'S AND YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
 
and a KINGBIRD sp. I really was upset that I let the kingbird disappear 
before observing it well (presumably it was a Western, but we are starting
 
to get into the time of year when Westerns are increasingly unlikely and 
Tropicals could show up). Finally, Tim and I headed to Fish Springs NWR 
where we did a little birding before meeting my parents to go camping for
 
the night. Songbirds at Fish Springs were as scarce as I have seen! However
, 
we did find a first for the refuge in the housing area, which happened to b
e 
a long overdue BEWICK'S WREN. Later that evening, we headed out onto the 
refuge where we did find one juvenile STILT SANDPIPER and two (possibly 
three) SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS mixed in a flock of 12 basic plumaged 
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS. The two Short-billed Dowitchers appeared to be 
juvenile birds that had nearly molted into basic plumage. However, they 
appeared to still have the mantle feathers from juvenile plumage (dark 
feathers that had a noticeable buffy edge to them, as well as a couple 
(literally 2 or 3) of scapular feathers that had the prominent buffy edges
 
from their juvenile plumage). There was also an adult dowitcher a hundred o
r 
more yards away that appeared to be in near alternate plumage. Although not
 
a lot is known on molt timing in dowitchers, I believe it would be fairly
 
(to extremely) rare to find a Long-billed Dowitcher in near alternate 
plumage at this time of year. I need to consult with a buddy of mine from
 
Cornell who supposedly 'specializes' in dowitcher molt. The next (Sunday)
 
morning we walked around the housing and picnic areas with my parents and
 
saw few migrants. The songbird highlights from the morning were studying 
five or more basic plumage LAZULI BUNTINGS (one of which, had quite a bit o
f 
fine streaking on the chest and sides despite appearing fairly buffy on the
 
chest...I'm not quite sure what to make of it), one semi-early AMERICAN 
PIPIT, two TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES, one GRAY FLYCATCHER, and again a KINGBIRD
 
SP!!!. I literally saw it for two or three seconds before it dipped out of
 
sight behind a tree...to never be seen again (at least by me)! Waterbird 
changeover included the addition of a near alternate plumage BLACK-BELLIED
 
PLOVER on Avocet Unit, and the inability of us in relocating the Stilt 
Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitchers.
 Check ebird or email me privately for a complete list of birds (and 
numbers) at each site and/or questions you may have!. 
 Colby

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