Northern Pygmy-Owl and Others

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

I got a call from Arnold Smith tonight, reporting he saw a NORTHERN 
PYGMY-OWL in East Canyon in Morgan County.  The bird was originally seen 
twice by Paul Higgins last week or the week before.  Paul described the 
spot (and Arnold saw the bird there also) as 2.2 miles below the East 
Canyon Dam on SR-66.  Arnold noted the spot is between mm 4 and 5 on 
SR-66 and is marked with blue/green surveyor's tape tied to a bunch of 
grasses.

Arnold saw the bird fly to the sunny, snowless embankment above the road 
and eventually, the owl came up with a vole as large as itself.  The 
bird flew back across the road in front of his van, perhaps 30-40 feet 
away.  After the bird barely topped the other embankment, it may have 
lost the vole.  Peering down the embankment into the canyon revealed the 
bird minus the rodent. 

If you seek out this owl, please be judicious about using recordings (or 
don't use them at all) as the spot is fairly accessible to all of us.  
The bird seems pretty consistent at that spot in the afternoons with 
three sightings between 2:30 and 4:30 pm. The three observations have 
not included the observers calling the owl. 

Arnold also reported seeing a LEWIS'S WOODPECKER from the road around 
the curve and below the owl's location.  In other words, in the 
direction of Porterville.  There's open water still in East Canyon 
Reservoir, where he saw a LONG-TAILED DUCK and BARROW'S GOLDENEYE.  Back 
down the canyon, he saw Wild Turkeys where East Canyon Creek crosses the 
road the first time as you head into Porterville. 

I visited Antelope Island this afternoon and saw a NORTHERN SHRIKE on 
the road to Garr Ranch, .3 miles south of the Frary Peak turnoff.  The 
bird perched on a rock on the east side of the road.  A female BARROW'S 
GOLDENEYE was with three Common Goldeneyes in the open water south of 
the big bridge at mile .8.  On the way home, about eight Tundra Swans 
flew over the causeway.

The Burrowing Owls were not visible today.  The bird on the causeway at 
the concrete structures at mile 2.5 has dug a huge hole facing the road 
under one of the barriers.  The excavated gravel is littered with 25-30 
pellets.  The owl on the road to Garr Ranch atop the first long incline 
was nowhere to be seen, but there were lots of entertaining Chukars.  
Paul's marker at that spot, on the right (west) side of the road as you 
drive south, is an orange surveyor's flag right next to the road, not 
red surveyor's tape as I reported yesterday.

Kris

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