January 1999

On Saturday the 9^th of January at about 1:30 in the afternoon, Merrill Webb saw a Field Sparrow at the Lindon Boat Harbor. He reported the bird by phone about two hours later with one of the biggest understatements of the new year: "That’s a pretty good bird," he said, leaving a message on the answering machine of the newly reorganized Utah County Birders "Hot Line Center." Minutes later, at about 3:30, the message was received and the new "Code 5+ Hot Line System" swung into action. The new system quickly collapsed when pretty much all the birders on both phone trees were already out chasing birds somewhere. Luckily Eric Huish, Julia Tuck and Lois Clark were at home and a somewhat, stumpy, phone tree swung into action.

Sometime after 4:00, Judy Jordon, was casually birding towards the Lindon Marina, unaware of the rare sparrow lurking there. Suddenly she noticed a rather large pickup truck, driven by one hurrying birder, Eric Huish, pulling up behind her in an overbearing manner. Relieved to find a very nice Eric in a very mean truck, Judy joined in the search with Eric north of the marina gate. By 4:20, Milton Moody was approaching the two entranced birders, still as statues, binoculars leveled at the bushes across a small pond. Then there were three birders watching this rare little sparrow.

Shortly, Lois Clark and Darlene Amott arrived, in Lois’ new Jeep Grand Cherokee, a fitting conveyance for the Grand Dame of the Utah County birders. They arrived as the sun was setting and were unable to locate the little Field Sparrow. Fortunately, it has hung around and been seen by numerous birders from near and far. At last Report the Field Sparrow is still here.

January Meeting

We're meeting on a new day (on Wednesdays--permanently), in a new room (310--temporarily).

Robin’s View

It was a beautiful day, January 1, 1999. Julie and I drove around Utah Lake, stopping at our favorite spots, many quite productive and others deserted. Over by the elusive Secret Pond, near where the Bobolinks are seen in the summer, north of Goshen, we drove slowly down a dirt road pushing sparrows from tree to tree trying to get a good look. Finally, at the end of the row of trees we stopped and set up the scope. I heard children’s voices in the distance and saw a couple of hunters crossing a field. All was well. We turned around and drove out, spotting the hawk in the west field. We had been looking at the sparrows so intently we had misses it driving down the road. There it was, a short distance from the fence, not looking good at all. We could tell something was amiss, one wing was off to the side but it eyed us intently. Fearing the worse, we called Dennis, our friendly Game Enforcement Officer to tell him a hawk was down. Thanks for cell phones. Dennis told us to catch it and bring it to him. Easy for him to say.

I climbed the fence and found as I had feared, the hawk had been shot and blood was smeared on the grass. But as I came to her, she rolled over onto her back and presented talons and beak, a fearsome sight. She grabbed my coat by her talons and I lifted her off the ground, and a flood of blood spilled from her mouth, then another flood. We lifted her over the fence, then carefully maneuvered to wrap her in the coat, then placed her in the back of the vehicle and hurried off toward Dennis’ home. Fearing the worse, upon our arrival we gingerly opened the coat to find a much weaker adult female Rough-legged Hawk. She had been shot in the head and had lost a lot of blood. We left her with Dennis, having done all we could. She died during the night, really not having had much of a chance.

Rough-legged Hawks winter here, coming from the northern parts of Canada, where people don’t often go. Because of this, they are much more approachable than other hawks, often letting people get to within 50 feet before flying off. We don’t know if our Hawk friend was shot soaring or perched, but we know her lack of fear made her more vulnerable.

More new guns are handed out at Christmas than any other time, to kids and to hunters, and they beg to be tried out. Often, the target is not a tin can, but a magnificent hawk, like our friend. Dennis explained that a surge of 9 bird deaths occur this time of year simply because of Christmas. When in anguish I moaned "We ought to try to stop this from happening," Dennis simply said "I do my best."

Field Trips 1999

Your Field Trip Committee recently met for lunch and planned the next three months’ activities. Current Committee Members include Dennis Shirley (chairman), Junece Markham, Carol Jean Nelson, and Reed Stone. The dates, locations, and target species are included in the schedule that follows. We have picked both weekdays and Saturdays realizing there will be conflicts (work, school, etc.), when some of us won’t be able to attend. But, hopefully, you’ll come when you can.

We’ve picked locations based on winter bird specialties and associated habitats. I think if you went on these trips, you’d see most of the wintering Utah bird species.

We plan to have lots of fun this year, just like in the past. We’re going to take our time, learn the birds, and associate with good friends.

Southern Africa, September 8-19, 1998

We arrived in Cape Town, South Africa 10 days after the ‘Planet Hollywood’ bombing. Our biggest fear was that our trip was going to be canceled. We actually felt very safe, even though the bombing took place just a few hundred yards from our Hotel. I guess we figured they would probably not strike the same place twice!

Cape Town is a beautiful city with many unfortunate problems politically, as well as a number of other serious social issues. We thoroughly enjoyed our three days there. Birding highlights of Cape Town were; a half-day trip to Cape Point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. It was an absolutely breathtaking scene. There were birds everywhere, and each one was something I’d never even seen in a book before. I had a great field guide along, Birds of Southern Africa, by Sinclair, Hockey & Tarboton [available at the Utah Birds Bookstore], which I was constantly putting to good use. There were also families of baboons running around, that you had to keep an eye out for.

On the way to Cape Point we stopped at ‘The Boulders State Park’. A sandy beach that you get to share with a good size number of Jackass Penguins, (trying to be re-named African Penguins). We got to literally wonder around with these Penguins! It was my first time to see Penguins in the wild, and it was terribly exciting for me. When you heard them vocalize you could tell where they got their name. While there, I picked up a brochure advertising two individuals you could hire to take you birding. I gave them a call, and got set up for a fabulous day of birding the following day! My guide’s name was Claire Spottiswoode. I had no idea how lucky I was to get her until we got out birding. She was from Cape Town, and had been a birder/botanist her whole life. She was a college student at Cape Town University doing graduate work in Botany and Ornithology. She was very young but had already been involved in a number of research studies, co-authored some birding books, etc. She was simply a fabulous guide who knew every bird and plant we came across. We began the morning at a Botanical Gardens called Kirstenbosch, there in Cape Town. It was a birder’s dream, not to mention it made you want to become a botanist. Here was saw around 35 species. We saw four of our days five species of canaries, (Cape, Forest, Blackheaded & Yellow). We got beautiful looks and photos of nearly every thing we saw. The Sunbirds (Orangebreasted, & Lesser Doublecollared) were absolutely brilliant in the early sunlight.

Next she took us to a Wildflower preserve where we saw 25 species of grassland birds. Some of these were, Richard’s (Grassveld) Pipit, Cisticola (Cloud, Greybacked, & Levaillant’s), Grassbabler, Redcapped & Thickbilled Larks, and a number of other great birds.

On to the West Coast National Park, and a Rock Quarry, where we saw most of the rest of our birds for the day. Whitefronted, Threebanded, Kittlitz’s, Chestnutbanded, Crowned, & Blacksmith Plovers, Cape Teal, Cape Shoveller, Black and African Marsh Harriers, a beautiful Southern Black Korhaan, Malachite Sunbird, African Hoopoe, Jackal Buzzard, and a Black Eagle’s nest with young and adults present. My guide was most excited by the sighting of a tiny little quail, the Blackrumped (Hottentot) Buttonquail. We had lunch beside some trees with colonies of Cape Weaver birds busily weaving. We drove past a huge flock of beautiful Greater Flamingos. We ended our wonderful day with an even 100 species. All of them but about 3, were life birds for me!

Our travels took us up to the Chobe River in Botswana, where we stayed in a Safari Lodge for 3 days. We got boat trips that showed us the river birds and wildlife, and rides in Range Rovers to see the land birds and animals. It was absolutely fascinating. I felt like I was getting to live a lifelong dream. It was just like watching a nature special on television, but you were in it! This is where we saw five species of beautiful Kingfishers. There were Rollers, Bee-eaters (Carmine, Little, Swallowtailed, & Whitefronted). Lots of Hornbill species, Eagles, Hawks, and several species of Vultures. We saw six species of Starlings, but they were beautiful.

We went to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, then on to my favorite spot. This was a Safari Lodge on the Sabi Sabi River in South Africa. Just outside Kruger Park. This was a much smaller river than the Chobe. This lodge was much more remote and private than the Chobe River. We were supposed to join up with a ranger and group that we would stay with the rest of the time. I found out at the Chobe River Lodge that most people could care less about what magnificent bird we are racing past. We were lucky enough to find one of the rangers was a birder. I asked if I could put together a group who wouldn’t mind looking at the birds in addition to the game. We found some great sports who were excited about seeing birds and we had our group. Our ranger was delighted. He loved birds, but he said no body ever really asked about them. We saw many of the same species that we saw at Chobe, but a lot of new ones. A few of the birds our ranger was most excited about were the Woollynecked Stork, and the Little Banded Goshawk. We ended the trip with a list of 225 bird species. All but 8 of them were life birds for me.

I meant to keep this brief, but there was so much to tell! When you add the incredible African mammals to the bird list, you just can’t beat it. I was afraid our Africa trip was not going to be able to live up to my expectations, but if far exceeded them. I have a complete bird list, book, and photos for anyone who is interested. Thanks for hanging in there.

Utah County Birders Treasurer Report for 1997 & 1998

INCOME 2/1/97 to 12/31/98
Balance over	$258.48
Members’ dues paid 1997	$710.00
Members’ dues paid 1998	$815.00
BYU pay. 250 booklets	$500.00
Booklets sold (Robin T.)	$100.00
Amazon Books	$32.45
Interest earned 1997-98	$36.52
Total Income 1997-98	$2,452.45
EXPENSES 2/1/97 to 12/31/98
Newsletter expenses 1997-98	$861.64
Pay for booklets & patches 1997	$850.00
Setting up birdnet	$109.00
Misc. expenses	$8.23
Total Outgo	$1,828.87
BALANCE	$623.58

1999 Membership only $10

Due to great management, frugality and probably the raging bullish economy, the Utah County Birders have a budget surplus (as you see in Beula’s report above). This year’s membership dues are only $10. Partial year dues for those joining in the middle of the year will be assessed at $1 per month. These dues are optional – so please sign up with Tuula Rose, in any event, so you’ll be included in the many activities and events with this – if I might say so – very nice group of people.

Please contact our new secretary-treasurer, Tuula Rose at the first opportunity. Make checks payable to "Utah County Birders."

Lessons from the 1998 Contest

I like birding contests, and apparently, so do you. Virtually every letter bringing the contest form to me also contained a message of thanks, all of which I appreciated.

Twenty four birders participated in the contest (as reported to me by January 13). I was impressed by the effort put in volunteer service and field trips. Several people had problems getting visitors to come to the club meetings, but everyone tried and some new people actually joined Utah County Birders as a result.

The most important part of the contest was, naturally, viewing birds. Note that the contest was to meet the standard of viewing an average of 98 birds a quarter. Fortunately, this was an average. Many of us had problems finding that many in the Winter or Fall but the Spring and Summer more than made up for it.

Even though we were measured against a standard, it is fun to examine the numbers and see who did the best in each quarter. Dennis Shirley found the most species in the Winter Quarter, at 162 and again in Spring Quarter at 210. Merrill Webb took over the lead for both the Summer and Fall Quarters at 203 and 143 respectively. If we ignore these two ‘super birders’ and examine the numbers from us ordinary birders, Junece Markham lead with 125 in Winter, Julia Tuck led in Spring with 198, Flora Duncan led with 177 in Summer, and again Junece Markham led in Winter with 133.

Thank you all for participating in the contest. Awards will be distributed at the January 20 Utah County Birders Meeting. See you there.

The next contest will be next year, 2000. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. For 1999, we will have a series of Challenges which will be described in detail at our next meeting.

Birder	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall	Average	Total Species
Merrill Webb	145	206	203	143	174	258
Junece Markham	125	188	163	133	152	253
Dennis Shirley	162	210	145	131	162	245
Tuula Rose	108	170	153	118	137	245
Julie Tuck	122	198	119	88	131	237
Flora Duncan	98	185	177	103	140	234
Robin Tuck	108	190	153	105	139	234
Stan Smith	100	147	162	84	123	230
Ned Hill	106	173	130	120	132	226
Carol Nelson	102	146	165	112	131	220
Cheryl Peterson	113	161	164	117	138	219
Bonnie William	105	151	145	115	129	218
Lois Clark	116	156	118	112	125	218
Eric Huish	113	136	158	109	129	215
Lella Ogden	100	172	143	113	132	214
Darlene Amott	112	164	129	98	125	214
Reed Stone	113	154	137	121	131	212
Alton Thygerson	74	147	147	67	108	209
Judy Jordan	106	141	122	103	118	204
Alona Huffaker	98	126	130	90	111	188
Mary Lou Huffmon	79	111	101	106	99	172
Matt Devries	112	149	94	119	118	0
Kay Stone	104	138	127	101	117	0
Pia DEvries	112	149	94	112	116	0

"Code 5+ Hot Line"

Come to the Utah County Birders meeting on WEDNESDAY, the 20^th of January at the Bean Museum, ROOM 310 where Dennis Shirley will present his new scoring system for sightings. Every bird sighting is NOT created equal !!!

State Hotline Highlights

BOX ELDER COUNTY

Terry Sadler - An apparent ICELAND GULL was seen at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (BRMBR) on Monday, 12/14. The bird appeared to be in second-winter plumage, and was seen about one-half mile west of the western-most bridge on the south side of the auto tour loop;. This is the second report of an Iceland Gull in Utah, the first coming last winter, also from BRMBR.

Keith Evans, Jack Rensel, Arnold Smith - An adult GLAUCOUS GULL was seen at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (BRMBR) on Saturday, 01/02.

Mark Stackhouse, Matt Thorum - It was seen again on Saturday, 01/09, along with a first-winter GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL in the same area. The birds were amongst thousands of other gulls, including Thayer's, Herring, California and Ring-billed Gulls.

CACHE COUNTY

Bob Atwood - Three HOODED MERGANSERS, including one male, were on the pond at first dam in Logan on Monday, 01/04 (BA). Five LONG-EARED OWLS were at a roost east of Mendon on Sunday, 01/03. The roost was first discovered during the Logan Christmas Bird Count on 12/19.

DAVIS COUNTY

Alan Godwin, Mark Stackhouse, Larene Wyss - A HARRIS' SPARROW was seen during the Salt Lake City Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Sunday, 12/20. The bird was on the west side of Redwood Road just south of the Skypark Airport in West Bountiful. Also on the Salt Lake City CBC, on Sunday, 12/20, an adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK and a WINTER WREN were seen at Mueller Park in Bountiful.

Sue Reehm (of KY) - Along the Antelope Island Causeway, a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER was seen on Sunday, 12/20.

Cliff Weisse - A RED-NECKED PHALAROPE was seen on Saturday, 12/19 at mile marker 2.

Tom Williams - Two LAPLAND LONGSPURS were seen along the Antelope Island Causeway on Friday, 12/25. The birds were at about the halfway point of the causeway.

IRON COUNTY

Priscilla & Steve Summers - A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was seen in Cedar Valley, west of Cedar City, on Saturday, 12/19. The bird was seen at the intersection of 4100 West and 2800 North, west of the Lund Highway.

SALT LAKE COUNTY

Alan Godwin, Mark Stackhouse, Larene Wyss - A ROSS' GOOSE was seen on the Salt Lake City CBC, on Sunday, 12/20, at the International Center west of the Salt Lake International Airport. The bird was in the pond behind the Airport Hilton Hotel, in amongst numerous Mallards and domestic geese.

UTAH COUNTY

Sue Hinde - A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was seen along S.R. 68 (Redwood Rd.) west of Utah Lake on Thursday, 12/24. The bird was in a flock of Horned Larks about 1/4 mile north of the Mosida Ranch.

Merrill Webb - On the Provo CBC, on Saturday, 12/19, a GREEN HERON was seen at the Oxbow section of the Provo River, about 1 mile upstream from the mouth, a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW was seen just north of the Orem Cemetary, a SAW-WHET OWL was seen at Paul Ream Park on the Provo River, and a late LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER was found at the East Bay Golf Course.

Beula & Ed Hinckley - A WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was seen along S.R. 68 (Redwood Rd.), west of Utah Lake, about 1/4 mile south of the sign for Mosida Ranch on Saturday, 01/02.

A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was also seen on the same day in a flock of Horned Larks near that same location (B&EH).

Tom Williams - A NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL was seen in Hobble Creek Canyon near Springville on Saturday, 12/26. The bird was about 500 feet below the entrance to Kelley's Grove.

Caren Brereton - A late AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was seen on Utah Lake at the Utah Lake State Park marina on Tuesday, 12/29.

Leena Rogers, Tuula Rose - A pair of HOODED MERGANSERS was seen on Spring Lake south of Payson on Saturday, 01/02.

Merrill Webb - A FIELD SPARROW was found at the Lindon Boat Harbor on Saturday, 01/09. It was seen again by many observers on Sunday, 01/10. The bird has been in a mixed flock with juncos, Tree Sparrows and Song Sparrows in the brush and small wood lot to the east and south of the boat harbor parking lot. The boat harbor is located on Utah Lake just west of the Geneva Steel Plant. This is the first legitimate record of Field Sparrow in Utah.

WASATCH COUNTY

Tuula Rose, Christian Peay, Milton Moody - A NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen where the Provo River enters Deer Creek Reservoir on Friday, 12/11

Mark Stackhouse, many observers - another NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen on Saturday, 12/12 near the Wallsburg arm of the reservoir.

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Mark Stackhouse - A GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW was seen on the St. George CBC on Tuesday, 12/29. The bird was in the fields along the Virgin River north of the Bloomington exit from I-15.

Dennis Shirley - Another GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW was seen at Snow Canyon SP on Monday, 12/28. The bird was in the picnic area near the park headquarters.

Mark Stackhouse, Matt Thorum - Many RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS were seen on the Zion NP CBC on Monday, 12/28. Nine of these were seen in two flocks along Pine Creek, one flock just above the bridge, and the other just below the bridge in Zion NP.

WEBER COUNTY

Bob Brodestein, Bill Fenimore, Jack Rensel - A VARIED THRUSH was found during the Ogden CBC on Saturday, 12/19, coming to a feeder at 1300 East and 5375 South in South Ogden.

1999 Executive Committee

President: Darlene Amott
Adjunct: Matt De Vries
Secretary-Treasurer: Tuula Rose
Field Trips: Dennis Shirley

Programs: Robin Tuck
Ned Hill
Advertising: Lois Clark
Webmaster: Weldon Whipple
Newsletter: Milton Moody

Utah County Birders 1999 Winter Field Trips: January - March
	Date	Length	Location	Target Species	Depart	from where	Return
January	Fri 1/15/99	½ day	Bear River MNR	Gulls	6:00 am	Bean Museum	2:00 pm
	Sat 1/23/99	1 day	Cache Valley	Blue Jay, Long-eared Owl, Harris’ Sparrow	6:00 am	Bean Museum	6:00 pm
	Sat 1/30/99	½ day	West Utah Lake	White-fronted Goose, Northern Shrike	7:00 am	Bean Museum	1:00 pm
February	Thu 2/4/99	½ day	Alta, Dimple Dell Park	Rosy Finches, Harris’ Sparrow	12:00 noon	Bean Museum	6:00 pm
	Sat 2/6/99	½ day	Antelope Island	Oldsquaw, Scoters	6:00 am	Bean Museum	2:00 pm
	Sat 2/20/99	1 day	West Desert	Longspurs, Sparrows	6:00 am	Bean Museum	6:00 pm
	Fri 2/26/99	½ day	Sundance, Provo Canyon	Pygmy Owl, Winter Wren	7:00 am	Bean Museum	1:00 pm
March	Sat 3/6/99	½ day	No. Utah County, Jordan River	Sparrows	7:00 am	Bean Museum	1:00 pm
	Sat 3/13/99	½ day	So. Utah County, Mona	Merlin, others	7:00 am	Bean Museum	8:00 pm
	Fri - Sat 19^th & 20^th	over-night	Cedar City, Washington Co.	Spotted Owl, Rufous-crowned Sparrow	Mar 19^th9:00 am	Bean Museum	Mar 20^th 8:00 pm
	Fri 3/26/99	½ day	Wasatch Co.	Early migrants	7:00 am	Bean Museum	1:00 pm

Merrill Webb Spots a Field Sparrow at the Lindon Marina

Utah County Birders 1999 Winter Field Trips: January - March