Subject: Utah in June
Date: Jul 21 14:47:48 1996
From: MEYER2J at aol.com - MEYER2J at aol.com


As noted earlier, my husband and I birded 21 days in Utah in June. With an
RV as our accomodations and a tow car, our stops included Brigham City, Salt
Lake City, Ogden, Moab, and Vernal. Then back to Brigham City and on to
Idaho Falls and Missoula and Pipestone, Montana. Temperatures in Utah were
10-15 degrees above normal. Birds were in breeding colors; birds were
nesting; young were in various stages of development.

Brigham City, Utah
----------------------------
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (52 species) - Highlights included 2
families of Red Foxes; Western Grebe carrying young on its back; American
Avocet with young, Black-necked Stilt, Clark's Grebe, American White
Pelican, Redhead and other ducks, Sandhill Crane, Wilson's and Red-necked
Phalarope, Franklin's Gull, Caspian and Forster's Tern, Savannah, Brewer's
and Vesper Sparrow, White-faced Ibis, Long-billed Curlew, Spotted Sandpiper,
Willet, Snowy Egret, Cliff and Barn Swallow. Carp swam in the passable but
flooded roadway.

Antelope Island (29 species)
-----------------------------------------
Chukar, several hundreds of Eared Grebe, several hundreds of Red-necked and
Wilson's Phalarope, Swainson's Hawk, Loggerhead Shrike, Sage Thrasher, Bank
Swallow, Horned Lark feeding young, Grasshopper and Brewer's Sparrow.

Mantua Reservoir (near Brigham City)
------------------------------------------------------
Many Clark's Grebes; Western's Grebes performing mating rituals, i.e.
sharing grasses, dancing in pairs across the water, heads held high . What a
thrill to see. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds at feeders in the town of Mantua.

Snow Basin (near Ogden) (20 species)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Calliope and Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Red-naped Sapsucker, Gray Flycatcher,
Warbling Vireo, Red Crossbill, Yellow and MacGillivray's Warbler, Chipping
Sparrow, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting.

Salt Lake City and area
----------------------------------
City Creek Canyon (10 species) - Cordilleran Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler,
Lazuli Bunting, Broad-tailed hummingbird.

Big Cottonwood Canyon (27 species) - Ferruginous Hawk, Warbling Vireo,
Mountain Chickadee, Virginia's Warbler, Western Tanager, Chipping Sparrow,
Cassin's Finch, American Dipper.

Hansen Hollow (near Tanner Park) (24 species) - Gray Catbird in full view and
song, Blue-gray gnatcatcher, Bullock's Oriole, Calif. Quail.

Bald Mountain (19 species) - Many Red Crossbills, Cassin's Finch; upper
lakes still frozen and snow removal not completed by road crews. And a
horrible sight, where a car plowed into 8 Red Crossbills that had been
feeding on the road.

Provo area (54 species)
-----------------------------------
Provo Canyon, Hope Campground, Sundance, Mt. Timpanogos - Ferruginous Hawk,
Black-chinned Hummingbird (took pix of bird in nest overhanging picnic
table), Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Common
Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, Lazuli Bunting, MacGillivray's and Yellow
Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, American Goldfinch, Bulllock's Oriole, Western
Tanager, gray-headed form of Dark-eyed Junco

Moab, Utah
-----------------
Canyonlands Natl Park (19 species) - Black-throated Sparrow, White-throated
Swift, Say's Phoebe, Horned Lark, Plain Titmouse, Mountain Bluebird, Northern
Mockingbird, Gray Vireo, Loggehead Shrike, Lark Sparrow. Pinyon Jay at
near-by Dead Horse State Park.

Arches Natl Park (13 species) - Rock Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Vireo,
Black-throated Sparrow, Cassin's Finch, White-throated Swift, Ferruginous
Hawk.

Colorado River byways - Indian Petroglyphs, dinosaur footprint, Blue
Grosbeak, Canyon and Rock Wren

Castle Valley Loop Road and Manti-La Sal Mountains (29 species) - Chukar with
young, Pinyon Jay, Black-chinned and Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Ash-throated
Flycatcher, Mountain Bluebird, Lazuli Bunting, Green-tailed Towhee

Matheson Wetlands Preserve (26 species) - several Yellow-breasted Chat,
Great-tailed Grackle, Cinnamon Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, Black-headed Grosbeak

Vernal, Utah and area
--------------------------------
Dry Fork Canyon (27 species) - Indian Petroglyphs, Cordilleran Flycatcher,
White-throated Swift, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Common Grackle, Mountain
Bluebird.

Dinosaur Natl Park & Hog Canyon (33 species) - Lesser Goldfinch, Gray Vireo,
Golden Eagle, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Mountain Bluebird, Warbling Vireo,
Yellow-breasted Chat, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Canyon & Rock Wren,
Black-chinned Hummingbird, Lark Sparrow, Spotted Towhee.

Flaming Gorge Recreation Area (37 species) - Osprey, male Williamson's
Sapsucker feeding young in eye-level tree cavity, Clark's Nutcracker, Pinyon
Jay, Gray Flycatcher.

Ouray Natl Wildlife Refuge and nearby Pelican Lake ( (59 species) -
Mosquitoes were unbearable at the Refuge. Golden Eagle, American Bittern,
Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Swainson's Hawk, Forster's Tern,
Brewer's Sparrow, Common Nighthawk. At Pelican Lake, a Red-tailed Hawk being
mobbed by a very vocal American Avocet, a Yellow-headed Blackbird and being
beaned by a male Bullock's Oriole. A very colorful sight.

Idaho Falls, Idaho
------------------------
Market Lake Wildlife Management Area (60 species) - several Short-eared Owls
at close range, Sandhill Cranes with young; Mud Lake Wildlife Management Area
(37 species), a large and vocal Double-crested Cormorant rookery; and Camas
Natl Wildlife Refuge (51 species), Trumpeter Swans with cygnets, nesting
Peregrine Falcon, Sandhill Crane, Grasshopper Sparrow.

Near Pipestone, Montana
-------------------------------------
Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park (28 species) - Green-tailed Towhee, Solitary
Vireo, Cassin's Finch, Lark Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, Mountain Bluebird,
Eastern Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, White-throated Swift.

Near Missoula, Montana
-----------------------------------
Lee Metcalf Natl Wildlife Refuge (45 species) - Gray Catbird, nesting Eastern
Kingbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Cedar Waxwing, many
nesting Osprey, White-breasted Nuthatch, Sora, variety of ducks.
White-tailed deer watch you bird.

Happy Birding!

Joyce and John Meyer
Woodinville, WA
MEYER2J at aol.com