1997

MY FIRST TRIP WITH THE UTAH COUNTY BIRDERS
Report by Club President, Ned Hill

Ouray National Wildlife Refuge Field Trip
April 26, 1997
by Ned Hill (ned_hill@byu.edu)
Four a.m. came very early--especially since we had helped a Cub Scout Pack learn about birds and see their very first owls only a few hours before. Nevertheless, the thrill of an all day birding trip to one of Utah's best birding areas with good friends tends to push sleep from the mind. Joined by four carloads of other birders waiting in the Bean Museum parking lot, we sallied forth shortly after five with CB radios at the ready to communicate any interesting birds along the way.

Swainson's Hawk

We drove through the landslide up Provo Canyon and then on to Duchesne while witnessing a beautiful pink and blue sunrise. The first bird of note was a newly arrived Swainson's Hawk sitting on a power pole. Our first birding stop was Pelican Lake, about 20 miles outside Roosevelt. We had hoped to find Eurasian Wigeon but were unsuccessful. We did find Western Kingbird, American White Pelican, Snow Goose, Common and Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, dozens of Great Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorant, Eared Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Bufflehead, Redhead, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Greater (with the iridescent green head) and Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Snowy Egret and other common waterfowl. Dozens of Yellow-headed and Redwinged Blackbirds were setting up territories.
We learned that Ouray National Wildlife Refuge was hosting an "open house." That explained the long lines of vans and busses at each observation point along the way. Many scout organizations were using this to culminate "bird month" in scouting. Ouray is a relatively new refuge, having been built in the late 1960's to mitigate the Flaming Gorge Dam construction. It has a series of holding ponds for migrating waterfowl and some areas of riparian woods. Because of the cool spring weather, the migration has been delayed by a week or so. Rangers told us that many more migrants had arrived by this time last year. We saw very few migrant songbirds with the exception of House Wren, Barn and Tree Swallows, Marsh Wren, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. There was, of course, the usual collection of blackbirds, Black-necked Stilts, Willet, Killdeer, Great Blue Heron and porcupines! It seemed as if every taller tree had a resident porcupine stripping bark from the branches. One of the more memorable sights of the day was of a Great Horned Owl chick, all white and fluffy, sitting in an open nest not far from a parking area. The mother was nearby carefully concealed in a tangle of branches. In the same area was a Red-tailed Hawk nest with a screaming mother perched above.
Taking a welcome break at refuge headquarters, we got to see a Harris Hawk tethered to a pole. It had been injured and was being shown by a falconer who stated that our group was the only one who knew what kind of bird he had. The find of the day came in the early afternoon as we walked down a road in the Leota Bottoms. After seeing several lumbering Great Blues, an American Bittern sailed into view. We watched it glide to a landing on the edge of a pond and then stealthily walk along the bank searching for fish in the shallow waters. We all had a wonderful look at this relatively rare (but regular) Utah resident. Some in the group spotted another bittern a few dozen yards from the first but it quickly slipped into the reeds where it became one with the vegetation.
The trip home produced several Osprey and Common Loons near Starvation Lake. We had never seen an Osprey in a juniper tree before. In the Strawberry Valley we found two Sandhill Cranes feeding along the edge of melting snow near a thawed field filled with American Pipits, Horned Larks, Long-billed Curlews, White-faced Ibis and American Crows. In the distance we heard more cranes.
While waiting for the rock slide traffic light in Provo Canyon, a beautiful Belted Kingfisher bounded up the river--our 70th bird of the day and a nice ending to a perfect birding day. Some in the group found nearly 20 new species and all found Ouray NWR to be a site worthy of many return trips.