Day Trip to Yellowstone

Shanna and I drove up to Yellowstone.

We stopped in West Yellowstone and shopped for a new car companion and jewelry, bought nothing.  Drove down Firehole canyon drive then on to Old Faithful stopping only for birds and wildlife. Ice cream and shopping (still little buying). Walked around Black Sand Basin and Biscuit Basin, drove through Firehole lake drive.  Then stopped at our favorite diner and headed home.  Bought a park pass. Need to go three times this year to make it worth it.

Saw birds:

1. Starlings
2. Magpies
3. Crows
4. House sparrows
5. Red winged blackbirds
6. Meadowlarks
7. Red tailed hawks
8. Swainson’s hawks
9. Ravens
10. Flickers
11. Trumpeter swans
12. Yellow headed blackbirds
13. Osprey (with fish)
14. Scaup
15. Canada geese (everywhere)

16. Great blue heron (good spotting Shanna!)
17. Yellow rumped warblers
18. Spotted sandpipers
19. Common mergansers
20. Mountain bluebirds!
21. Turkey vultures
22. Kestrels
23. Brewer’s blackbirds
24. Robins
25. Brown headed cowbirds

Also saw

Lots and lots of bison and lots of baby bison!

Ground squirrels

North American Lunatic walking south on HWY 20 outside of Ashton

The Croods

Shanna and I ran a bunch of errands and had been working on the garden and house so much that we decided to go to the movie.  This is a delightful animated tale.

See: http://www.thecroodsmovie.com/‎

GSL Bird Festival Day 2

Today I went a two separate tours and attended a couple of classes.  I started the morning with a tour out to Gower Ponds.  This was not a damp tour, but a full on raining wet tour.  Glad I had my umbrella in my car.  Saw some great birds though:

Snowy Egrets

1. Starlings
2. Red winged blackbirds
3. Black necked stilts
4. American avocets
5. American white pelicans
6. California gulls
7. White faced ibis
8. Western grebe
9. Pied billed grebes
10. Western meadowlark
11. Great blue herons
12. Double crested cormorant
13. Coots
14. Mallards
15. Cinnamon teals
16. Jilldeer
17. Cliff swallows
18. Canada geese
19. Marbled godwit!
20. Marsh wren
21. Caspian tern

Next I attended a class on identifying falcons and another one on the butterflies/moths of the Wasatch.

I drove up to Layton to have lunch at Red Lobster then back to the festival in time to get on the bus for my next tour. I've never birded from a bus before. I didn't think it would be as effective as from my own car. Boy was I mistaken. Of course it took awhile to get the bus driver to really stop instead of just going slow. Still we saw a lot of birds:

1. Pied billed grebe
2. Eared grebe
3. Western grebe
4. Clarks grebe
5. American white pelican
6. Double crested cormorant
7. Great blue herons
8. Great egret
9. Snowy egrets
10. Black crowned night herons
11. White faced ibis
12. Canada geese
13. Green winged teal
14. Mallard
15. Blue winged teal
16. Cinnamon teel
17. Northern shoveler
18. Gadwall
19. Redhead
20. Ruddy duck
21. Ring necked pheasants
22. Coots
23. Sandhill crane
24. Killdeer
25. Black necked stilt
26. American avocets
27. Long billed curlew with babies
28. Marbled godwit
29. Common snipe
30. Wilsons phalerope
31. Franklins gull
32. California gull
33. Forsters tern
34. Mourning dove
35. Tree swallows
36. Barn swallows
37. Cliff swallows
38. Marsh wrens
39. Robins
40. Starlings
41. Red winged blackbird
42. Brewers blackbird
43. Yellow headed blackbird
44. Brownheaded cowbird
45. Western meadowlark
46. House sparrow

Double Crested Cormorant
the larger picture clearly shows the aquamarine eyes

I spent both nights at the Ramada out by the SLC airport. I was supposed to go on still another tour the next morning but was too tired and it was too damp so I just drove home on Sunday.

GSL Bird Festival Day 1

The Great Salt Lake Bird Festival is amazing.  For more information go check out their website at: http://www.greatsaltlakebirdfest.com/

Friday I drove down after work. I had hoped to go to the class on the evolution from dinosaur to bird but ended up at the Bear River Wildlife Refuge where I saw an astonishing number of birds that damp, drizzly evening.

Pocatello to and through Bear River Refuge

Long Billed Curlew

1. House finches
2. Robins
3. Eurasian collard doves
4. Rock doves
5. House sparrows
6. Magpies
7. Red tailed hawks
8. Common ravens
9. American crows
10. Cliff swallows
11. Blue winged teals
12. Red winged blackbirds
13. American kestrels
14. Western meadowlarks
15. Mallards
16. Killdeer
17. Western kingbirds
18. Western grebes
19. Northern harrier
20. Cinnamon teal
21. White faced ibis
22. Great blue herons
23. Long billed curlew
24. Northern Shoveler
25. American avocets
26. Black necked stilts
27. Common grackles
28. American white pelicans
29. Yellow headed blackbirds
30. Bank swallows
31. Canada geese
32. Snowy egrets
33. Willet
34. Vesper sparrows
35. Sandhill cranes
36. American coots
37. Black crowned night herons
38. Wilsons phaleropes
39. Marsh wrens
40. Forsters terns
41. Redheads
42. Gadwalls
43. Clarks grebes
44. Brown headed cowbirds
45. Double crested cormorants
46. California gulls
47. Ring necked duck
48. Starlings
49. Ring necked pheasant

Yellow Headed Blackbirds in Flight

• Muskrat
• Skunk