We had decided the night before that we would visit Little Cottonwood Canyon in the morning and Antelope Island State Park in the afternoon. The canyon entrance was near the town of Granite, southeast of Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, we found out that there was going to be a bike race starting at 11 AM at the Snowbird resort area, so we would have to be below there by that time. We parked near the top at the Alton-Brighton trailhead and walked up the Albion Basin Road. A Calliope Hummingbird was flycatching near the top of an evergreen. Surprisingly, my camera focused on the bird and I managed to get these photos.
Other birds seen along there included Broad-tailed and Rufous Hummingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, "Audubon's", Orange-crowned, and Wilson Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee, Lincoln's and Fox Sparrow, "Pink-sided" Junco, and Pine Siskin.
Near the bottom of the canyon along the Temple Quarry Trail, we found Black-capped Chickadee and Warbling Vireo.
After a quick stop at a Wendy's, we headed for the Antelope Island Causeway. It was tough to even try and estimate the huge numbers of Northern Shovelers, Eared Grebes, American Avocets, and Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes at this spot. All I can say is there were thousands of each. There were tens of thousands of Eared Grebes alone! There also had to be hundreds of Black-necked Stilts.
When we drove out on the causeway to the island, Wilson's Phalaropes were all over and only a few Red-necked Phalaropes were seen.
On our way back out from the island, Red-necked Phalaropes highly outnumbered the Wilson's.
Other birds spotted along the causeway included American White Pelican, White-faced Ibis, Peregrine Falcon, Black-bellied Plover, Willet, Western Sandpiper, Ring-billed, California and Franklin's Gull, and a Long-billed Curlew.
While Jason was scoping the north side of the causeway, he found a leucistic Franklin's Gull among the Eared Grebes and phalaropes.
We checked out the park's visitor center on the island and saw Lark Sparrows at the feeders.
We stopped at a nearby pull-off where Burrowing Owls were possible, but it was the middle of the afternoon so there was no sight of them. We drove about halfway down Antelope Island Road towards the Fielding Garr Ranch.
Three Lazuli Buntings were spotted in a grassy depression near a small group of trees.
More photos from the Utah part of the trip can be found at my Utah Adventures Photo Album.
We left the island in the late afternoon, headed south towards the Salt Lake City Airport, and ate at another Golden Corral that was nearby. In the early evening, we drove to the airport, returned the car with 2,024 more miles on it, and boarded our non-stop flight just before midnight.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
We landed at Newark International Airport at around 6 AM and drove right to Green Pond in my county to see the Baird's Sandpiper that had been found there while we were away.
We found everything we were looking for pretty easily. I saw two life birds and a subspecies of Spruce Grouse among the 147 species seen in addition to Gray Wolves and Grizzly Bear. Needless to say, it was a fantastic trip. Here is the species list for the trip with the state or states they were seen in.
Trip List
1) Canada Goose (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
2) Trumpeter Swan (Idaho, Wyoming)
3) Mallard (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
4) Gadwall (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
5) Green-winged Teal (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
6) American Wigeon (Idaho, Wyoming)
7) Northern Pintail (Idaho, Utah)
8) Northern Shoveler (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
9) Blue-winged Teal (Idaho, Utah)
10) Cinnamon Teal (Idaho, Utah)
11) Canvasback (Idaho)
12) Redhead (Idaho)
13) Ring-necked Duck (Idaho, Wyoming)
14) Barrow's Goldeneye (Wyoming)
15) Bufflehead (Wyoming)
16) Common Merganser (Idaho, Wyoming)
17) Hooded Merganser (Idaho)
18) Ruddy Duck (Idaho, Utah)
19) Ring-necked Pheasant (Utah)
20) Himalayan Snowcock** (Nevada)
21) "Franklin's" Spruce Grouse* (Idaho)
22) Eared Grebe (Idaho, Utah)
23) Western Grebe (Utah)
24) American White Pelican (Utah)
25) Double-crested Cormorant (Wyoming, Utah)
26) Great Blue Heron (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
27) White-faced Ibis (Idaho, Utah)
28) Turkey Vulture (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
29) Osprey (Idaho, Wyoming)
30) Northern Harrier (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
31) Sharp-shinned Hawk (Idaho)
32) Red-tailed Hawk (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
33) Swainson's Hawk (Nevada, Idaho)
34) American Kestrel (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
35) Prairie Falcon (Wyoming)
36) Peregrine Falcon (Wyoming, Utah)
37) Virginia Rail (Idaho, Utah)
38) Sora (Idaho)
39) American Coot (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
40) Sandhill Crane (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
41) Black-bellied Plover (Utah)
42) Killdeer (Idaho, Wyoming)
43) American Avocet (Utah)
44) Black-necked Stilt (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
45) Willet (Idaho, Utah)
46) Lesser Yellowlegs (Idaho)
47) Solitary Sandpiper (Idaho)
48) Spotted Sandpiper (Idaho, Utah)
49) Long-billed Curlew (Utah)
50) Western Sandpiper (Utah)
51) Least Sandpiper (Idaho)
52) Short-billed Dowitcher (Utah)
53) Wilson's Snipe (Idaho)
54) Wilson's Phalarope (Idaho, Utah)
55) Red-necked Phalarope (Utah)
56) Franklin's Gull (Idaho, Utah)
57) Ring-billed Gull (Utah)
58) California Gull (Idaho, Utah)
59) Forster's Tern (Utah)
60) Rock Pigeon (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
61) Mourning Dove (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
62) Eurasian Collared-Dove (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
63) Great Gray Owl (Idaho)
64) Common Nighthawk (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
65) Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
66) Calliope Hummingbird (Utah)
67) Rufous Hummingbird (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
68) Belted Kingfisher (Idaho)
69) Northern Flicker (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming)
70) Williamson's Sapsucker (Idaho)
71) Hairy Woodpecker (Idaho)
72) American Three-toed Woodpecker (Idaho)
73) Pileated Woodpecker (Idaho)
74) Olive-sided Flycatcher (Idaho, Utah)
75) Western Wood-Pewee (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
76) Willow Flycatcher (Idaho)
77) Hammond's Flycatcher (Idaho)
78) Gray Flycatcher (Idaho)
79) Dusky Flycatcher (Idaho)
80) Cordilleran Flycatcher (Nevada)
81) Say's Phoebe (Idaho)
82) Western Kingbird (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
83) Eastern Kingbird (Idaho, Utah)
84) Loggerhead Shrike (Idaho, Utah)
85) Warbling Vireo (Idaho, Utah)
86) Clark's Nutcracker (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming)
87) Black-billed Magpie (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming)
88) American Crow (Nevada, Idaho)
89) Common Raven (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
90) Horned Lark (Idaho)
91) Tree Swallow (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
92) Violet-green Swallow (Idaho, Wyoming)
93) Bank Swallow (Wyoming, Utah)
94) Cliff Swallow (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
95) Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Wyoming)
96) Barn Swallow (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
97) Black-capped Chickadee (Utah)
98) Mountain Chickadee (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
99) Red-breasted Nuthatch (Idaho, Utah)
100) House Wren (Nevada)
101) Rock Wren (Nevada, Utah)
102) Marsh Wren (Idaho, Utah)
103) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Idaho, Utah)
104) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Idaho)
105) Mountain Bluebird (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
106) Townsend's Solitaire (Nevada)
107) Hermit Thrush (Utah)
108) American Robin (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
109) Sage Thrasher (Idaho)
110) European Starling (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
111) Cedar Waxwing (Wyoming)
112) Orange-crowned Warbler (Utah)
113) Nashville Warbler (Idaho)
114) Yellow-rumped "Audubon's" Warbler (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
115) Townsend's Warbler (Idaho)
116) Yellow Warbler (Idaho)
117) MacGillivray's Warbler (Nevada)
118) Wilson's Warbler (Idaho, Utah)
119) Western Tanager (Idaho, Wyoming)
120) Green-tailed Towhee (Nevada, Utah)
121) Chipping Sparrow (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
122) Brewer's Sparrow (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming)
123) Lark Sparrow (Idaho, Utah)
124) Fox Sparrow (Utah)
125) Savannah Sparrow (Idaho, Utah)
126) Lincoln's Sparrow (Idaho, Utah)
127) Song Sparrow (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
128) Vesper Sparrow (Idaho)
129) White-crowned Sparrow (Nevada, Idaho)
130) Dark-eyed Junco ("Gray-headed" in Nevada, "Oregon" in Idaho, "Pink-sided" in Wyoming and Utah)
131) Black-headed Grosbeak (Idaho)
132) Lazuli Bunting (Idaho, Utah)
133) Western Meadowlark (Idaho, Utah)
134) Yellow-headed Blackbird (Idaho, Utah)
135) Red-winged Blackbird (Idaho, Utah)
136) Great-tailed Grackle (Nevada)
137) Brewer's Blackbird (Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah)
138) Brown-headed Cowbird (Utah)
139) Black Rosy-Finch (Nevada)
140) Cassin's Finch (Nevada, Idaho)
141) House Finch (Idaho, Utah)
142) Red Crossbill (Idaho)
143) Cassia Crossbill** (Idaho)
144) Pine Siskin (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
145) American Goldfinch (Idaho)
146) Lesser Goldfinch (Nevada)
147) House Sparrow (Nevada, Idaho, Utah)
** denotes Life Bird.
* denotes U.S. and "Lower 48" Bird.
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