I recently came across Birdwatching magazine’s rundown of citizen science projects, and thought I’d share. There look to be some really interesting ones: enjoy!
Happy birding,
Jen
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Migration
It’s that time of year again! Kelly, Dave and I arrived at Warm Springs Natural Area to do some migration surveys – along with some habitat surveys. It’s been a great week and a half of birding, and a good opportunity to get up close and personal with mesquites and quailbush. Plus: adventure! We were down there during an impressive cloudburst – one gauge in Moapa evidently reported more than 3 and a half inches of rain in 90 minutes. Fortunately we weren’t in the field at the time, and were able to view the flooding from the top of a tall hill! Deeply impressive rainfall … followed by impressively deep gloopy mud. |
| Where's Dave? |
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| Oh, there he is: tunneling through the quailbush! |
The most common of our migrants were Warbling Vireos (by a lot!), Orange-crowned Warblers, Western Tanagers, and Wilson’s Warblers. My most memorable sightings were the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher female feeding her two very noisy fledglings low down in a honey mesquite; the Baltimore Oriole male flitting from cottonwood to palm; and the shock of having a flock of Pinyon Jays calling overhead, flying north. Here’s the overall species list so far – more surveys to come!
Gambel's Quail
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Virginia Rail
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Belted Kingfisher
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
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| Ants re-building tunnels, post-flood |
Western Wood-Pewee
Gray Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Bell's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Western Scrub-Jay
Pinyon Jay
Common Raven
Barn Swallow
Verdin
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
Crissal Thrasher
Phainopepla
Orange-crowned Warbler
Lucy's Warbler
Nashville Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Green-tailed Towhee
Abert's Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Western Tanager
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
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