BIRDQUEST2004

We had allotted 6 days for the Snowcock and luckily we had only needed three days.  We had 4 free days to increase our year totals, we were both close to 400 and a few birds would put us over the top.

Our first stop was the town of Brighton up Big Cottonwood Canyon Road, their had been reports of Williamson’s Sapsucker in the area and I desperately wanted to get a photograph.

Of course the first bird we saw was the Williamson’s as he flew by us onto a shaded trunk.  By the time we got our binoculars on the bird, it decided to go elsewhere.  We stayed there for the rest of the morning but it never showed itself again.

We did see:

Hermit Thrush

Mountain Chickadee

Red-naped Sapsucker

Red Crossbill

Gray Flycatcher

We decided to move on to Little Cottonwood Canyon Road, there had been Ebird reports of Black Swift.  Once there we quickly realized how high these birds were flying.   I took photos of many birds that I thought might be Black Swift’s but for the most part were White-throated Swifts.  Below are the darker birds:

What do you think?  The bird in the square is a photo from the Internet of a Black Swift soaring.

We decided to make it an early night and head north the next day….

We headed to Powder Mountain Ski Resort just east of Ogden.

On the drive up the road we came across this doe.

A lovely Lazuli Bunting

Awesome Scenery

On the dirt track road on the way in we found Mountain Bluebird and Olive-sided Flycatcher.

The meadow had hundreds of Butterflies.

Great Spangled Fritillary Female

Police Car Moth

Great Spangled Fritillary Male

Western Tiger Swallowtail

Ebird had reported Williamson’s Sapsucker’s in the area.  The directions were a little vague but we did find the area and the birds.

The drumming lead us to the Sapsucker.  Not my best photos but they are my only photographs of this bird.

Chris found a lovely male American 3-toed Woodpecker, giving us both excellent views.

This was a haven for Woodpeckers we also found a Hairy.

For me I seldom see this next bird, a Western Tanager.

Another great day, Thanks Chris.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Feeney and I decided in 2015 to try for the Himalayan Snowcock, a bird we both wanted to see before we were to old to make the climb.

I spoke to many people about the climb asking if it was it harder than the Colima Warbler climb?  Which is a  3 hour 1800 foot uphill climb in sweltering heat.  Most said easier, but staying hydrated was important.

On the drive from Salt Lake to the Ruby Mountains we had

Many Black-billed Magpie

Harlan’s Hawk

Chris and I arrived at the trailhead at 1pm and headed up the 2 mile trail to Island Lake.

The photo below shows the trail approximately 3/4 of a mile from the car, a steady uphill grade.

It was rough at first but once We started pacing ourselves and stopping for frequent water breaks it got a bit easier.   Chris was a trooper on this climb, he has a few years on me and trouble with his knees, he was slow and steady.

 

We passed the wooden bridge over the water fall that people told us was a bit over the half way point.

From this spot it was 6 switchbacks to the lake…

Once you cross over the culvert your about a minute from the lake, you should really start listening and looking from this point on.  We met a couple who had 3 Snowcock’s fly over their heads at the lake.

The scenery was pretty impressive…

We started scoping the hillside from this spot but soon realized the climb wasn’t over and crossed the creek again, heading uphill another 1/2 mile.

Look for the tallest trees you can see up hill and head for them, another 3/4 hour found us at the spot.  A large flat rocky area, perfect for scoping the cliffs and meadows.

We stayed until 7 pm and while we did hear a male calling, we just couldn’t get any views.

We took the next day off and birded locally, I don’t think either of us wanted to redo the climb without resting up.   We were in bed by 6pm that night, waking up at 1am so we could arrive at the trailhead by 2pm.  With headlamps and flashlight we headed out and made very good time arriving at the viewing area by 4:30am.

It was cold, if your planning on doing this trip dress in layers it was about 4C (38F) and we couldn’t wait for the sun to make it over the horizon.  The moon wasn’t providing much heat.

Shivering, we scanned the mountain top for any movement, praying that we’d see a Snowcock, neither of us wanted to redo this climb anytime soon, at 5:15am I spotted a rock on the crest of the hill that wasn’t there moments earlier.  Our quest was over, one Snowcock had made an appearance.

We stayed on site for another 3 hours hoping another bird would make an appearance.

Looking down mountain…

We headed for the car, with lots of time to smell the flowers.

On the trip down I found another life bird, I had searched for in South Dakota only a few short months ago…Dusky Flycatcher.

I think both of us were asleep, as soon as our heads hit the pillow that night.