Cactus Kate

A Little Post-Holiday Birding

26th December 2009

A Little Post-Holiday Birding

posted in Birds |

Hi, everyone.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season!

Today, I went into downtown Moab (ha ha ha) to do a little after-Christmas shopping (ha ha ha).  I managed to buy 6 strings of lights for half price, and that’s about it.  However, on my way by a big open field, I saw birds that looked different from the usual, so I stopped to check it out.  I saw a Say’s Phoebe (which is only supposed to be here in the summer, but this was DEFINITELY a Say’s Phoebe), and a yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon’s variety).  I added the phoebe to my birdlist, because I am positive that’s what it was.  I saw other birds, but knew right away I needed my camera.  I went home, dropped off my light strings, got my camera, and went back.  Unfortunately, the Say’s Phoebe had taken off, as had the warbler.

I walked up the highway next to the field, and found a small opening in the snow where there was water.  There were 2 northern pintail ducks (which are new to my birdlist), 1 green-winged teal duck (also new to my list), 1 mallard duck, a bunch of American robins, 5 western bluebirds, a bunch of European starlings, a bunch of white-crowned sparrows, and a killdeer (new to my list).  This was a very good birding day for me, but I was starting to freeze (it was about 24° F outside), so I walked back to the car.

duck_green-winged_teal_12-26-09_1.1_with_northern_pintails duck_mallard_12-26-09_2.1 duck_northern_pintail_12-26-09_1.1 killdeer_12-26-09_1.1_with_northern_pintails

I left that parking lot, and as I passed another parking lot on the opposite side of the highway, I saw a bunch of big birds.  I thought “Oh, boy!  More ducks!”, so I pulled off the highway.  When I got out with the camera, I realized they were something FAR more exciting than ducks.  They were Chukars!  There were 8 of them!  Another new addition to my birdlist.  I am so excited that I saw chukars!

Chukars_12-26-09_1.1 Chukars_12-26-09_5.1 Chukars_12-26-09_6.1

Tomorrow afternoon, my mom and I will be heading to the Matheson Wetlands preserve here in Moab, to do some more bird-watching.  I am inspired, and I want a photo of a Say’s phoebe!

Thanks for visiting!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 26th, 2009 at 5:14 pm and is filed under Birds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

There are currently 6 responses to “A Little Post-Holiday Birding”

Tell Katie what you think! C'mon...

  1. 1 On December 26th, 2009, Marcy harris said:

    I didn’t know that there were wetlands in Moab. Good luck with your birding there. I haven’t seen many birds at all this winter mainly because my bird feeders have all broken.

    posted on December 26th, 2009 at 5:30 pm

  2. 2 On December 26th, 2009, sonja said:

    Wow! The pintails are beautiful ducks. When driving by on the highway, a duck is a duck. Obviously I was missing a lot. Can’t wait ’til tomorrow’s expedition.

    posted on December 26th, 2009 at 5:47 pm

  3. 3 On December 27th, 2009, Doug said:

    Don’t think I’ve ever seen those chocolate headed pintail ducks. Good looking, aren’t they? What is a Chukar, and why are they exciting?

    posted on December 27th, 2009 at 7:21 am

  4. 4 On December 27th, 2009, Catherine said:

    How do you figure out so quickly what the birds are? Someone gave Annecy a small bird guide for Colorado when we were there, and we always had a heck of a time finding the ones we saw in the book. Yesterday in a parking lot we saw these very pretty chocolate brown small birds with white specks on the wings, and Annecy and Lola wanted to know what they were, and I had to confess I would probably never know birds for them.

    posted on December 27th, 2009 at 8:42 am

  5. 5 On December 27th, 2009, Magpie said:

    Happy Holidays Katie! Thanks for sharing your Bird sightings. I see Chukars in the Maze District of Canyonalands about every third time I’m out there. They are cute!
    Peace, Love & Happiness,
    Magpie

    posted on December 27th, 2009 at 8:50 am

  6. 6 On December 27th, 2009, Cactus Kate said:

    Hi, everyone!

    Aunt Marcy – If you click on the words ‘Matheson Wetlands’ above, it will take you to a website that will tell you a little more about it. It’s a great place!

    Sonja (AKA ‘mom’) – I am sorry you didn’t see the chukars. I am glad we went to the wetlands today…a song sparrow and a downy woodpecker were worth the trip!

    Uncle Doug – Chukars are exciting because they are cool to look at, and they were a new addition to my ‘lifetime birdlist’. They are partridges, medium sized – picture a small chicken.

    Catherine – I have been groomed by my mom to be a birder (as well as a plant person) since I was VERY little – for some reason, I do just frequently know what birds are. I would love to know what your brown speckley birds are! Maybe they are wrens of some sort?

    Maggie – That’s awesome that you see chukars a lot. I had never seen one before!

    posted on December 27th, 2009 at 8:33 pm

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