Green-tailed Towhee, GC Sparrow, Zion Canyon 01/12

[Rick Fridell]

Yesterday (1/12) I was able to spend a couple hours in the afternoon birding/ photographing in Zion Canyon and saw some nice birds. The highest bird activity was in the Watchman Campground where there was a huge flock of juncos along with several other species. The best bird was a Green-tailed Towhee; only the second I've ever seen in winter (Dec-Jan) in Washington County. There was also a Golden-crowned Sparrow in the flock; surprisingly the only Zonotrichia present. 

Complete list -Watchman CG: 

Downy Woodpecker (2)

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Black-capped Chickadee (6)

Bushtit (45+)

White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper (2)

Townsend's Solitaire

Hermit Thrush

American Robin (15)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (2)

Spotted Towhee (3)

Green-tailed Towhee

Song Sparrow (4)

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco (60+)

House Finch (16)

Lesser Goldfinch (8)

American Goldfinch (3)

Further up the canyon there was a Northern Pygmy-Owl just upstream from Weeping Rock. The amazing thing was the owl twice chased a bat that was flying around the canyon (in the daylight in winter with snow on the ground and the temperature in the mid 30's!). 

There was also a Pacific Wren calling in the brush upstream of the parking lot at the Temple of Sinawava and a couple American Dippers in the river nearby.

Heres a link to a photo of the Green-tailed Towhee: http://www.pbase.com/rfridell/root&view=recent

Regards,

Rick Fridell

Hurricane, UT