Washington County Big Day

[Paul Jaussi]

Just a follow-up to Mike Schijf's report from Washington County. With the cancellation of the Red Cliffs Bird Fest, Bill Griffiths and I decided to do a Washington County Big Day last Friday (April 24). In total, we found 114 species including Common Black-hawk, Long-eared Owl, Common Loon, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Inca Dove, Cassin's Kingbird, and Black-chinned and Golden-crowned Sparrows. We went to Lytle Ranch and the Beaver Dam Slope, Ivins Reservoir (a bust), several quick stops at local parks, Quail Creek Reservoir, Hurricane area, and ended up at Kolob Reservoir above Zion NP (still frozen over). 

We were most surprised at how many of the more common species we missed. There was high winds the first morning which limited owling and made birding at Lytle less than ideal. Sand Hollow Reservoir, where we were planning on getting most of our shorebirds, was overrun with boaters. When we saw all the cars parked along the highway and the long line of cars just to get in, we simply turned around. We were pleasantly surprised to find Western Screech Owl (2), Long-eared Owl, Common Poorwill, and Lesser Nighthawks during an unplanned drive along Smith Mesa Road on our way home to finish up the day. 

This was our first attempt at a Big Day and we are already planning next year's to make it even better. Feel free to respond to me directly if interested in the spreadsheet we made of the species we found at each location visited.

Paul Jaussi

St. George