Persistence and a little luck yield new birds
What was supposed to be a warm 70 degree day at Antelope Island turned out to be grey and overcast with big wind gusts. I was skeptical that we would see anything other than gulls. The owls at Garr ranch were out and actually took flight for us to see. As we headed for the parking lot, We spotted a pair of Say's Pheobes by the barn (see photo of bird on metal roof)- NEW BIRD! However, my favorite bird of the day was a little rock wren singing his heart of in blasting wind - so he gets the first 3 pics of this post.
The visitor center also yielded some great shots of a white crowned sparrow. Down the road we use an iPhone to call a horned lark closer (and possibly made him very pissed off at the large Subaru horned lark in his territory. I think he looks like he's going to lose it in his pic. western meadowlark at Whiterock Bay gave me the poster shot (we must have seen at least 100 WMLs). The award for persistence and luck goes to Jessica for suggesting that we return to the island after lunch and try to find a reported sage thrasher by the visitor center. We climbed over rocks and scanned sagebrush. By now the wind had died and a peaceful afternoon was settling in. It was great to just sit back and listen to the meadowlark calls all around... and a call that didn't quite sound like a meadowlark. Scanning the ground way out, Jessica lucked into spotting a running bird. I spotted it too - then another. Behold - two sage thrashers running over the rocks - imposible to get a photo. A jack rabbit ventured into the area and I decided to get a picture. Aiming through the tiny view finder I THOUGHT I was shooting a rabbits ears sticking above a rock - when I checked the photo, no rabbit, but there WAS a safe thrasher. It's not a great shot and we were quite far away, but there it is - the luck bird of the day. Leaving the island I spotted my first avocet of the year - a sure sign that the great flocks will be coming in over the next few days. Spring migration is here!
