St. George 2009 Winter Bird Festival - Successful!

Bang, bang, thump, thump. Kids have more enthusiasm than skill when building bird houses. Once again Home Depot not only donated the bird houses, but showed up with a crew of skilled, knowledgeable, cheerful employees who guided our novice builders through the complex task of building their first bird house. What a well-managed, skillfully-directed project.

Follow this link to more photos of the Festival

Sunshine, cool mornings, warm afternoons ... Perfect St. George weather! The week before the festival was winter and the week after the festival was winter. Whoever scheduled a year in advance picked the perfect weekend.

Dixie State College hosted Ned Hill, retired Dean of the Marriott School of Business Management, who gave an excellent account of his recent birding excursion to Brazil. The presentation covered a diversity of birds, Giant River Otters, and Anacondas (huge snakes). The banquet at Abbey Inn was well attended and the food was superb. Keynote Speaker Bill Fennimore kept the audience rolling with laughter as he told tales of his life as a birder. After the dinner and auction, dance music was supplied by the Sevy Brothers, Jim, Kent, and Bret, who everyone recognized from M & S Turquoise.

Specialists gave excellent presentations at the Tonaquint Nature Center. Field Trips were well attended and led by bird experts. A special treat was seeing a Bald Eagle fly over the Tonaquint Nature Center during the event. I think it must have been a successful festival, because everyone I met had a smile on their face. Thank you all for coming to our 2009 St. George Winter Bird Festival.

A total of 105 species were seen during the St. George Winter Bird Festival:
Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Ross's Goose, Cackling Goose, Canada Goose, Trumpeter Swan, Tundra Swan, Wood Duck, American Wigeon, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Ring-necked Pheasant, Gambel's Quail, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant,  Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Golden Eagle, American Kestrel, Merlin, Prairie Falcon, American Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Burrowing Owl, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Red-naped Sapsucker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven, Mountain Chickadee, Verdin, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cactus Wren, Bewick's Wren, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Western Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Crissal Thrasher, European Starling, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, Phainopepla, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee (heard only), Spotted Towhee, Abert's Towhee, Sage Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird, Common Grackle, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, and House Sparrow.

July 11, 2009 – Pine Valley - When it gets too hot in St. George, we don’t stick around!  Head for the hills, and look for mountain birds in July.  We should be able to find Steller’s Jays, Clark’s Nutcrackers, Chipping Sparrows, a couple kinds of warblers, and more.  An optional hour (or a bit longer if we see good stuff) uphill hike will be included.  We will eat a picnic lunch in the cool shade of the ponderosas.  Leave the St. George BLM at 7:00 am.  Bring a potluck item to share, and your own cups/plates/utensils.


Hope to see you there!
Kevin Wheeler
Field Trip Coordinator
Red Cliffs Audubon