Crossed 1000 with a trip to UT-ID border

     I found time to make a short visit to either Dry Tortugas to see the Noddies or south Idaho to see the endemic Cassia Crossbill. I called the Dry Tortugas NPS and got a response that seeing Noddies at a relatively close distance wasn't a guarantee. The only place a ferry would take you to is Garden Key, and the place (Bush Key) where the Noddies nest is closed for the bird's breeding season. I did see birds sitting somewhere on Garden Key photo'ed and submitted to ebird, but I want a good guarantee before purchasing tickets to Keywest and finding accomodation at the expensive place. Also, spring time would have the added benefit of getting to see migrants. This made be choose south Idaho.

     Ticket to SLC was much cheaper than to Boise,ID and I booked tickets to start on Aug 17th and be back on 20th night. My first task was to research about Cassia Crossbill and the following link was very useful:

https://idahobirds.net/birding-idaho/cassia-crossbill/

The site has calls of the Type 2 and Type 5 Red Crossbills that also occur in the south hills.

     I am going to make this final blog of the series different by including more photos and writing less.

Day 1:

     I took a rental car after landing around 8 am, and went to 'The Rose Establishment' for breakfast. The morning was cool. I had The Weekender Tartine - Roasted mushrooms, soft boiled egg, romesco sauce, chili oil, chives, zaatar with lime ash salt on toasted multigrain bread. It came with picked vegetables and I ordered Cortado. The food was good, and I would recommend the place.

Breakfast

     I headed to Lake Mountains - Soldiers Pass Rd to try for Gray Vireo. This bird likes to stay in arid out of the way places and is skulky. It is a drab bird that is gray overall. The drive along Utah Lake was nice. Once I went higher up on the mud road,  I used tape to look for it in the afternoon which was becoming progressively hot. I heard a distant call, but continued. I drove the section of the road a little higher up after the ebird hotspot's gps location. I drove back and forth a couple of times. When I heard the call once again, I went out of the car to walk towards it. There was a lot of activity with Blue-gray Gnatcathers and other small gray birds. When I put binocs on one I saw a Juniper Titmouse for bird 1000! Like the Gray Vireo, this too is one of the drabbest North American birds. Soon I found the Gray Vireo for bird 1001 by making it perch for a fleeting view by playing it's call on my phone once again.

Juniper Titmouse

Gray Vireo

Utah Lake

    A year ago, I wanted to see the 1000th bird in my hometown Chennai. I wanted it to be Red-winged Crested Cuckoo which was renamed to Chestnut-winged Cuckoo. After a point I felt it was better to utilize opportunities to travel locally. Number does not mean much! Ironically I ended up seeing the drabbest of the bird species back-to-back for 1000 and 1001!

     I had quiche which came with potatoes and pancakes for lunch. I don't know why some restaurants offer so much food for a single person - either you get a lot or you don't get much!

     Next was a hike to Cecret (pronounced secret) Lake at Little Cottonwood Canyon. The trail-head could be accessed by car after paying a fee. This section of the dirt road is open after snow melts which is typically July mid. I noted some people park for free and walk to the trail-head making it a longer hike overall. The flowers were not great this year I assume. The hike was two miles out and back with an elevation gain of 500 feet. The hike itself was at about 10K feet and I could feel the heaviness in climbing. I was looking out for Pine Grosbeak, Northern Goshawk or Golden Eagle. I got close views of Mountain Chickadee. Here is the checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S59062991. I got good looks at Unita Ground Squirrel at several locations in the trip, but I got the best photo in the trip here. It is an interesting animal in that it comes out of hibernation in early summer and goes back into hibernation late summer. This means it is in hibernation most of the year.  

     
    The ebird hotspot for coalpit waterfalls was just a stop on the road to Cecret Lake, and there were no signs of birds, leave alone Black Swift that was reported in July.

Uinta Ground Squirrel

Little Cottonwood Canyon - Cecret Lake 

Little Cottonwood Canyon - Cecret Lake

Little Cottonwood Canyon - Cecret Lake trail

 
     When I came down from the mountain, it was hot. I wanted something chilled and had a Passion fruit Chinese tea at Chinese Supermarket. I went to Antelope Island State Park ($10 entry) for sunset. I went to Ladyfinger Point for sunset recommended to me at the fee collection station. On the way I saw a huge number of Franklin’s Gulls, Avocets, Stilts, Phalaropes, Ducks and shorebirds which I did not try to identify. The sunset was not great, but the post sunset colors were excellent.

Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake

Ladyfinger Point

Ladyfinger Point

Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake - Phalaropes and Gulls

     I was guilty after the heavy lunch, and so I went to Jamba Juice for dinner and headed to a hotel at Trementon,UT.

Day 2:

     Birding-wise this day was important and the main reason for the trip. Cassia Crossbills are endemic to just a couple of hills in south Idaho. I went to the first hill and birded at Thompson Flat Campground - I drove around a few times and it was unproductive. I parked the car and walked slowly to see and hear more birds. I walked around randomly for about an hour or so. While I was watching the Brewer's Sparrows, Red-breasted Nuthatches and Chipmunks, I heard the call of the Cassia Crossbill. Luckily it landed on a pine tree nearby and I could get good binocular views of the male Cassia Crossbill for bird 1002! Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S59081774

Least Chipmunk

Cassia Crossbill - male

     There were a good set of flowers on the mountain including one which looked like Bluebonnets. Here are a few of them. 

Now the pressure was off, and I anyway went to the next spot for Cassia Crossbill with the intent of just enjoying nature. On the way to the next spot, I checked all the raptors I saw on the farm roads - they were all Red-tailed Hawks and a single Kestrel. While I was driving up the next mountain which was 2.5 hrs away, a Moose came onto the road and remained on the side of the road and offered good looks. I took a dirt road to Brockman's Hummingbird Feeding Station and saw the Hummingbirds that came to the feeders. Unfortunately non-birders visited the spot and were noisy and approaching the feeders for selfies. I got annoyed after a point and walked a little and came back. I got good looks of a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird in full color and spent a good few mins until the next set of non-birders came. I left the place and headed to Porcupine Springs campground which was windy and looked non-birdy. Next was a short walk at Diamondfield Jack Campground and the spot near it mentioned at https://idahobirds.net/birding-idaho/cassia-crossbill/. I did not see anything special except for a close view of a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird - male

   

Female Broad-tailed Hummingbird - urinating

Red-breasted Nuthatch

I drove up to the top of Pike Mountain on the dirt road and my sedan was able to handle it. It would be a risk based on snow conditions or rain. I saw a loan Brewer's Sparrow at the top.

Pike Mountain

Pike Mountain

       I went to Twin Falls,ID for Dutch Bro's Coffee and dinner (a burger and potato salad) before heading to Shoshone Falls for sunset. The falls is called Niagra of the west, but the west has so many better waterfalls in natural setting than a dam controlled water falls. The sunset skies were not interesting so I just took some pictures in the warm light, and a couple of long exposures post sunset.

      One choice for the next day was Morley nelson snake river birds of prey NWR, but I did not see much ebird reports there. So I chose to head back to SLC via Bonneville Salt Flats. I headed to Wells,NV for the night, and on the way I could see good skies. I stopped briefly about 10 miles before Wells,NV to get a picture of the milky way.

Milky Way

Day 3:
   

Bonneyville Salt Flats

     I went to Bonneville Salt Flats in the late morning so that light would be better to create a bright white ground and bright blue sky. I drove to the end of the racetrack to note a lot of car tire marks and wasn't happy. Driving on the salt flat is risky from what I read on the internet, but I did see multiple cars drive on it on a single path and race away into the horizon. I don't know what photo opportunities lie ahead. I read on the internet that salt gets underneath the car and some rental agencies charge extra for cleaning them. I walked a little on the salt for fun. On the route to the Salt Lake City on I80, I saw better photo opportunities from the rest area, where it appeared that there were no tire marks. I parked at the rest area and crossed the road. As expected I had better luck with photos. After I took a few, a car sped and stopped in the middle of the salt plain! Anyway, I got what I wanted. For serious photographers, I don't know what the best time and place to take pictures is. My guess is you might need to drive around and choose a spot with no tire marks. The risk involved is driving on parts that could get your car stuck! From what I read on the internet, late August is the time the salt flat is completely dry. In my opinion White Sands of NM is better scenery-wise.

    I had a couple of shushis and Japanese tea at Takashi and headed to Red Butte Canyon in the hot weather. The gate was closed and required a walk to the actual ebird hotspot. I gave up since it was hot. Parking was taken up for a concert at Red Butte Garden. A molting Black-billed Magpie was taking shelter under an SUV.

Shushies

Japanese Tea

Black-billed Magpie - molting

Genuine

Due to the heat I decided to head up the mountains. Since I did not have a proper lunch, I had a second light lunch at Honest Eatery - Genuine and Vibe (refer to https://www.slcmenu.com/2019/05/11/honest-eatery-menu/). Next spot was to drive along Lamb Canyon Road and a short walk. It was pretty but unbirdy. The next spot was Little Dell Reservoir followed by Jeremy Ranch Road. The dirt road got a little birdy at certain spots and I turned back after the road got bad. There was a depression with a lot of tall trees where I stopped and spent a good time. A calling female or immature type Lazuli Bunting was bird 1003. I saw  a Green-tailed Towhee, a bunch of Cedar Waxwings, Black-capped Chickadees, Red-tailed Hawk, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow Warbler and Macgillivray's Warbler, Common Nighthawk, American Robins and Western Kingbird.

End of Lamb Canyon Road

Little Dell Reservoir

A snake sp

Uinta Chipmunk

     I made a reservation at Pallet for dinner and had mushrooms with salted cucumber in Kombu & Tamari broth, and shiso, whatever that means. For $20, quantity was insignificant. I followed it up with spiced sticky rice with candied almonds, hibiscus granita and jalapeno gel. I got plum sorbet with sesame ice-cream which was good. In fading light I made a quick stop to look at the Utah State Capitol which was just like the other capitols. I drove close to an hour and tried for owls playing their calls along Old Squaw Road - it was completely silent. Next time, I need to try at a place where there are more sightings. I took a hotel at SLC and slept late.

Spiced sticky rice

Utah State Capitol

Squaw Peak Rd

Day 4:

     I searched online for the best hikes around SLC and picked one called Doughnut Falls. I took my tripod along. The morning was cold, but not too cold. Since it was a weekday morning I got a parking spot near the trail head. It was still crowded for a weekday. I made the one mile hike which required using all fours to climb down rocks at a spot. The final section required carefully crossing the flowing river on rocks and fallen logs. After a point the trail had a warning sign where I turned back. Climbing the rocks over the waterfall was something I would have done in the past, but due to a recent injury and the lack of any point in doing it, I turned back. The photos on the internet were with the doughnut shaped rock which had apparently fallen down around 10 years back. So my tripod was useless. The hike was good though. I talked to a local person on the trail and took his recommendations for a final hike.

Doughnut Falls trail

Doughnut Falls

Doughnut Falls trail

     I went higher up the mountain to Silver Lake and walked around it. Some Chipmunks kept me busy.

Silver Lake

Silver Lake

Silver Lake - Aspen

Big Cottonwood Canyon

      I drove down the mountain to have lunch at a local bakery.

Lunch

     The final spot for the day was Bridal Veil Falls which did not require a hike as claimed by an online link. There is a path that takes you to top of the falls, but coming down would be a challenge, especially after my injury. Only a couple of people were trying it and I saw them struggle, and I saw no point in the adventure. I read online that people have got broken bones and even died of a fall! A Black Swift was reported in early Aug (not yet accepted by ebird reviewer). I saw no signs of it.

Bridal Veil Falls

     I went to Honest Cafe once again, but this time to the downtown location and had Authentic and Selfless.

Dinner

     I started to the airport ahead of time, and had a relaxed last couple of hours. During my earlier trips, the final day was usually tight and stressful, and I used to chase birds that had almost nil probability of being found.

     Some people have asked me if I will stop birding after reaching 1000. The answer is no, but I will stop blogging actively. My next game is to see all the birds of North America barring the sea-birds (pelagic). As a bird watcher, I will be failing if I don't address the conservation needs of birds and the environment. I will try to create awareness about those problems in a separate series of blogs.