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Welcome to Tim Avery Birding.com! Bird Photography and Identification, Utah Birds and Birding!
I initially created this site in 2004 to host a growing number of bird photographs, and have since used
it for quizzes, videos, identification problems, and everything bird relatd!
Brand New Site Look
added: July 1, 2008
Completed another brand new site skin. With the web ever changing its all about keeping
up with that pack and trying to keep ahead! This new look and feel matches that of my
brand new site for my guiding company, Mountain
West Birding Company.
I have removed several parts of the old site, including the quiz which hadn't been in use
for over a year. The new site basically follows the same format of the old site, but with
a fresh new look! Take a look around at the updated color scheme and layout, and check out
Mountain West Bird Company!
Posted by Tim @ 1:57pm
It's July, and SHOREBIRD TIME!
added: July 1, 2008
Holy Crap! What happened to spring migration and the breeding season? It's July 1st today and shorebirds
are already on their way back south for the winter! Wilson's Phalarope numbers are building out
on the Great Salt Lake, with around 250,000 birds along the causeway this week. The first reports of southbound
Marbled Godwit, as well as Yellowlegs came in during the past 7 days, and
peeps should be showing up any day now.
July is the start of fall migration, and with it comes a number of vagrants. Whimbrel are often
found around the end of the month, at the Great Salt Lake, and teh causeway usually hosts 1 or 2 each year. Last
July I had a mega-early, hugely rare White-rumped Sandpiper with a flock of Baird's.
Other possibilities around the end of the month will be forming flocks of plovers, as well as
our rarest annual shorebird, the Ruddy Turnstone
Along with the regular flocks of shorebirds, its a great time to be on the lookout for mega-rarities, such as
Red-necked or Little Stint, for which Utah currently have no records. In terms of other vagrants, last
July Utah had a state first Painted Bunting, as well as a female Scarlet Tanger and
a Reddish Egret at Fish Springs NWR all within the period of a couple days.
Also with July come the first southbound Rufous Hummingbirds of the season, usually around the
2nd week.
Being that breeding is tailing off you will be likely to see a number of young birds, that often cause ID problems,
so check out your field guides to make sure that juvenile warbler your seeing is just a MacGillivray's and not some
eastern vagrant. Sparrows, vireos, flycatchers and other common breeders often cause confusion this time of year
with goofy looking young birds out foraging.
With that I say hit the field! Find some rare birds, and enjoy the remaining time we have with those montane
breeding species! Pretty soon shorebirds and fall passerines will be heavily on the move, and before we know it
fall will be dwindling into winter, and the whole process will start again!
Good Birding and have a great July!
Tim
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