One of my many (and ever-increasing) interests on this trip is expanding my life bird list. I grew up birding with my family, received my first bird guide in 6th grade, and have been checking them off ever since. I’ll keep a list of all the birds I personally identify on the trip, and include any others that I hear are seen (although I think I am the most excitable when it comes to Ornithology). The list I create here is of the official common names as per the Peterson Field Guide for Western Birds. The list is more or less in the order of appearance, although I didn’t have the idea to put the list online until about our second week, so some of the first species might be out of order. Thanks for joining me and enjoy!

Training week in Tooele

1 Western Meadowlark
2 Golden Eagle
3 Turkey Vulture
4 Says Phoebe
5 Common Raven
6 American Robin
7 House Sparrow
8 Mourning Dove
9 Rock Dove

Mesa Verde

10 Wild Turkey
11 Merlin
12 White-Throated Swift

Driving on 7/29/02

13 Kestrel
14 Black-Billed Magpie

Albuquerque

15 Greater Roadrunner
16 Western Kingbird

Driving on 7/30/02

17 Ferruginous Hawk

7/31/02- Day 1 of the trek!

18 Chihuahuan Raven
19 Red-Tailed Hawk
20 Swainsons Hawk
21 Killdeer ? (I didn’t positive ID, but I’m really not sure what else it could have been)
22 Common Nighthawk
23 Lesser Nighthawk

8/2/02

24 Great-Horned Owl

8/3/02

25 Pyrrhuloxia
26 Stricklands Woodpecker
27 Black-Throated Sparrow

8/7/02

28 Blue Grosbeak

8/8/02

29 Tree Swallow

8/9/02

30 Pinyon Jay
31 Williamsons Sapsucker
32 Canyon Towhee
33 Lesser Goldfinch

8/10/02

34 Western Tanager
35 Great Blue Heron

8/11/02

36 Western Bluebird
37 Common Merganser
38 Yellow-Rumped “Audubons” Warbler

8/13/02

39 Stellers Jay

8/14/02

40 Brown Pelican
41 Peregrine Falcon (again, not 100% sure, didn’t get a good look at it, but I really don’t think it could have been anything else. I was lying in my tent and heard THAT call, so I jumped up and sprinted until I saw it through some trees. I’m not aware of another dark medium-sized falcon that makes the Peregrine call…..)
42 Barn Swallow

8/15/02

43 Mountain Chickadee

8/16/02

44 Osprey

8/23/02

45 White-Breasted Nuthatch
46 Brown Creeper

8/27/02

47 Black-Headed Grosbeak

8/28/02

48 Pygmy Nuthatch
49 Violet-Green Swallow

9/2/02

50 American Dipper
51 Spotted Towhee

9/3/02

52 Dark-Eyed Junco (Gray-headed form)