Two Lifers in One Flock

Today Stephanie Cobbold and I birded around Cache Valley. Three new birds today included my first Prairie Falcon of the year, spotted by Stephanie flying over the Willow Park Zoo, my first Ring-billed Gulls of the year, at the Fish Hatchery, and my first Wood Ducks of the year, a pair at the 20-20 ponds. But the highlight was certainly a flock of 400+ Horned Larks which included about 30 Lapland Longspurs, 10 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, and at least 2 Snow Buntings. This one flock made for my best day of birding in quite a while. Both the Snow Buntings and the Rosy-Finches were lifers which I have been looking for for years, and so they were also on my list of top five most wanted birds (see the revised list to the right). It almost felt like a waste because I would have been so excited about seeing either one that I wish they had been on separate days to spread it out! I took some photos but the birds were so far away that you can't really tell what they are in the photos. (I forgot to bring my point-and-shoot for digiscoping.) Instead, I've included a photo of a Rough-legged Hawk today.