Utah
UtahI visited Utah in mid-October, 2010 for only a couple of days. I only had time to visit areas around Salt Lake City. Most of the migrating birds had already flown through, but the trees were all orange, yellow and red. The main highlights of the visit were Antelope Island State Park and the Ogden Nature Center in Ogden.
Antelope Island State Park- Antelope Island State Park is definitely a do not miss place to bird near Salt Lake City. Besides the migrating shorebirds (I saw ten of thousands of Eared Grebes), I saw Northern Harriers, Buffalo, Chukars, Hermit Thrush, Great Horned Owl, etc. The highlight was seeing around 30-40 Chukars around 8:30 in the morning.
Ogden Nature Center- I had a great time at the Ogden Nature Center. They had quite a few birds including Oregon Juncos, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Downy Woodpeckers, American Robins, California Quail, Wild Turkeys, Black-capped Chickadees, etc. They also had hawks and owls in cages. These birds were either injured or were imprinted to people and thus were not safe to let loose. The walkway to the Visitor Center was lined with bird houses. Some of them were quite neat.
Rock Cliff Recreation Area -
As one book mentioned, the Visitor Center at Rock Cliff Recreation Area
is a great birding place.
The highlights were:
Cedar Waxwings, a Red-naped Sapsucker, Black-billed Magpies, Hairy Woodpecker,
and Red-tail Hawk.
View Favorite Birding Places in a larger map
Antelope Island State Park
10/17/2010 - Utah
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Thousands of Eared Grebes at Antelope Island
10/17/2010 - Utah
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Buffalo at Antelope Island State Park
10/17/2010 - Utah
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Rock Cliff Recreation Area, Visitor's Center
10/18/2010 - Utah
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Antelope Island State Park
10/20/2010 - Utah
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Abandoned pumpkins
11/14/2012 - near Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area
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Pumpking farm and tractor
11/14/2012 - near Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area
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Pumpking farm - photo taken by Bill Johnston
11/14/2012 - near Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area
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