Carp!

American Coot with Carp

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

Ring-billed Gull with Carp

Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow

Utah has one of the largest wintering populations of bald eagles in the lower 48 states with more than  1,200 counted in recent years. Eagles congregate at Farmington Bay during winter months to feed on carp and waterfowl as fresh water feeding grounds are frozen over.  Typically in January and February, hundreds of eagles can be seen in close proximity along the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake. This year the Eagles have be much more dispearsed due to the unusually warm and dry conditons that have prevailed this winter. One year I was fortunate to count almost 200 Eagles at Farmington Bay after a snow storm along the five mile auto route open to the general public. Today's count was 21 despite the ample presence of dead carp which is the result of the DWRs annual posioning program to reduce the species impact on waterfowl feeding areas. The warm weather has also made it more difficult to see other species. I estimated  Tundra Swans at over 2, 000 individuals, but they seemed to favor locations furthers away from the dikes/road so no close up views. We also walked out to the Nature Center viewing area and watched a half-dozen Great Blue Herons busy construting nests on the artificial platforms. Along the way we saw a large flock of juvenile White-crowned Sparrows.