Eagle Day 2016

Eagles migrate through Utah every winter, and there are a few good places to spot them. Today was my day to go looking.

I started at the Farmington Bay Bird Refuge off Glover Lane. This weekend and next are Bald Eagle Day at the refuge. Someone from the DWR is available to answer questions and has spotting scopes for public use. I thought this was when they scattered dead carp for the birds, but I didn't see that going on. There were quite a few people but few eagles during the day. I've had the best luck spotting eagles here at dusk, when they return to their nest to the north after feeding on the ponds during the day. This picture is of a hawk, by the way. 

Here's the only bald eagle I saw in Farmington. He was just standing in one spot on the ice for quite a while waiting for a carp to chew a hole and jump out. 

A lot of seagulls and several blue herons were feeding in the small sections of open water. The herons dipped in and gobbled something quite frequently. 

Here's a heron standing in the water with two flying overhead. 

And a heron flying to a new fishing spot. 

After Farmington, I drove to the Brigham City 900 North exit. Ok, I first stopped at Maddox and got a bison burger, onion rings and a hot fudge shake. I then took my lunch to the 900 North exit, and drove west about 20 miles, through Corinne, to the ATK rocket plant. Somewhere near here I ate lunch. Then I turned south toward Golden Spike Monument. In about two miles, the road veers right. I stayed straight on the road the cuts off the main road. It then curves to the south and goes down the east side of the Promontory Mountains. This picture shows the road but in the return direction. I drove on this road about 28 miles, past the "Absolutely No Trespassing" sign and onto the dirt/snow/ice/mud road. The road really is graded well and passable by most cars, but parking on the shoulders might be tricky in the winter. 

This guy was keeping watch near a farm house along the road in the previous picture. 

I came to two sets of two trees where eagles like to hang out. Sometimes they'll be here, sometimes they won't. This is a long drive when the eagles are absent. Today I was lucky. No baldies here, though. 

Two eagles got spooked when I pulled up and headed for the other set of trees. 

So I drove to the other set of trees. 

And they landed. 

Another eagle is heading between the trees. 

He comes in for a landing. 

Make sure your tray tables are up and your seats are in their upright position. 

Those are some serious talons. 

I actually had spooked this guy from his original perch when I walked down to the tree. I expected him to head to the other trees a hundred yards away, but to my surprise, he circled back and landed on a branch right above my head. 

After I took a few pictures, I walked around and made some noise so I could get a shot of him flying away, but he wasn't interested in leaving. By the way, I have a wounded-rabbit caller in my car. I tried it on several eagles, thinking they might like to lunch on a cottontail, of which I had seen a couple, but of the six or so eagles here, none could have cared less. 

Here's the relative size of an eagle's foot.