Saturday, May 16th |
#20 6:00am –3:00pm 
| Cache Valley Hotspots Joseph Andreasen, Adam Brewerton, Mike Taylor
Cache Valley is one of the lesser known birding hot spots in the West. Our trip will reveal the area’s great diversity and wealth of birds and other wildlife secrets. The trip will visit a variety of habitats and microclimates, ranging from sub-alpine forest to fast-flowing trout streams and semi-desert savanna to wetlands. We will also see The Barrens, a Bridgerland Audubon Chapter sanctuary project. Possible species include: 3 species of hummingbirds, Wood Duck, Chukar, Gray Partridge, Northern Pygmy- and Short-eared owls, Swainson’s and Hermit thrushes, Green-tailed Towhee, Peregrine Falcon, Golden Eagle, and migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, flycatchers, vireos, and warblers.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center: 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025
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#21 7:00am –9:00am | Glover Ponds at Sunrise Susan Snyder & Daniel Brown
These ponds bring YOU into nature. The Great Salt Lake Nature Center deck and surrounding wetlands enhance your opportunity for close-up observation. A nearby Great Blue Heron breeding colony will be active and American Avocets and other shorebirds and waterfowl will be building nests. Other possible species include: Cinnamon Teal, four species of grebe, Snowy Egret, Ruddy Duck, and American White Pelican, plus other shorebirds, and other wildlife. A spotting scope will be available.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center: 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025 to follow guide to site.
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#22 7:00am-12:00pm
| Birding by Ear Bryant Olsen & Merrill Webb
Every bird species has its own unique song. Imagine being able to identify birds that you cannot see in the canopy and dense scrub by their vocalizations. Spend the morning developing your listening skills. Likely species include a variety of warblers, vireos, chickadees and orioles including: Yellow, MacGillivray’s Orange-crowned warblers, Warbling Vireo, Bullock’s Oriole, and Black capped Chickadee.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center: 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025.
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#23 7:00am –1:00pm
| Antelope Island: Causeway & Garr Ranch Mike Hearell & Taylor Abbott
Bird a popular migrant stopover at Fielding Garr Ranch on Antelope Island. Birds crossing the west desert drop into the Ranch’s grove of giant cottonwood trees as the first green spot they see. The area offers several springs and trees with plenty of insects. Possible species: migrating warblers, vireos, flycatchers; also owls, falcons, hawks, woodpeckers, and Virginia Rail.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center: 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025.
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#24 7:30– 10:00am
| Bountiful Pond Ian Batterman
Located on the outskirts of Farmington Bay WMA, Bountiful Pond is a lovely oasis for all kinds of birds. This trip involves walking around the pond. The large pond provides a stopover area for many gulls and waterfowl, and the surrounding trees and fields hide many songbirds, owls, and other birds with close viewing opportunities. During migration, Bountiful Pond can often house rare vagrants like Eastern Wood Warblers. Species to see: Wood Duck, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Red-breasted Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Western Grebe, American White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Northern Harrier, Osprey, Virginia Rail, American Coot, Wilson’s Snipe, California Gull, Caspian Tern, Forster’s Tern, Barn Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Western Wood-pewee, Dusky Flycatcher, Black-billed Magpie, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Marsh Wren, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Western Tanager, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center: 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025.
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#25 7:30am –2:30pm
| Morgan County: Backyard Birding in Two Habitats Arnold Smith & Weston Smith
Some of the best birding in Morgan County is found in the backyards of the houses in the quaint small towns of Morgan and Croydon in Weber Canyon. Cavity-nesting Tree Swallows, House Wrens, and American Kestrel will be target birds. Bird feeders will be attracting Black-headed Grosbeaks, Bullock’s Orioles, Cassin’s Finches, Lazuli Buntings and hummingbirds. This trip has averaged approx. 65 species per year and surprises are always possible. We will also bird along the Weber River in Henefer looking for large nesting birds such as raptors and herons.
Meet at 7am in Morgan Utah at the north side of 7-Eleven: 404 E. 300 N. Morgan 84050. Take I-84 east to exit 103. The 7-Eleven is on the south side of the railroad tracks.
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Workshop 8:00 – 9:00 am Free 🏫 | How to find your artistic vision in photography Tom Mathewson
Everyone has their own unique artistic vision. Tom will explain the equipment, settings and shooting techniques that he prefers in his work. He will also plan on picking apart some of his own photos to show how to find and capture the art and beauty of a scene.
Behaviors will be addressed with birds as well as with other photographers and tourists, and how to deal with and not disturb them (both birds and people.). The group will also explore a recent concern: How a “herd mentality” can make the best photographers do wrong things as a group, and how to avoid that trap.
But above all, Tom will cover how to enjoy finding and capturing the art and beauty of birds. |
#26 9:00am-12:00pm
| Farmington Bay WMA “Behind-the-Gates” John Bellmon & Dan Johnston
Great Salt Lake is a western hemisphere shorebird preserve IBA and the Bay will be alive with residents and arriving ‘new’ migrants. You can be part of their adventure and see nest-building in action. Possible species include: Northern Shoveler, Grebes, Black-necked Stilt, Cinnamon Teal, American White Pelican, Great Blue Heron, and maybe Virginia Rail and Sora.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025.
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#27 9:00am-12:00pm
| Burrowing Owl Field Trip Nikki Wayment
Think you know everything about owls? Well not these little hoots. Come see the underground-dwelling, awake in the day, sentinels of the grasslands – burrowing owls. This is a field trip to Antelope island State Park to look for Burrowing owl sites.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center: 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025.
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Workshop 9:00 – 10:00am Free 🏫
| HawkWatch Raptor Monitoring and Citizen Science Opportunities Near the Great Salt Lake Hawkwatch Staff
HawkWatch International has been monitoring raptors for 34 years. Our work began with fall and spring migration surveys, and has evolved over time to include nest surveys, animal tracking, threats research, citizen science, and more. We highlight some of the monitoring and research work that has occurred near the Great Salt Lake in recent decades, including migration counts at Promontory Point, Golden Eagle nest monitoring and satellite tracking, Short-Eared Owl surveys, American Kestrel nest box monitoring, and monitoring of other urban raptors in the Salt Lake Valley. We discuss opportunities for partners and volunteers to get involved in this important work with the top avian predators of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem.
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Workshop 10:00 – 11:00 am Free 🏫 | Owls Inside and Out Ben Woodruff
This program will feature live owls and will go over fascinating and little known attributes of owls from around the world. Find out how owls appear fluorescent to each other and the secret behind their ability to turn their head so far. This program has something for all ages and experience levels.”
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Youth Activities 10:00am-2:00pm Free 🏫
| Youth Activities: Fun and Educational Too!
Youth activities run 10am through 2pm. FREE Guided bird walks around Wildlife Center loop at 10am and 1pm.
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Workshop 11:00am-12:00pm Free 🏫 | Old Crap and Bird Crap: Historical Archaeology of GSL Jaimi Butler & Chris Merritt
Since the shorelines of Lake Bonneville receded, Great Salt Lake has featured prominently in the natural and cultural history of North America and beyond. Millions of birds rely on the productive environment for breeding, nesting, and refueling during migration, feasting on the ample food supplies in and around the lake. Humans possess a close connection to the lake as well, from early Paleoindians hunting mammoths on its marshy shores, to Fremont villages and agricultural fields nestled at its shores. More recently, the lake has been seen as a place of recreation and exploitation. The salty brine featured as a major recreational draw, supporting several different bathing resorts from Black Rock, to Lakeside, to Saltair (I, II, and III). Capitalists also saw the lake as a much more lucrative endeavor for exploitation through salt evaporation, brine shrimp harvesting and even market hunting. We all, birds included, have a stake in the future of Great Salt Lake. History nerd Chris Merritt (Utah State Historic Preservation Office) and Great Salt Lake nerd Jaimi Butler (biologist and Coordinator of Great Salt Lake Institute) will talk about modern research collaboration attempts to bridge the entire gap of Great Salt Lake's multi-thousand year human-environment interactions, and spur a new century of engagement for a new generation of lake lovers. In other words, we will talk about “Old Crap, Bird Crap and Learned Crap”
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Workshop 12:00 – 1:00pm Free 🏫 | Festival Bird: Northern Harrier Ben Woodruff
The Northern Harrier is this year's spotlight species. This presentation will share insights and little known facts about harriers. How they live, hunt, nest, and thrive through the state of Utah.
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#28 1:00 – 4:00pm
| Farmington Bay “Behind-the-Gates” Nelson Holmes & Ian Batterman
Farmington Bay WMA is a great resource for migrating and nesting birds. Several hundred thousand birds utilize this area during spring migration and 57 nesting species have been documented. The majority of dikes, ponds, canals, and upland areas are off-limits to the public during the nesting season so this “Behind-the-Gates” tour is a privilege.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025.
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#29 1:00 – 4:00pm
| Burrowing Owl Field Trip Annette Hansen & Trish Ackley
Think you know everything about owls? Well not these little hoots. Come see the underground-dwelling, awake in the day, sentinels of the grasslands – burrowing owls. This is a field trip to Antelope Island State Park to look for Burrowing owl sites.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center: 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025.
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#30 Workshop 1:00 - 2:00 pm Free 🏫
AND
Field trip 2:00 - 5:00 pm Needs ticket.
| Birding for Beginners Workshop Farmington Birding Hot Spots Dallin Henderson & Max Malmquist
Enjoy this FREE one hour workshop for beginners and families. We will discuss bird identification and the common backyard birds in the Farmington area.
AFTER the workshop we will visit six viewing areas including Farmington Pond, Farmington Canyon (after the first bridge), Egg Island Viewing areas, Glover Pond, and Buffalo Ranch Pond. Field trip tickets can be purchased on-line.
Meet at the Wildlife Education Center: 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025.
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Workshop 1:00 - 2:00 pm Free 🏫 | Talent of Talons Heidi Christensen
Sharp eyes, sharp beaks, and sharp talons-these are the characteristics all raptors share, yet each one is unique in their own way. How are falcons, hawks, and owls able to co-exist so well as hunters and often top predators? With the aid of our live birds, Ogden Nature Center will go over the adaptations of a variety of raptors and how they are similar and different. As we examine these birds we will better understand the talent behind their talons and how each one tackles survival.
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Workshop 2:00 – 2:30 pm Free 🏫 | Golden Eagle Use of Water in Utah’s West Desert Danielle Finlayson
Golden Eagle's are a common resident of Utah's west desert. Although we know much about their life history and behaviors, very little has been studied on their use of water. BYU and the military's Dugway Proving Ground have had remote cameras on water sources in the desert for 10 years. Come learn about how Golden Eagles are using water sources in one of the harshest climates in the state.
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Workshop 2:30 – 3:00 pm Free 🏫 | Eared Grebes Nesting in Freshwater Impoundments Surrounding Great Salt Lake, Utah Mark Bell
Mark is going for his PhD at USU and is currently working on a project about birds nesting around the GSL. Come listen to him talk about what he has found out so far. Over the past two years we have looked at nesting behaviors of Eared Grebes at one of their southernmost known nesting areas. We compare our data to the more common nesting sites to discover trade offs associated with these nesting sights.
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Workshop 3:00 – 4:00 pm Free 🏫 | Great Salt Lake Shorebirds, Their Habitat and Food Base Ella Sorensen, John Neil, Heidi Hoven
This workshop will highlight the beauty, wonder, and great diversity of shorebirds dependent on Great Salt Lake. American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts are two of the most conspicuous and exciting birds occurring in the wetlands of Great Salt Lake. But every year millions of other shorebirds representing 40 species congregate on Great Salt Lake. It is one of the largest concentrations of shorebirds on Earth, and yet, compared to waterfowl and colonial nesting species at GSL, they have received relatively little attention.
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Keynote Address & Dinner 6 pm
| Keynote Speaker Steve Shunk and Dutch oven Dinner “How Woodpeckers can save the world (at least your local woodland)! ”
Woodpeckers represent one of the most specialized bird families in the world, and North America's woodpeckers play critical roles in our continent's forests and woodlands. In fact, nowhere else on Earth are woodpeckers such important contributors to woodland ecology. Join Oregon naturalist and North American woodpecker specialist, Steve Shunk, for an exciting journey into the lives and times of North America’s amazing woodpeckers. Steve will share the secrets of woodpecker anatomy, and he will translate anatomical adaptation into the fascinating behaviors we love to watch among our woodland carpenters. Each species’ anatomy perfectly suits its unique lifestyle, with different woodpeckers posessing adaptations for aerial acrobatics; for drilling sap wells; for extracting wood-boring beetle larvae; or for extracting ants from underground burrows. He will demystify woodpecker feeding, courtship, and nesting behaviors, including the reasons why woodpeckers pound on our houses and what we can do about it. Steve will also reveal the keystone ecological roles played by our local woodpeckers, and he will send you home with a mission: Prepare to be entertained, educated, and inspired as ambassadors for woodpecker and forest conservation.
Hosted at the Wildlife Education Center: 1157 S. Waterfowl Way (1100 W. Glovers Lane) Farmington, UT 84025.
*Vegetarian meals available. Ticket required. |
