Bird Watching

FARMINGTON -- The Great Salt Lake Bird Festival has announced the keynote speaker May 19 will be "The Big Year" birder, Greg Miller.

FARMINGTON — Registration for the 14th annual Great Salt Lake Bird Festival field trips will begin at 9 a.m. March 1. This year’s festival theme is “Birding as Families.”

PROVO -- Utah wildlife officials are encouraging residents to help the state's wild birds through the winter by putting out bird food and bird feeders.

The Daily Herald of Provo reports long nights, sub-zero temperatures and winter storms severely limit the food supply.

Division of Wildlife Resources official Ron Stewart says birds need to eat regularly to maintain body heat. He says most move between food sources along a regular daily route.

Tundra Swans are moving through Great Salt Lake's ecosystem by the tens of...

I was walking my daughter's dog near sunset one afternoon a couple Sundays ago when the distant cries of fans at a ball game wafted to me: "Who-whoo! Oo-ooo! Who!" This was an excited group, cheering constantly, their cries overlapping.

Wait a minute. A ball game ... on Sunday ... in Utah? Not likely. Then, a thought struck: Look up.

A 'V' of tundra swans was winging so high overhead I could barely discern their long necks against the steely sky, but their distinctive voices gave them away. The sound carries for miles and it's the reason the species used to be called the whistling swan. It sounds like the bird is forcing a high-pitched keening through its nose.

WARREN, Minn. -- As an avid birder and nature lover, Heidi Hughes says the first two months at her new job have only deepened her passion for the prairies and aspen parklands many people in northwest Minnesota take for granted.

Her goal is to share that passion with others.

"This is the section of the state that's the forgotten section," said Hughes, new manager of the Agassiz Audubon Society's nature center southeast of Warren. "You have to be kind of a special person to appreciate prairies and grasslands.

A black-necked stilt nests in flooded grasslands along the county road that...

Flooding along the county road leading to Bear River Refuge has been a curse and a blessing this year. Sometimes the deluge has closed the road. But when the road is open, birding is the finest I've seen with the extra perks of new pavement, many pull-offs and several parking areas adjacent to prime marsh habitats.

The fun begins just west of the interstate before even passing the visitor's center. White-faced ibis, marsh opportunists, graze in flooded areas that have been dry for the last few years. Cliff and barn swallows course low over the saturated marsh grasses while gathering insects. A mallard pair, alert, stretches their necks and heads like periscopes above the grass. Common ravens survey the scene and croak from power pole perches where their unkempt stick nests punctuate the crossbars.

Here are some updates on condor and bighorn sheep viewing opportunities in the state.

Enjoy.

Condor viewing: