Subject: Salt Lake birding
Date: Jul 24 19:49:00 1995
From: "Michelsen, Teresa" - TEMI461 at ecy.wa.gov



The middle of last June, we were driving through Utah heading to Moab, when
we suddenly noticed we were a few hours ahead of schedule. Upon perusing
the road atlas, we realized we were just about to a turnoff for a bird
refuge, made a quick right, and had a very rewarding mid-summer birding
trip. Even those of us without binos and bird experience had a good time.
The place in question is, I think, Willard Bay (my road atlas isn't
detailed enough to show the refuge, though a good map of that area should
show it). There's a long road from a turnoff at Bear River City, at the
northeast end of Salt Lake, that goes out to the refuge. Below is my list
from only two hours of car birding (there were several lifers on this list
for me, and lots of neat wading birds):

White-faced Ibis
Black-Crowned Night Heron
Cattle Egret (complete with cattle)
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe (right next to the western grebe, both VERY close to the road
for easy comparison)
Yellow-Headed Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Marsh Wren
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Double-Crested Cormorant
Forster's Tern
Wilson's Phalarope
Franklin's Gull
American White Pelican
Long-Billed Curlew
Black-Necked Stint
American Avocet
Killdeer
American Coot

- Teresa Michelsen (Hi Gene!!)