Farmington Bay Eagles 2013

[ofer4]

Hi, gang -

Farmington Bay, near the Great Salt Lake, is one of the overwintering sites of bald eagles. Often several hundred appear here. Their arrival and numbers seem to be a bit finnicky (see http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthre...Farmington-Bay from last year), though, so I figured I'd start a status thread here for anyone curious about going. Please feel free to add updates to this thread over the coming weeks, especially as the ice opens up and the carp kill happens.

I went out early yesterday (Sat, 19 Jan 2013, 6:45am) morning.

Conditions: A weird mix of crappy and serene. :) The inversions are terrible in the Salt Lake Valley this year, which is keeping temps lower than forecasted, light lower than usual, and everyone's allergies in a tizzy. This particular morning had fog, smog, and a combination of hoarfrost and a little snow. It was terrible for photography, but it was also a very peaceful morning. Some of the fog/smog burned off just as I was leaving around 10am, so you may want to aim for afternoon shots this year if you want any decent light. As far as FB itself, all of the water is frozen, except for a small portion of the channels traversing Dike Road. I can't speak for its thickness myself, but I saw several hunters 100+ yards out on the ice. And hunters there were! I spotted 3-4 other photographers and at least 50 hunters. So, to the 'togs out there...don't camouflage yourselves too well!

Bird status (pix to follow): I only spotted two bald eagles, and they were sitting in the infamous "eagle trees".* No fishing activity while I was there, although one of the two flew south out of the tree just before I left. I also saw a couple of owls, kestrels, hawks, herons, and a few others. Please feel free to ID the birds in the pix below...I'm far from an expert here!

*For those who haven't found these trees--I was awfully perplexed last year when folks kept referring to them online--they are relatively "early" along Dike Road. After the first right-hand turn onto this road, they are just south of the east-west stretch of the road (before the curve to turn south).


Pix...

[ofer4]

Oops...one more...

(sorry for the pixelation...looks like they're being resampled somehow when posting, at least on my screen)

[jamesdak]

Thanks for the info. Haven't been out there this year but hoping to go in the morning. Hopefully there will be some activity. I especially like the Barn Owl shots.

[rwpontius]

I don't think there will be very many eagles until the DNR poisons carp and even then some of the eagle viewing depends on where they poison the carp.
RP

[shagdeuce]

I went yesterday (1/20/2013) at around 1:00 PM. We didn't have anything to aid our naked eyes, so our spotting was limited. We saw an owl, some pheasants, some cranes, etc., but no bald eagles near the road. There were two big birds in some trees that were about 100 yards off the road, but I couldn't tell if they had white heads. I'm guessing they were eagles, but I couldn't tell from the car. Next time I will bring binoculars.

[fourtycal]

Thanks for the report and pictures! I have spotted a few eagles recently along the Skull Valley road.

Just FYI Saturday 19 January was the last day of the duck and geese hunt in Utah.

[accadacca]

Thanks for sharing.

[paul4887]

Checking my photos, last time I made it to Eagle Day was 2008. I'm wondering how this ever winter will effect the nesting population in Farmington Bay. I plan on heading out this next Saturday and bring my SLR along.



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[rwpontius]

I was at Farmington yesterday afternoon. SOme eagles present but few decent photo ops. More great blue herons than eagles around. I had 2 fly by runs. If I can get it to work I'll attach them. Note these are cropped and were taken with 600mm and a 1.5 crop body so not real close. An added note, I was in a 2 WD car and much of the road was deep packed but softer snow that frequently tried to bog down my car. I suspect it would be deadly for the undercarriage after it hardens to ice at night.
RP

[PhotoHound]

Like RP I was out there yesterday afternoon 02/01/13 from 2:30 to a little after 5:00. Ditto everything he said. More people than eagles. I counted 10-15 in the immediate area. Only one or two came close enough to the road to tempt a photo. Much better GBH ops. The eagles that did come closest were chasing off the herons that had caught carp. The carp were quite alive and kicking. The eagles however did not recapture the dropped fish. There were a few instances of baldies playing chase, but 100-200 yards out. Not a decent shot with my 400mm w/1.4x... BTW this was at the first parking area, between the bridges. Nothing better further down. I did see a harrier at the south end, and a barn owl near "the mound" on my way out, but both too far away from the road. And like RP said, the road was bad. Not too bad on my way in, but a deep, soggy, loose mess as I left due to melting and the traffic. Don't go out without 4WD, and some gear such as tow rope, shovel, and kitty litter would be a good idea. I can only guess the road will get worse with the sun and the weekend traffic until it melts significantly. I would have posted this sooner, but for some reason Comcast thought I didn't need my internet...

Good Luck,
Scott

P.S. I was tempted to go out again today with the good light, but the thought of the road and what I imagine will be a LOT of traffic dis-swayed me...

[PhotoHound]

04 Feb 2013 1PM to 5PM

Roads much better! Packed down and solidified again, with ruts not nearly as deep. Maybe a bit more icy though. Air quality was horrendous...hard to see the mountains at times. Number of eagles was about the same as last week; perhaps a small increase. The managers have piled up dead carp at sporadic points around the refuge...my guess is to attempt to tempt the eagles in for Eagle Day. Didn't see this happen though...the big birds were staying mostly far away from the road. There were a few fly-byes; and a group of 5 or so circled the large pile at the second bridge briefly. I did see some harriers sneaking a few bites here and there, as well as Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks. A group of pheasants pecked at the pile briefly too.

It might not be such a bad year after all...

Scott

[ofer4]

Hi, all...

Thank you for all of the added info. It's interesting to hear the day-to-day changes out there. My wife and I visited last Saturday (2 Feb 2013). While I'm told that things are still well below a "normal" year, we were quite impressed! Enough water had opened up that the birds were active, including many baldies. It was also my wife's first "in-person" baldy encounter, which was fun.

The carp kill had occurred. Unlike last year, where I just saw a bunch of floaters, it looked like the management folks had pulled the carp carcases out of the water onto shore. Only the occasional seagull seemed interested in them, though. Most of the eagles and other waterfowl remained out on the ice near the open channel. They were mostly too far for decent photos, but we did get one maverick that decided to buzz the tower. ;)

Lighting conditions were not great, and the road was in pretty rough shape. The stretch south of the bridge was packed snow, but the rest was chuckholed, muddy, wet, and downright nasty. I would NOT recommend a sedan there. My small SUV was having a hard enough time.

The scene from shore (55mm on APS-C):

(And yes, the inversion is still leaving things a bit hazy. Hopefully this weekend's storm will blow at least SOME of it out!)

I was not alone:

Most of the activity was near the bridge along Dike Road.

A nice mix of inhabitants:





The carp kill at least fed someone:



When one of the eagles went fishing, some serious activity ensued. In this case, the lead eagle dropped its catch while hovering for landing. Another one actually caught the same fish out of mid-air!


A few more from long distance (300mm):





At the south end:



And, finally, back up by the bridge...the flyby:

[paul4887]

My shots from today. I had to crop using my 300mm lens.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1161408...agleDayFeb2013
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[ofer4]

Looks great, Paul! I love the snow falling in front of the eagle.

[jamesdak]

Can't believe I haven't made it out there even once this winter. But on the norm it's a wonderful place to shoot the eagles. Seems the harder the winter the more birds that come in. Here's a few from previous winters: