Here is a month-by-month calendar of a few bird-watching highlights in and around Great Salt Lake. Keep in mind that migratory populations vary from year to year, depending on moisture and temperatures.
March
By mid-March, snowy plovers start to arrive; among accessible sighting areas are the mud flats by the Antelope Island causeway guard station. These tiny shorebirds, sandy colored on top and snowy white underneath, scurry along the flats in a stop-and-go line searching for brine flies. By mid-April, they scrape a hollow in the sand and begin to nest. The lake may be the last stronghold for this species, as its numbers on ocean beaches decline due to human encroachment. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 plovers breed on the flats around the lake.
Canada geese and some ducks also begin arriving in March.
April
Curlews show up in April. "You can't walk far on the island without having a curlew fly up and give that neat prehistoric call of theirs," says Tim Smith, Antelope Island State Park manager. "In early June, you've got some real gangly, awkward-looking young curlews running around," he laughs. "By the end of June, they're gone."
May
May is an active month along the lake shores. Eared grebes, red-necked phalaropes, avocets and stilts are showing up, along with migrant willets, marbled godwits and dowitchers.
This is National Wetlands Month. Consider joining the Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society, or Hawkwatch International for a guided field trip with the experts.
Beginning in early spring and lasting through May, as many as 100 yellow-headed blackbirds camp in the rushes and reeds between Fielding Garr Ranch and the lake on Antelope Island. They sport a white wing patch and head feathers that range from yellow to bright orange. As loud as they are colorful, these raucous birds are larger than their cousins, the red-winged blackbirds, believed to be among the most abundant birds in America.
June
Canada goose goslings have made their debut by now, as have other young waterfowl. Head to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in June and July to watch ducklings learning to swim and young western grebes hitching rides on their parent's backs.
July
An amazing transformation occurs on the lake in July and August. The sun blisters the landscape and pesky brine flies swarm along beachess. Wilson's phalaropes begin to arrive, eager to feast on brine shrimp, and especially brine flies. Traditional sex roles of these medium-size shorebirds are reversed. Females, with a bold black face stripe and white wing stripe, are the most colorful, and they are the ones wooing the male suitors. The males incubate the eggs.
"About one-third of the world population of Wilson's phalaropes depend on Great Salt Lake to fatten up during the migration," notes Dr. Keith Evans, a wildlife biologist. Huge rafts of the birds cover sections of the lake. In 1991, on a single July day, 500,000 phalaropes were counted on the lake. After feeding for several weeks, they perform an incomprehensible feat --flying nonstop for five or six days to winter in Argentina and Bolivia!
August
Like the Wilson's phalaropes, eared grebes use Great Salt Lake as a critical stopover during their annual migration. In August and September, these duck-like birds arrive to feed, and in two months, they double their weight. The grebes are lousy fliers, but great swimmers and divers, paddling around the lake feeding voraciously on brine shrimp. They can be spotted along many shores.
Many shorebirds migrate through the area in August, headed to their wintering grounds. "The shorebird migration is pretty spectacular," says Vickie Roy, wildlife biologist at the Bear River refuge. "There are literally millions of birds."
September
Along the south shore near the Saltair exit off I-80, a number of shorebirds and waterfowl are prevalent in the fall. Look for Canada geese and ducks. Stately, long-legged shorebirds like snowy egrets, great blue herons, American avocets and black-necked stilts may be spotted. In fact, 65,000 stilts and 250,000 avocets utilize Great Salt Lake, many more than visit other wetlands along the Pacific Flyway. Also watch for kingfishers, killdeer, double-crested cormorants and terns.
October
Majestic icons in the sky, golden eagles begin plying the air currents over Great Salt Lake in the fall.
Waterfowl begin showing up in good numbers, in time for the hunting season. Hunting is allowed at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
November
As many as 40,000 tundra swans stop at the Bear River refuge during their migration, which usually peaks around Thanksgiving. About twice that number pass through northern Utah each fall. An occasional rare trumpeter swan may also be sighted there.
Like an apparition, a true lake anomaly often appears in November. Affectionately named Pink Floyd, a lone pink Chilean flamingo hangs out along the lake's south shore. If you're luckly, you might spot this rare bird, believed to be a zoo escapee, standing in the shallows near Saltair.
December
Bald eagles frquent many shores during the year's shortest days. "This is one of the top ten wintering sites in the country," notes wildlife biologist, Vickie Roy. About 500 eagles arrive from Canada and Alaska to winter in Utah's relative warmth, feeding on fish at the mouths of rivers. These American symbols can be spotted flying or perched in trees and snags along many lake shores. During hard winters, they can even be seen riding ice flows on the lake.
January & February
This is a good time to observe a variety of raptors including harriers, rough-legged hawks and bald eagles.
