Have You Been To Farmington Bay To See The Bald Eagles?

Oh, it’s coming, it is almost here, the winter spectacle of bald eagles is just around the corner.

And there is typically no better place to view the wintering bald eagles in Northern Utah than Farmington Bay WMA.

I am glad, no, make that I am very excited to report I saw my first bald eagle for the winter bird watching season at Farmington Bay WMA just yesterday, in fact.

And the reason this makes me so giddy, for lack of a better term, is how spectacular the bald eagle congregation can be during the winter months at Farmington Bay.

It’s not always the case, however, but in a good year, this vital piece of wetland can seem to be overrun with eagles looking for a quick meal.

My personal best birding day includes counting over 50 bald eagles at once on the state-owned preserve, and I have talked to other bird watchers who have counted around 100 eagles at once at Farmington Bay as well.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are other good places to view bald eagles in northern Utah, but I have yet to see any place have so many, so consistently than these wetlands in west Farmington.

For example, I almost always see bald eagles on my trips to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route during winter.

In fact, rare is the case when I don’t see a couple or more eagles out on the refuge during the winter months.

I have already seen three bald eagles on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge so far this fall, as a matter of fact, but never have I witnessed anything on the refuge even close to the high concentration of eagles that sometimes is attracted to Farmington Bay.

Bald eagles migrate to Utah during the winter to feed upon ducks and fish that live in the wetlands on the eastern shores of the Great Salt Lake.

And the colder it gets, the better it is for finding and viewing bald eagles, making December through February the best months to view the wintering eagles at Farmington Bay WMA.

For new birders, one thing to keep on the calendar each year is, typically on the second Saturday in February, the Utah DWR hosts an annual bald eagle day where spotting scopes are set up and sometimes a live bald eagle is brought by local falconers for up-close viewing of this iconic bird.

More about the potential bald eagle day activities will be made in a future blog post as we approach February and plans are made by the Utah DWR about the event.

But for now, keep an eye out for bald eagles if you’re out and about doing some bird watching anywhere near the Great Salt Lake, especially Farmington Bay WMA.

The eagles are just now starting to migrate in and over the next couple of months they should be very easy to find, view, and even photograph.

Keep up with what’s going on regarding the eagles here in northern Utah by heading over to our subscribe page and signing up for email notifications for future blog posts.

There is so much out there to go see, and through this blog, I try to keep people aware of some of the spectacular bird watching and other nature-related opportunities that are all around us.

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