Yes, it is that time again, the part of the year when bald eagles start to arrive here in Utah for the winter.
Utah has some pretty good winter habitat and conditions for the bald eagle due to a large amount of waterfowl, an important winter food source for the eagles, that live on and migrate through the Great Salt Lake wetlands during fall and winter.
The best time to see bald eagles in Utah is the months of January and February, but I have started to see a few eagles the past couple of days on and around the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
For northern Utah, several places offer good bald eagle viewing, especially during the peak time for bald eagles in January, including Farmington Bay WMA, Willard Bay State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, and Salt Creek WMA.
Out of those places listed, Farmington Bay WMA, is hands down, the best place to view bald eagles during the winter here in northern Utah.
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Farmington Bay certainly has the best concentration of eagles I have ever witnessed by far with one day a couple years ago having over 50 eagles on the preserve at once.
I find the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is also a very consistent location for a few bald eagles once the refuge waters have frozen over, allowing the eagles to spend a lot of time out on the ice when they aren’t hunting portions of the refuge for any remaining waterfowl.
Today, in fact, I was out on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and came across a lone bald eagle on the river halfway up Forest Street on my way home.
It is quite possible, however, this could be one of the individuals from the breeding pair of bald eagles that nest very close to the bird refuge each summer.
Either way, resident or early migrant, I am starting to see bald eagles around the Bear River Bird Refuge so it is time to keep an eye out for these majestic birds now that colder temperatures are knocking at the door and winter is not far off.
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Once we get further into winter, I will post up when more eagles are being seen, but for now, I wanted to let other bird watchers that have an interest in viewing bald eagles they are starting to show up now by the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
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