After a little break from shooting and writing after the Hawaii trip I wanted to get back out and do more shooting. With winter settling in here in Utah the Bald Eagles begin their migration down from frozen waters up North. Knowing that, 2 weeks ago I decided to go and check out a new area that is known for their raptors, the Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area. It is a big area full of marshlands, much like Bear River. However, here there are numerous large, barren trees that provide lookout areas for the eagles to look for their prey in the wetlands.
On this first outing there were few birds to be seen as duck season is still going on, meaning the marsh is full of hunters. We had yet to get any snow, so the landscape was much different than it was when I went yesterday. Upon getting there, I did see one lone Bald Eagle about 200yds away perched on a tree, to far to snap a shot, but it was promising knowing that they were finally showing up. I decided to park and took a nice 3mi walk through the area and spotted a big Northern Flicker woodpecker in a dense tree, hopping from branch to branch, as well as this cute little lone Killdeer making its’ way through the mud picking up bites to eat.
As I continued on I could see hawks off in the distance every so often, flying over the marsh on the constant lookout for their prey. When out of nowhere I spotted what I initially thought was a Snowy Owl coming towards me. I pulled the camera up and tracked it, getting off a few shots. After it was gone I checked out the photos and realized it was not a owl, but it was a Northern Harrier, which was a first for me. This was a big male, as it can be identified by the white coloring, whereas females are more of a rust/brown color.
On my way back to the truck I saw a big Red-Tailed Hawk perched up in a tree in the distance and managed to capture it as it took flight when I got closer.
And that brings us to trip #2 out to the WMA. After a week full of deep, heavy snow, and dropping temperatures through Thanksgiving I knew I wanted to get back down to the Farmington Bay to see if more eagles had shown up yet. With a heavy inversion/fog sitting over the Salt Lake valley for the last week I was worried about the air quality. But, the fog cleared at the house so I decided to head down, just to be met with the wetlands being covered in a dense fog. The fog, coupled with over a foot of snow had changed the landscape. Tall marsh vegetation that once stood over my head was now laid flat, giving a clear field of view over the water. The moisture in the air, coupled with the freezing temps left everything covered in a fine layer of ice. This meant that any shots would have to be very close, or they would become hazy when looking through the fog.
While walking through the trails it was eerily quiet, the only sound was my footsteps breaking through the crisp snow. Every so often, I would hear a bird rustling through the branches of the trees. That’s when I saw the little Downy Woodpecker as it worked frivolously pulling the bark up of the tree to get a bite to eat.
Between the little woodpecker, the sparrows, and the Black-Capped Chickadees, there wasn’t much of any other life moving around out there. Its’ crazy how quickly nature changes from a marsh full of hundreds of thousands of birds, to that of a barren wasteland.
As I was about ready to pack it up and head out, I decided to try a new area on the other side of the marsh. Before I got there I noticed this little American Kestrel perched on top of a bird house. Then, a little further down the road I spotted a big Red-Tailed Hawk overlooking a field, high above atop a power pole.
After seeing that big guy, I was feeling pretty good, and knew I was heading in the right direction. I started down the new trail located near the conservatory center. Roughly a 1/4mi in on the trail and I noticed what looked like the same Northern Harrier that I photographed over 2 weeks ago. He was flying low and fast over the frozen ground, and his bright yellow eyes really stand out against the white snow.
As I approached the group of trees that you can in the background of the above photos I saw from a distance a big ole Bald Eagle, perched high in the middle of the thick branches. Luckily the path rounded to the other side and I finally found him. I stood there watching him for over 15 minutes, watching him stretch his legs (check out those talons!), and open up his wings a bit.
And then it finally happened! He took off straight towards me, banking and going about 20ft away from me, then he was gone out of sight. It is what I had been looking for over the last few weeks and finally caught it. I couldn’t be happier with the images I captured. I will definitely be out again looking for more of these majestic birds, hopefully with less fog next time.
It felt great getting back out there with camera in hand, even more so when I was able to capture what I had set out to see. I hope everyone has a great holiday season and enjoys the photos. I will be setting the site up to enable purchase of prints in the near future, but if you see any of my work from my website or Flickr that you would like to have on print, feel free to shoot me a message and we can work something out.