Adventures of an ADD Birdwatcher

Hey, did you see that? Look over there!

Great Blue Heron

Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area

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A great place for you to visit in early spring up in northern Utah is the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area. It will not be a waste of your time! Such was my experience since I had a few hours to spend there.  My drive inside started off rather well. The wind was howling, not too cold, and I was glad there was waterfowl galore to be seen!

What IS Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area?

Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area plays host to various marshes, tidal flats, open salt water (it is adjacent to the Great Salt Lake). The management area was built in 1935 and now the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources manages the area. The landscape there is also home to some freshwater ponds. Many types of tall grasses grow there which provide food and shelter for birds. During both the spring and fall bird migrations, there are many types of waterfowl you can observe there. Geese and ducks begin checking in during February, while shorebirds and wading birds arrive March to April. 

The wooden sides were gone on this nest, but she was still there!

What Can You Expect During the Year?

Some birds begin nesting in March at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area. March through August is typically breeding and raising baby birds time, so part of the area is closed to provide the birds safety during this crucial time. Many species breed and nest at Farmington Bay, and there are some closures to the area during that period. Fall migration begins in September, followed by winter, in which Tundra Swans and Bald Eagles are mostly present.

How to Get Around There

The area is fed by the Jordan River and is managed with dikes, canals, and other methods to control the habitat. You can view from your vehicle or get out of it. Have a bike? The paths are flat and great for biking. Do you like photographing or like to video wildlife? If so, this is a great place for doing so.  Bring binoculars and of course your camera! Even recording the sounds with your phone is way cool! Be sure to dress for the season you visit.

Who was There?

Driving into Farmington Bay, there were the previous year’s Cattail grasses lining the drive. Lots of sounds were coming from them and had to be investigated!

When I was driving in, the previous years’ cattails were a tan beige color. Cattails provide the perfect place for the Red-winged Blackbird and the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Rolling down the car windows can provide a second sense for locating and observing just who is lurking in the tall grasses. Their dark contrast of black against the tan grasses made them fairly easy to listen to and observe.

It was incredibly windy there the day I went, but mild in temperature. There were white caps on the waters and some birds seem to have been struggling trying to fly in the winds. The first foray of birds I encountered driving in were American Avocets, Northern Shovelers, American Coots and Canadian Geese.

Some of the Birds That Were Seen There

American Avocets were in their breeding plumage, and were foraging for food against the brisk winds.

Northern Shovelers were in the foreground “dabbling” their bills back and forth screening the water for food.
Thanks to a zoom lens on the camera, I could see a close-up of a gorgeous Northern Shoveler.
Love was definitely in the air as American Coots chased each other on top of the water…as if running on top of the water itself!
Seems the nest box had seen better days is this marsh, but this Canadian Goose was sitting on her nest in what was left of the box anyway. The wind was kicking for sure!
Driving slowly along the path I saw some movement down in the shallow muddy grasses. There retrieving its food, was the beautiful and irridescent White-faced Ibis! My first time ever seeing one!
One of the nicest songs to hear is that of the Red-winged Blackbird, and it was singing!
Just above the cattails is a beautiful Northern Harrier soaring as it looks for an unsuspecting meal.
Flying just above the water are beautiful American White Pelicans. They don’t dive into the water like their Brown Pelican cousins on the eastern seaboard.They coral the fish together to eat them.
I barely even noticed this beautiful Great Blue Heron due to its camouflage in the tall grasses.

All in All

After visiting the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area I was really impressed with the waterfowl there. The close proximity you can get even from a car to observe the birds was incredible. The paths made it such that you could even hear the sounds the birds were making. It was nice to get out of the car, but the fact that you can take photos right from your car was a big advantage to me there.

Check it out online before you go to know when the best time would be for your visit, and when it’s hunting season there (if you plan to have a quiet visit). For seeing some great waterfowl, this is one place you don’t want to miss!

Happy Birding,

 

 

 

Stumbling upon the Motherload of Great Egrets!

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For the many years as I’ve observed this particular “Jane Birding Hotspot,” I have NEVER observed any Great Egrets there at any time of year before.  Without any effort, my truck magically pulled a “super U-eee” at a nearby path to check this out! Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Red-Shouldered Hawks and Red-Headed Woodpeckers were gathered in the fray there, too! Hmmm…What made today so different?

Stumbling upon the Motherload of Great White Egrets
Observing this Great White Egret preening was a lesson in how many feathers could indeed be fluffed out.

This was a lesson for me in how many feathers could indeed be fluffed out while preening. On this particular Sunday at noon, it was partly cloudy with some intermittent blue sky appearing, and a cool 61 degrees outside with light winds. After parking off the road just across from this scene, I slowly proceeded out of the truck with binocs and camera in tow. Every exaggerated move I made was slow and deliberate…no fast movements whatsoever.

I spent quite some time observing these Great Egret preening and fishing.

What is the Magnificient Dark Reddish-Green Carpet?

Stumbling upon this motherload of Great Egrets was like I was looking for hidden items in a “Where’s Waldo” book. The more I looked, the more I saw…not just the Egrets, but other species of birds and turtles. The open swamp was completely covered in beautiful dark red Floating Water Ferns (Azolla caroliniana) that seemingly formed a thick aquatic carpet. They are super tiny and not to be confused with Duckweed, which was mixed in with it (a tiny green plant with roots suspended into the water which floats as well). The dark red contrast of the ferns with the brilliant gleaming white of the Great Egrets was spectacular!

Floating water ferns, sometimes called mosquito ferns formed a thick matted carpet across the top of the swamp waters. Truly a very delicate and tiny plant with very detailed leaf edges.

A Few Facts about Great Egrets (Ardea alba)

This beautiful feather of the Great Egret was spotted by the swamp in the grass near the road.
  • A permanent and summer resident in this area of North Carolina. (Check your local field guides for occurence in your area for this bird.)
  • Size: 37 – 41 inches tall with a 55 inch wide wingspan
  • Has a Yellow bill and what I call “black stocking” legs
  • Habitat:  Feeds in open marshes of both salt and freshwater
  • Food:  They like to eat frogs, snakes, fish, some large insects, crayfish (which abound in this particular swamp).
  • They can be seen together with other similar birds in this type environment.
  • Nest: breeds in colonies in trees. Their nests are made of sticks and they line it with plant material. A nest can be three (3) feet wide.
  • They were once killed for their beautiful feathers. “Plume” hunting for the hat trade in the 19th century was huge. The victorian women loved the elegant “plumage” on their hats.  Egrets were particularly sought for the excessive plumage they presented during mating season.
  • I heard very few noises from them. Mostly as they flew about or darted from log to log.

From the Library of Congress, you can see a video that can be viewed of President Theodore Roosevelt’s role in bird preservation in the early 1900’s. The black and white video shot in the sanctuary islands of Louisiana takes you through what was happening with the Egrets. It also includes various other species seen there. Warning: There are some graphic scenes of the kill of these birds in this video. A very informative video indeed, and by executive order of President Roosevelt, he made Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge the first of its kind to protect these and other magnificent birds. 

What Made Today Different? Why Were the Great Egrets Here?

Swamp in Grifton
This Google satellite map shows the location of the swamp on Tick Bite Road in relation to the large creek in Grifton, showing the curvature of Contentnea Creek. This is where the Great Egrets were.

Just near Contentnea Creek are several of these type roadside open swamps. Due to heavy rains we had recently received, there was a larger volume of water in some areas. That could have made the Great Egrets’ normal feeding area flooded and they chose this smaller, better drained, higher swamp to fish in…one possibility.

Large cypress trees, Water Tupelos, pines, Beech and various wetland shrubs grow here. Beautiful gray-green filigreed Spanish Moss hangs from some of the cypress trees. This swamp is open in the center as you can see. Due to it being highly visible to them in flight at this time, could have been another possibility.

In the beginning of summer, dragonflies, damselflies and other flying insects abound. Lots of downed trees are in the water, giving great landings for the birds, and places for different turtles and other reptiles to bask. The water level at this swamp can severely vary with drought conditions and floods and may increase or decrease the food offered here.

What Conditions May Have Caused the Egrets to Be Here? What about Your Area?

How can you find “not so frequently seen birds” and other species at a nearby location or water area you frequent? These suggestions and ideas may have contributed to them being at this location and may can to your favorite location as well.

  • Visit it each season for normal resident birds and visiting migrants. Get to know the “usual suspect” that are there.
  • Checking during various weather conditions has given me lots of opportunities to see various species.
    • Who is there before a major front passes through? After it passes through?
    • Just after it rains, what birds come out? Any mammals, amphibians or reptiles venture out into the open, too?
    • Who is there before or during a low pressure storm (hurricane, blizzard, nor’easter)?
    • Who is there after a major storm?
    • Any new birds seen there during a period of drought? Excess water (or flood)?
    • Low water? No water?
    • What sounds do you hear at these various times? Any at all?
  • Has there been any commercial logging of trees, mowing of tall protective grasses there recently? Fires?
  • Any unusual sightings at sunrise? Moonrise? What about at noon day? 

If you do this, there’s a good chance there will be a few species you don’t normally see in your frequently visited location. These ideas and suggestions have surely worked for me!

Taking in the Scene of the Great Egrets 

In addition to the brilliance of them not only on the downed trees, the contrast against the green foliage of cypress trees and other trees they were perched in was amazing. Everywhere I spanned my gaze, there the Great Egrets were…preening, fishing, perching or taking flight. As a result, even though I stood silently on the side of the road by my truck and barely moved, my gaze roamed all over the place.

The large wingspans of so many of the Great Egrets moving simultaneously offered a great insight into their flight skills up into the trees. See the one in the very back up in a tree? Look closely at all the turtles basking on the downed trees.
Motherload of Great White Egrets
The shimmy-like dance the Great Egret did by by lightly raising its feet very quickly back and forth was in a perfect rhythm of harmony. Every single feather was being fluffed out like an implosion of sorts with each change of weight distribution on the Egret’s feet.
While preening, something caught this Egret’s eye in the water with it covered in floating water ferns. Even though the Great Egret is the focus of this photo, check out all the turtles basking on the logs. See the one turtle way back in there near the trees? There are hundreds of turtles in this swamp, and they were very well represented! Note the thickness of the dark red Azolla (floating water ferns).
Seeing these large birds on the light billowy Cypress branches was incredible. I was shocked the branches would even support the birds’ weight.
They perched here for quite some time as the light breeze showcased their beautiful feathers.
A Great Egret flitting about with a wingspan that’s about 55 inches wide.

The Resident Red-headed Woodpeckers Didn’t Seem to Mind the Egrets!

Again, normal nearby swamp areas were flooded. Even though there were Great Egrets, some of the “usual suspects” were hanging out, too. I was so distracted by the Great Egrets, that it took me a half hour to notice the OTHER species there….

Tw0 Red-headed Woodpeckers on a dead pine tree snag, while one is in flight just to the left of the other two that are clinging to the dead tree. Red-headed Woodpeckers have been at this very pine tree edge of the swamp for the entire 15 years I have visited there. Plenty of bugs are in these dead trees and the they nest in this area as well.
The three Red-headed Woodpeckers seem to visit this particular tree often.

Woodpeckers are my favorite birds and watching Red-headed Woodpeckers here is always a treat. Depending on the time of the day, the sunlight really illuminates the bright red feathers on their heads for a great visual display!

What Other Bird Species were Present?

Hearing a familiar sound, I looked over to the left front edge of the swamp, and there were two brightly colored Green Herons. I just adore the goofiness of these herons!  They never disappoint with their comedic antics!

Absolutely gorgeous spring plumage on this Green Heron.
The gorgeous contrast of cerulean blue of the plumage was an artist’s dream against the reddish-green floating water ferns on the water surface. As it was flying into the shaded edge of the woods by the swamp, note the change in color of the green floating water plants. The Duckweed (another tiny floating water surface plant) was more prominent in the shade than the floating water ferns. From my observations at this particular swamp, Duckweed is more prevalent during warmer months in North Carolina, and the water ferns during cooler ones.
The Green Herons were feeding in the same swamp as the Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons.
This gorgeous Red-shouldered was so incredibly quiet perched on a lower branch of a tree growing out of the water, that I have no idea how long it had even been there.
There’s nothing quite like the wing feather pattern of a Red-shouldered Hawk in flight!
There were several Great Blue Herons mixed in with the Great Egrets and Green Herons.

Experiencing an Unusual Species Presence

Having never ran across the Great Egret in my immediate area before, I learned a few things:

  • What was the situation weather wise? I was there at 12:00 noon. It was cloudy. There had been very heavy rains recently that raised water levels in the area considerably. Light winds were present,  and it was 61 degrees. 
  • Did I notice strange activity of the resident species? Several resident species of the swamp (Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-headed Woodpeckers) acted no differently in the presence of the large  number of Great Egrets. The herons actually shared the downed trees alongside the Egrets with no problem. It was business as usual with the year round resident birds and turtles.
  • Was the environment itself different? Yes.  Very much so. There was a higher water level and the usual covering of green Duckweed was shrouded out by the reddish-green floating water ferns. The surface water was thickly covered in a matte carpet of these floating water ferns. I even scooped a handful up. Incredibly thick wrinkles of it formed in my hand. I’ve never noticed the water surface with that prolific a covering before.
  • How long to observe the unusual species? As long as you can or want to. Not knowing if they would ever return to this spot again, I chose to stay about an hour, then left.  

As mentioned before, keep a regular occurring eye on your frequent birding spots. With the right conditions, you too may be in for a show and see some AMAZING species of birds not normally there!

Happy Birding!

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