Dramatic Winter Day on the Great Salt Lake

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Dramatic Winter Day on the Great Salt Lake

January 22, 2011 by Jess

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You never know what will show up on Antelope Island in January. A dramatic day of sun and snow brought Bald Eagles and Coyotes on the iced over bay. Our big surprise was a Greater White-fronted Goose – a bird not very common to the island and a new life-bird for us. This one is a juvenile which made distinguishing it from a domestic goose a bit tough, but you can tell by the crisp markings and the lean look that it is a wild bird. Domestic geese have much more bulk.

We also stopped by the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area where a couple of American Kestrels posed beautifully and we got our second life-bird of the day, a Rough-legged Hawk (and a shutter-hog Canada Goose). Winter is so much more bearable with wildlife and wild places to visit.