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GREAT SALT LAKE BIRDING TRAILS

INTRODUCTION by Keith Evans Wasatch Audubon Society Northern Utah is a diverse area providing habitats for over 200 bird species. Birding is good all year long as different species are observed during the spring and fall migrations compared to the nesting season or the wintering season. For the most part the area is arid. As a result, birds and people tend to congregate around water. Water comes in many forms including the clear cold water of the high mountain streams, the relatively warm water of the many man-made reservoirs, the brackish water of marshes and the salt water of the Great Salt Lake. The shoreline (riparian) vegetation is often the richest in bird diversity. This northern Utah guide covers habitats from the approximately 4,200 foot elevation of the Great Salt Lake to the alpine area of Naomi Peak at 9,980 and Mount Nebo at 11,877 feet in elevation. Though a book-length document could be written to describe the habitat diversity of the area, just habitat names are listed with each birding site. In northern Utah you can traverse habitats such as tundra, alpine lakes, lush mountain meadows, beautiful spruce-fir forests, aspen groves, colorful hillsides covered with wildflowers, brushlands of gambel oak and bigtooth maple, extensive pinyon-juniper woodlands, fast-flowing mountain streams, manmade reservoirs, rich riparian areas, arid rocky ridges, sagebrush rangelands, cottonwood gallery forests, saltbrush flats, freshwater marshlands, and barren salt flats before reaching the uniquely diverse and vast salt water of the Great Salt Lake. The map shown on the Great Salt Lake Birding Trails Map & Key page is a much-reduced and modified version of the full-color print map (the map front and back are shown above), that locates and describes in detail many popular birding places in northern Utah. These locations represent only a selection of what this area has to offer and highlight the variety of habitats and birds in northern Utah. The birding sites are indicated by numbers on the map showing their approximate locations. Below the map are links to descriptions of all of the numbered areas as well as to reports of birding trips to some of them. For all sites you will find information on expected birds, habitat, best season to visit, location and land ownership information. Information about restroom availability and entrance fees are provided when known. A few locations which do not appear on the original map have been added to this site list. These are identified with a letter following the number of the closest site on the original map (e.g., 5a). To help you find a specific bird, below the map and site directory is a listing of Utah birds along with the numbers of the locations at which they are likely to be found. You can purchase a full-size print version of the Great Salt Lake Birding Trails map by mail for $3.00, including postage and handling. There is an order form that you can use HERE. If you're in Ogden, you can purchase the map at the Ogden Nature Center (see site #23), Continue your tour of northern Utah birding by going to the Great Salt Lake Birding Trails Map & Key page. Comments, suggestions and corrections are welcome at bkevans4@comcast.net

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Utah Birding Trails

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Eastern Utah Birding Trails