Bald Eagle Day 2009

On Valentine's Day, we went up to Farmington Bay for "Bald Eagle Day." We've done this for quite a few years now. The department of Wildlife is there with a bunch of volunteers with scopes set up to view the eagles. It's amazing to see how many there are that winter over in Utah.
It was a beautiful day. We saw tons of eagles, as well as Northern Harriers (hawks), Kestrals, Northern Shoveler ducks, Coots, and pelicans. We also saw Tundra swans flying right overhead- something I'd never seen before. The highlight for me was seeing a group of 5 Great Blue Herons resting in the bend of the river. They are my favorite. Kerry loved the flock of pelicans, which you can barely see in the picture on the water. We looked through the scope at them, and they were so cool.
Days like this make us really want a better camera with a telephoto lens. There's no way for our little camera to do any justice to what we see. The black dots on the ice in the second picture are eagles. There are also seagulls. It's funny to see the seagulls fly up any time an eagle comes to land in their midst. I'd be nervous too if I were them.
It's just amazing to see all the wildlife that lives just off the busy highway. I can see why the environmentalists are concerned about the Legacy Highway. I would hate to see it all disappear.
The little bird in the third picture is a Kestral- a small bird of prey. They are really neat to watch when they hunt for food. They hover in the air and beat their wings really fast.
All in all, it was a nice day. In my opinion, nothing beats the beauty of a sunny winter day in nature.