RFI: birding in Utah

[j l saba <jlsaba at capu dot net>]

I'm expecting to be in Utah for a week in mid April (14-21) visiting
family and birding. I've found D.E. McIvor's "Birding Utah", this
listserv, and the utahbirds website excellent sources for information --
thanks to those of you who are responsible for the website, and who
contribute to the group.

But I'm having trouble determining whether some of the sites will be
birdable at all, especially since I'm not familiar with weather patterns
in the area. I am hoping for some guidance in this area.

Given that this is a mixed family/birding visit, I'm expecting to stay
within 50 miles or so (as the crow flies) of my home base, which will be
Midvale (about 20 miles South of Salt Lake City). At the bottom I've
appended a target list gleaned from McIvor's book, of birds that I might
expect to find in this area in mid April. The list is in priority order
(more or less).

It looked to me like the best bets for many of the non-mountain species
are Antelope Island, and either Ogden Bay or Farmington Bay, and the
Jordanelle Hawkwatch site for additional raptors. For Black Rosy-Finch
and 3-toed woodpecker, the sites I've found are Silver Lake and the
Tanner's Flat/Albion Basin area. The book implies these are best later
in the year, and seems to caution about snow and weather-related
problems at the last three sites. Am I looking for trouble trying to
bird these areas in April?

Any comments and/or suggestions would be appreciated.

Jack Saba
Berwyn Heights, MD
jlsaba@capu.net

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Target species:

Prairie Falcon
Ferruginous hawk
Canyon Wren
Black Rosy-Finch
Clark's Grebe
Three-toed Woodpk
Red-naped Sapsucker
Lewis's Woodpecker
Sage Thrasher
Sage Sparrow
Northern Goshawk
Merlin
Golden Eagle
Pinyon Jay
Gray Partridge
Chukar
Ruffed Grouse
Sage Grouse
Blue Grouse
Am. Golden-Plover
Baird's Sandpiper
Franklin's Gull
Short-eared Owl
Common Poorwill
Townsend's solitaire
American Pipit
Pine Grosbeak
Red Crossbill
Black-chinned Humm
Violet-Green Swallow
Blk-hd grosbeak
Dusky Flycatcher
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