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A red-tailed hawk soars past the Orem overlook.
Photo by Scott Root
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Utah offers excellent opportunities to
observe and photograph animals
and birds in natural settings, and several special viewing events
are sponsored by Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources every year.
A couple will take place during the
next few weeks. DWR provided the news releases below.
Watch
migrating birds of prey
Raptor
Watch Day is Sept. 27
OREM
— Thousands of hawks, eagles and other birds of prey fly through
Utah's crisp, clear skies every fall.
You
can see the birds, and learn more about them, by attending Utah's
annual Raptor Watch Day.
The
event will happen at the Orem overlook on Sept. 27, from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. The overlook is along Squaw Peak Trail Road, just east of Orem.
In
addition to watching birds soaring in the skies above you, you can
also get close to live birds of prey in the parking lot at the
overlook. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a Swainson's hawk and an American
kestrel will be available to view.
Raptor
Watch Day is free.
Kick
back, and relax
Bob
Walters, Watchable Wildlife coordinator for the Division of Wildlife
Resources, says by Sept. 27, the trees near the Orem overlook will be
in their fall colors. And the air at the watch site should be crisp.
"If
the skies are clear," Walters says, "you'll get an up-close
look at harriers, vultures, eagles, hawks and falcons as they sail
overhead."
Walters
says bird identification experts from the DWR, HawkWatch
International and Great Salt Lake Audubon will be on hand to help you
identify birds and to answer your questions about the migration
raptors make each fall.
One
of the experts is Jerry Liguori. "Jerry is HawkWatch's raptor
identification expert," Walters says. "He's written three
books on raptor identification and blogs regularly on the
organization's website. We're excited to have Jerry at the event."
Walters
says Raptor Watch Day is a great opportunity to kick back, relax and
watch raptors. For more information, call him at 801-209-5326.
Getting
to the site
You
can reach Squaw Peak Trail Road from Provo Canyon.
To
reach the canyon from Interstate 15, exit I-15 at the 800 North exit
in Orem (Exit 272) and travel east on 800 North. This road will take
you into Provo Canyon.
Once
you reach the mouth of the canyon, travel for about two miles, and
look for Raptor Watch Day event signs on the south side of the road.
Once you see the signs, turn onto Squaw Peak Trail Road, and travel
to the overlook.
See
kokanee salmon at Strawberry
Sept.
20, 2014 is Kokanee Salmon Viewing Day
Heber
City–You can see hundreds of bright red salmon — and possibly
other wildlife, too — at the annual Kokanee Salmon Viewing Day.
The
event will be held Sept. 20 at the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) visitor
center at Strawberry Reservoir. The visitor center is along U.S.
Highway 40, about 20 miles southeast of Heber City.
The
event is free. It runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Division of Wildlife
Resources, the USFS and Friends of Strawberry Valley host the viewing
event every September amid the changing fall colors and beauty of the
valley.
Seeing
the salmon
When
you attend the event on Sept. 20, you'll see some salmon in the
Strawberry River next to the visitor center. But if you walk to the
fish trap and egg-taking facility behind the visitor center, you'll
see hundreds of the bright red fish.
DWR
biologists will be available at the facility to show you the salmon
and talk with you about the peculiar life cycle of the fish.
Scott
Root, regional conservation outreach manager for the DWR, says
biologists are hoping to collect more than 2 million kokanee eggs
this year. "The eggs will come from kokanee handled at the
egg-taking facility at Strawberry and from kokanee at Sheep Creek, a
tributary to Flaming Gorge," he says.
After
collecting the eggs, biologists will take them to DWR hatcheries.
There, the eggs will be hatched, and the fry that hatch from the eggs
raised. "Survival success is much better in the hatcheries than
it is in the wild," Root says. "Next spring, the fish will
be about three inches long. We'll stock them into kokanee salmon
waters across Utah."
If
you can't attend the Sept. 20 event, Root says salmon should be
visible in the Strawberry River, and other tributaries to Strawberry,
from now until the first part of October.
For
more information about the event, call the Uinta National Forest at
435-654-0470 or Root at 801-491-5656.
