Farmington Bay Bird Refuge: Our Summer Walks

This summer has slipped by with hardly a notice.  Too busy I guess.  When Roger and I finally decided it was time to go for early morning walks and pretend (at least for me) that we were getting in shape, we realized we had lots of options.  We have the park east of us where the grandkids like to play, the mountain trails further east of the park as well as the neighborhoods around our home.  We decided no to all of the above options and moved west for the new and old bike/walking trails that take us through the Farmington Bay Bird Refuge.

This area is just beautiful!! I can't say it enough, absolutely beautiful.  And it's only a couple of miles from our home.  We drive to the entrance and park along the dirt road to start our walk and we quickly move into a world that you wouldn't think could be in someone's backyard, especially ours.

Above, we are looking south to the Oquirrh mountains.  Antelope Island would be to your right.

This property sits to the east of the Great Salt Lake and from our back yard looks completely different than up close.  The refuge is a stopping ground for water fowl migrating from Alaska and the Arctic in the fall to the warmer terrain of Mexico and South America.   They reverse this migration come spring.  On our walks we have spotted heron, ibis, plovers, Canada geese, marsh hawks, pelicans and all variety of ducks.  In the winter we come back to watch for the bald eagles who winter along the lake.  Above we are looking north, waiting for a storm to come in.

On our last walk we noticed the fall colors of the fading cattails as the water level in the ponds are receding back towards the lake.  Duck hunting season will soon be here!