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Field Trip Report for Saturday, October 23, 2004 (The Wilds of Western Box Elder)

left to right: Dave Drown scoping the scene at Salt Creek; Allen, Dick, Dorothy, Alice, Reinhard & Dave at Golden Spike; checking out some big birds at the Thiokol plant

Saturday, October 23 turned out to be a very blustery and rainy day for birding Western Box Elder. First stop was Salt Creek Wildlife
Management Area where we spotted a gaggle of Canada Geese and not much else. There were groups of hunters out and about that
probably accounted for the lack of many birds out on the water to see. We saw more deer hunter orange and camouflage at Salt Creek
than we did birds. Out in the fields were a couple of beautiful Northern Harriers riding the gusting winds across the cattails. White-crowned
and Song Sparrows were present along the sides of the road.

Next stop was the Golden Spike national historic site, where on the way we were able to see quite a few Western Meadowlarks, American Kestrel
and a Loggerhead Shrike. At the visitor center, I chased a camera shy Loggerhead Shrike in vain. From Golden Spike we headed South, 16 miles,
to the Spiral Jetty. Located at Rozel Point in Gunnison Bay (the north arm of The Great Salt Lake), the Spiral Jetty was created by artist, Robert
Smithson in April 1970. Using basalt boulders, that sit all along the nearby hillside and beach, he made a 1,500 ft long, 15 ft wide spiral that juts
out from the shore. The basalt boulders are now encrusted with salt, as is anything solid that lies off of the beach. The basalt boulders are from
local volcanic eruptions during Pliocene time, about 5 to 2 million years ago. Portions of the salt encrusted shore gives off a pinkish hue, due to
a red pigment in the salt tolerant bacteria and algae that survive in the extreme 27% salinity of the north arm. It really feels like another world
out in that area. I felt like Dr. Zaeus was going to come riding over the hills with an army of mounted apes. We spotted up to 40 Common Ravens
along the road as well as flocks of Horned Larks, Brewers Blackbirds and a family of 5 Rock Wrens just up from the beach of the Spiral Jetty. Another
Loggerhead Shrike was viewed at The Spiral Jetty as well as White-crowned Sparrows, which seemed out of place in this area.

Our next destination was Snowville, where we stopped into the famous Mollies Cafe to grab a bite to eat. Great home-made fries and cheeseburgers
fueled us up for the next leg of the tour. We headed East, from Snowville, towards Curlew grasslands area where we saw many Red-tailed Hawks,
quite a few of them being 1st year juveniles. We were then fortunate enough to spot 4 Ferruginous Hawks, with their clean white tail feathers, larger
sized bill, mostly white below plumage and feathered legs.

For the way back home to Logan we cut through Malad, Idaho. On the outskirts of Malad was a group of at least 200 Sandhill Cranes out in the recently
cut alfalfa fields.

It sprinkled off and on for most of the day, but it was a very enjoyable trip and the rain is much needed. As we passed through all the beautiful
open areas, farmlands, sagebrush fields and shrubsteppe habitat we commented how beautiful the scenery was and talked of the importance of conserving these lands for generations to come.
Alice Stokes said that, "All those birds out there don't have a very loud voice and that we all need to always be a voice for the birds and their homes."

–Stephen Peterson 10/25/04

Complete Trip Bird List:
Common Raven
American Kestrel
Northern Harrier
European Starling
Black-billed Magpie
Western Meadowlark
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
American Coot
Red-winged Blackbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Mallard
Rock Wren
Brewers Blackbird
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
Horned Lark
Sandhill Crane

left to right: Dick and Dorothy search for the Rock Wrens amongst the basalt boulders; The Spiral Jetty; Reinhard Jockel standing at the center of the Spiral.

left to right: Mollies Cafe in Snowville; Dick and Dave after our delicious lunch at Mollies.