Farmington Bay a 'fowl' haven for migrating birds

Beky Beaton

While legions of Utah students are dreaming of or dreading the return to school in a few short weeks, millions of birds are making a return of their own, from nesting grounds far to the north to their winter havens.

The Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake are major components of the state's portion of the Pacific Flyway, a network of wetlands in the interior and coastal regions of the West which provides critical rest and refueling stops for migrating shorebirds, waterfowl and songbirds.

Fortunately for Utah residents past and present, the importance of these critical habitats was recognized early enough to preserve some of them. Protection efforts began many decades ago and are continuing today.

One center of these efforts is the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, which has grown from 3,800 acres in 1935 to about 18,000 today.

According to Rich Hansen, site manager for the Division of Wildlife Resources, two recent controversial Utah transportation projects have actually had a positive effect on the FBWMA.

Federal policies require that when infrastructure construction impacts wetlands, the land lost must be compensated for somewhere else, called mitigation. Usually constructing entities must purchase or provide new land at a ratio which favors the goals of conservation.

For example, when TRAX was extended to Ogden, they were required to mitigate at a ratio of 12 to 1, meaning that for each acre of wetlands removed to build the tracks, 12 acres would be required to replace it.

FBWMA stands to benefit from that standard as TRAX purchased 60 acres adjacent to the current boundaries to help fulfill this requirement.

"TRAX cut a check to us to manage their land," Hansen explained. "After that, if we fulfill certain stipulations set by the Army Corps of Engineers (the federally-designated overseer of wetlands), that 60 acres will be deeded to the DWR."

The Legacy Highway project has also benefitted Farmington Bay.

"The road has been built in marginal wetlands areas which weren't very productive," Hansen said. "As a result of this project, 400 additional acres of prime habitat has been purchased which provides a good buffer between us and development."

So, what exactly is a "productive" wetland?

Basically, it's one where the vegetation and animal life provide food and protective cover for wildlife.

At Farmington Bay, there are several different types of wetland habitats, each with a role to play in the area's ecology.

Freshwater and brackish marshes, with their characteristic plants like cattail and bulrush, fill the bill nicely with good hiding and nesting spots on land and lots of food sources in the water, such as insect larvae, fish and amphibians that waterfowl and shorebirds like to eat.

Much of Farmington Bay is very shallow and includes huge expanses of mudflats, where salt-tolerant plants like pickleweed provide seeds for waterfowl and other birds.

Fish can't survive because of the concentrated salinity in the open water of the lake, but brine shrimp and brine fly larvae thrive in those conditions, providing millions of pounds of food for avian visitors every year.

One of the prime beneficiaries of that salt-water bounty are Wilson's phalaropes, who are among the first shorebirds to migrate.

This unusual bird travels in flocks of tens of thousands of individuals, which put on a flight display unlike anything else in nature.

Hansen said single flocks he's seen can number a quarter of a million. When the birds take to the air, they are like a living ribbon flapping in the wind, twisting and turning while filling the sky with sight and sound.

That's not all that sets these visitors apart from other birds, however. Unlike most avian species, the female is the gaudy one and usually mates with several males. The males also incubate the eggs and care for the young.

Phalarope migration peaks this week, but they are only the first wave of dozens that will take place between now and November as hundreds of bird species work their way south through the Flyway.

Even in the winter, however, things are not dull at Farmington Bay. Several hundred bald eagles that nest far to the north make the area their winter home in January and February. All told, about 200 species have been documented there.

Like all the marshes around the Great Salt Lake, Farmington Bay was completely inundated by the floods of the late 1980s. The area has made a remarkable recovery, a testament to nature's amazing resiliency.

That doesn't mean there aren't challenges, though.

Hansen quickly identified the two biggest ones: invasive plant life and predators.

Of particular concern in the first category is phragmites, a very aggressive plant which produces thousands of seeds as well as sending out runners to make new shoots. A single plant can choke out everything in a 200-square-foot area.

Experts differ on how this Asian native ended up here, though it was probably with good intentions. The FBWMA is in the third year of a 15-year plan to try to dramatically reduce this vegetable pest.

The second-biggest threat on the refuge are predators, which Hansen identified as raccoons, foxes, skunks and feral cats. These prey on birds and their nests.

He added that more than 250 such animals have been taken from the area each year, but more come because there is no predator control in the surrounding land.

Still, the efforts have produced some positive results. From a low of seven broods (each brood includes all the offspring of one nesting pair) at the WMA in 2002, biologists counted 154 this year. There are presently 60 species of birds that nest at the refuge.

Virtually all of the money to manage the refuge comes from hunting license fees, which is why the WMA's primary objective is to provide the best habitat available for waterfowl.

However, all the other avian visitors also benefit, and humans do as well as they enjoy a serene, spectacular and interesting place teeming with wildlife in a world which provides quite a contrast to the break-neck pace of modern life.

For driving directions, hours and lots of interesting information on what Farmington Bay has to offer, visit the Web site at greatsaltlakenaturecenter.org.