Single digit temperatures and a hazy morning didn’t stop enthusiastic bird watchers from attending the annual Bald Eagle Viewing Day last Saturday. More than 100 bird enthusiasts traveled past Jensen to the entrance of the Dinosaur National Monument in search of Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles and a variety of hawks and owls.

Trucks and cars lined the side of the road as attendees walked down to the scenic pullout along the Green River, where representatives with the Division of Wildlife Resources were on hand with spotting scopes to educate and entertain bird watchers.

“We’ve been doing this for probably 20 years now,” says Ron Stewart with the DWR. “The birds start arriving here in October or November, but it’s usually in February that we get enough of a break in the weather to come out and watch them like this.”

There were several Bald Eagles on hand for the event, although they remained perched in the high tree tops well out of range of people, forcing attendees to view them through several spotting scopes that were set up around the staging area.

Stewart explains that these birds are Northern birds, which means that although it is still cold in the Basin, where they’ve chosen to endure the winter, it’s still warmer than where they came from.

“This is a great place for them,” says Stewart. “There’s water and plenty of food. Rabbits, prairie dogs, and of course they can always eat the road kill if they can’t catch their own.”

Stewart says the birds return year after year, including dozens of different hawks, several species of owls, sandhill cranes and geese.

“We usually have a pretty good turn out,” he says. “Some years we’ve had as many as 400 people show up to look at the birds.”

There are no guarantees attendees will see live birds at the annual event, they are, after all, wild animals. But Stewart and his staff still take the opportunity to educate residents about the birds in the area, and often invite bird owners to bring their birds to the event to share with others.

Resident Melissa Wardle was on hand at this year’s event with her friend Kapi, a Swainson’s Hawk. Bird enthusiasts were able to get a good look at Kapi as she perched on Wardle’s arm, and Wardle answered questions about Kapi’s care, nature and habits.

According to the DWR “Wildlife Notebook” Utah hosts on of the largest state populations of wintering bald eagles, with more than 1,200 bald eagles having been counted during recent years. It’s estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 of the 13,000 bald eagles that winter in the lower 48 states occur west of the Rocky Mountains. Twenty five to 30 percent of these western eagles spend the winter in Utah.

tdeans@vernal.com