BRIGHAM CITY, Utah May 29, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Spring inevitable, birthlings and fledglings are showing at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
“The first baby birds are starting to hatch on the wetlands,” the refuge just west of Brigham City announced on social media. “Sandhill Crane colts and Canada Geese goslings are some of the first young birds to appear in the spring. American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, California Gulls, and more, can now be seen sitting on their nests.”
By June, many of the young Canada geese have grown so large that they are difficult to distinguish from their parents, according to the refuge’s press release noting sights to come.
The young of Black-crowned Night-Heron, Great Blue Heron, and Snowy Egret have hatched and are being fed by their parents.
June usually offers the best chance to see pairs of Western and Clark’s grebes running across the water’s surface as part of their famous ritual courtship dance.
July is the best month to view a variety of young birds such as ducklings (Mallards and Gadwalls), and long-legged juvenile shorebirds like American Avocets and Black-neck Stilts. Adult grebes with chicks riding on their backs may start to appear by the end of the month or into August.
By mid-August, shorebird migration reaches its peak with large flocks of Marbled Godwits, Dowitchers, and Red-necked and Wilson’s phalaropes.
Populations of migrating dabbling ducks like Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, and Northern Shoveler start to increase. Cliff Swallow young fledge and quickly leave the Refuge to return to their wintering grounds in South America.
