There is a little wetland area near the Jordan River on the southwest side of Lehi, Utah that is a great place to watch and photograph birds. Many varieties migrate through and stop here or live here year round.
Powell Lake
Powell Lake is actually just a shallow set of ponds created for the birds to enjoy. It’s beautiful to walk around, especially at sunset.
There are painted rocks along the path that can be added to if your family wants to paint some rocks!
I carry around my large telephoto lens to get clear photos, but the birds are usually fairly close to the path, so you can see them easily with only your eyes.
Here are a few of the many birds I have seen at Powell Lake and a little about each species.
Bullock’s Orioles
Bullock’s Orioles are a beautiful yellow birds. Like many birds they have sexual dimorphism, which means the males and females have different colors or sizes. Nearly all male birds with sexual dimorphism much brighter plumes than the females, which is clearly the case with these orioles.
Snowy Egret
Snowy Egrets have black legs and bill with yellow feet and a yellow patch near their eyes. During breeding season their head tuft gets fuller.
Snowy Egrets wade in shallow water to hunt for their food.
Avocets
Avocets are black and white with a rusty pink head that turns mostly white after breeding. Aren’t the fuzzy babies cute?
White-Faced Ibis
White-Faced Ibises are large birds with dark reddish, green and bronze feathers. During breeding their legs turn red and they get a white border around their red eyes.
Pelicans
American White Pelicans have enormous wingspans nine feet wide! During the breeding season they develop a knob on their beak, but lose it the rest of the year.
Great Blue Heron
Blue Herons are large birds that have a long curved S-shaped neck and a long bill.
Sora
The Sora is a somewhat rare small marsh bird.
Barn Swallows and Cliff Swallows
Swallows skim over the water at such a fast pace and unpredictable zig-zag pattern that they are tricky to photograph. Their flight is about 11 meters per second and their wings are flapping about 15x per second, so it is a challenge to get the focus right . It is also hard to see the details of the swallows with your eyes because they are moving so quickly and you are typically observing them from a distance.
The barn swallows have a long forked tail and cliff swallows have an even tail.
Sandpiper
This juvenile or non-breeding spotted sandpiper chirped loudly as it looked for invertebrates under the surface.
Quail
This male California Quail was strutting his stuff for me tonight!
Deer
Of course there aren’t only birds to find. This photo was taken when it was pretty dark, but these “Bambi” fawns are too cute!
Carp
Carp are also visible in the water at Powell Lake. Carp are large and fun to watch. Unfortunately they are invasive species in Utah Lake and the Jordan River because they reproduce so rapidly.
Spring Bird Watching (April)
Snowy Egret
One of the birds that has been there for a few months is the Snowy Egret. Snowy Egrets are medium-sized herons with black bills and yellow near the eyes. The wispy plumes on their heads are grown during the breeding season. During the late 1800s the plumes were worth twice the price of gold. Luckily the the shore birds have had a recovery of their population since then.
Great Egret
Great Egrets look similar, but have yellow bills and are much larger.
American White Pelicans
Pelicans are large birds with a nine-foot wingspan. During the breeding season both males and females develop little knobs on their bills.
Canada Geese
There isn’t much cuter than babies!
I love how the mother protects her chicks!
Avocets
During the breeding season the adult avocets get that rusty pink coloring. The rest of the year they are grayish white.
Yellow-Headed Blackbird and Red-Winged Black Bird
There are also other birds, like merganser, teals, mallards, killdeers, magpies and many common tree birds.
Song Sparrow and European Starling
Black Capped Chickadee, Spotted Towhee, and American Tree Sparrow
American Robins
Eurasian Collared Dove
Killdeer
Sometimes there are very large flocks of California Gulls there. I am still practicing my wildlife photography, but there are plenty of subjects for me to practice on.
American Coot and Mallard Ducks are common, but fun to see.
To see photos of pelicans, egrets, avocets, and the other birds near Powell Lake at other times of year, click here:
I am still learning to recognize the different birds when I see them. This photo gallery of Utah Birds has been enormously helpful. I also use descriptions in Google searches. I am looking forward to watching and photographing more birds throughout the year. Another amazing place for bird watching, including eagles, is Farmington Bay.
Stats: Distance – 0-0.5 mile round trip
Approximate hiking time – 5-60 minutes
Elevation gain – 2 feet
Difficulty – Easy
Trail – dirt and rocks, paved Jordan River Trail Connector
Bathrooms – None
Seasons to hike – Year Round
Permits needed – None
Pets allowed – Yes
Map to Powell Lake
