Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)
Courtesy US FWS, Donna Dewhurst, Photographer
One of the species that may be seen
Saturday January 25, 2025
Birding with Bridgerland Audubon at First Dam.

Trip Report:
We had a hardy 6 souls show up to brave the brisk canyon winds this morning. A nice assortment of old and young, seasoned and new birders. I created a trip report to post on eBird and will do that each time. We saw a good assortment of ducks at First Dam (Common Merganser, Gadwall , Ring-Necked Duck and both species of Goldeneyes). We did not spend a whole lot of time there due to the biting winds and 20 degree temperatures. We retreated to the USU Water Lab and were rewarded with no wind and a great show put on by American Dippers foraging under water right in front of us.
Trip leader Dawn Holzer (dawnholzer80@gmail.com, 435-799-1991)

***** Future Events & Trip Reports *****

January 25 – First Dam and USU Water Lab
February 22 – Trapper Park and Logan River Icon Trail
March 22 – Wellsville Reservoir
April 12 – Sue’s Pond – Logan River Wetlands and Shorebird Playa
May 17 – Third Dam/Spring Hollow
June 21 – Bud Phelps Wildlife Management Area
July 19 – Tony Grove
August 23 – Amalga Barrens
September 27 – Benson Marina and Railroad Trail
October 25 – King Nature Park and Green Canyon
November 22 – Hyrum Reservoir and State Park
December 6 – Lundstrom Park Trail

***** Background, First Dam *****

eBird:
Checklist for First Dam: https://ebird.org/printableList?regionCode=L353707
Recent Checklists for First Dam: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L353707/recent-checklists
Media Images for First Dam: https://media.ebird.org/catalog?regionCode=L353707
Birding with Bridgerland Audubon at First Dam

First Dam Reservoir, Places to Bird in Cache County, Utah Birds, http://www.utahbirds.org/counties/cache/FirstDam.htm

Signed waivers required for all participants. Complete form, print results and bring printed waiver to meeting point.

Background
First Dam and its surroundings, with so much open water, have traditionally been the first place to visit in the year. The Stilt recorded the following from 2009: “First Dam is sure to offer up Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes as well as other wintering waterfowl.”

eBird reports the following First Dam sightings as of 7 January 2025.
Check out eBird for additional sightings: