Lately, I have had an interest in taking photos of birds in and around the city of Ogden. Besides my own backyard feeder in South Ogden, a few of the places I discovered for bird watching are Beus Forest Green Park on Country Hills Drive, Glassman Pond on Oakcrest Drive and Causey Dam in Huntsville.
Not every outing results in seeing interesting birds. Nevertheless, rewards await those who have patience and a sharp eye. You don’t need to have much leisure time, to travel far or to be an outdoor enthusiast to catch sight of some really pretty birds.
Behind Kubex and across the street from the U.S. Post Office is Glassman Pond. One evening while walking around the pond, I saw black-capped chickadees, mourning doves, robins and yellow warblers.
At Beus Pond Park, there are geese and ducks in addition to local and migratory birds. There I saw black-capped chickadees, a sapsucker, yellow-throated warbler and a variety of ducks and geese all in less than 20 minutes.
Causey Dam is a good area for bird watching. I have seen American dippers, blue jays, California gulls, eagles, ospreys, robins and yellow warblers bobbing on logs and rocks looking for insects.
One evening while fishing at Causey, a bird flew overhead. I thought it was a hawk, so I grabbed my camera and went searching for it. After a few minutes, I saw a white and brown dot in a pine tree by the scout camp. It was an osprey. It flew out of the tree and around the dam looking for a fish. When it spied one, it folded its wings back and dove into the water. It didn’t catch one. However, I did get to witness the raptor make a second attempt before it left the area.
This morning, I went out in the yard, and there was a hawk perched on the fence. It took off and flew about 50 feet away into the trees. I ran in the house, grabbed my camera, walked slowly toward the hawk and took a few photos.
After some research online I found out it was a Cooper’s hawk. I was lucky to get close to the raptor for photos. However, with all the grey feathers on the ground by my fence, it looks like an unlucky sparrow was the hawk’s meal.
The hawk was an unexpected surprise that I expected to see in the wilderness, not in my yard, but it goes to show you don’t have to go far to see a variety of birds.
