Autumn Adventure: Wildlife
By Tom Wharton and Brett Prettyman
The Salt Lake Tribune

Hawks: HawkWatch International has been tracking the massive fall migration of raptors since the mid-1970s. About 5,000 raptors fly by the Goshute Mountains of Nevada, just south and west of Wendover each autumn. HawkWatch staffers and volunteers live at the remote site from mid-August to early November, counting and trapping the birds. A smaller team counts raptors as they fly on the west side of the Wellsville Mountains in northern Utah. Visitors are welcome at both sites. Plan on a moderate to strenuous hike to reach both research stations. Info: http://www.hawkwatch.org

Kokanee salmon: Leaves are not the only thing that turn red in Utah mountains each fall. These non-native, landlocked sockeye salmon have become a popular fall attraction at Sheep Creek, a tributary to Flaming Gorge Reservoir, and on the Strawberry River near the Forest Service center off U.S. Highway 40 on the access road to Strawberry Marina. The fish at Strawberry usually start moving into the rivers in early September and peak the second or third week of the month. To help celebrate, the Strawberry Wildlife Festival is being held at the visitors center Sept. 22 and 23. The Flaming Gorge kokanee traditionally move into Sheep Creek by Labor Day and also peak before the end of September.

Elk: Add a little mountain music to your fall adventure and look for bull elk hot for the rut - mating season - in Utah's high elevations. The males' bugle (bellow is more like it) to stake their claim on a group of females. Other males answer in response, creating an eerie cacophony in the forest. Wildlife officials in Utah say the bugling usually starts with the first true cold snap in September and continues into early October, with the peak typically the last week of September. Bugling is most common early in the morning, late in the evening and throughout the night.
Bighorn sheep: Elk are not the only creatures making a racket in the fall. Bighorn sheep, also in a display of male dominance for the right to mate, start butting heads - literally - in mid-October across Utah. Canyonlands National Park and Flaming Gorge National Recreation are good places to witness the cringe-provoking actions of the wild sheep. Some head butting also occurs along the Wasatch Front. Residents near Rock Canyon in Provo frequently hear and see the big rams setting the pecking order. The annual Bighorn Bash usually lingers into early December.

Ducks: Hawks are not the only birds on the move in the fall. Waterfowl are making their annual migration from the northern lands as well. Utah's marshes are already busting with ducks and there will be many more when the state's 107-day waterfowl hunting season gets underway Oct. 7. If you are not a hunter but enjoy seeing waterfowl don't be afraid to visit one of the state's numerous waterfowl management areas before or after hunting season starts.

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