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San Juan county birds - Barrow's goldeneyes, bald eagle, northern saw-whet owls

At about 12 p.m. on Monday December 19th a pair of Barrow's goldeneyes were seen on Ken's Lake. One bird was male and the other was female. They were keeping company with about a dozen common goldeneyes at the south end of the lake. Surprisingly there is mostly open water, with some limited ice toward the south end of the lake, but since it's not very large it shouldn't be too hard to find them if they stick around. For those of you wondering where in the devil Ken's Lake is, it can be found about 8 miles south southeast of Moab.

A bald eagle was seen snatching an American coot off of the Dugout Ranch pond and then devouring it in a tree on the south side of the highway. It was rather unique to watch the eagle dismantle the coot, much of it's entrails falling to the ground, and to see the eagle's normally yellow bill glistening and bright red with fresh blood. The Dugout Ranch pond may be found on state highway 211, about 20 miles west of highway 191 and well before one reaches the Needles district of Canyonlands Nat'l Park. This is also known as the Newspaper rock road. The pond is currently about 80% iced over and will probably not remain open much longer.

A northern saw-whet owl was seen just inside the Devil's Campground gate at about 7 p.m. this evening. A second northern saw-whet owl was heard near the inlet of Lloyd's lake, and a pair of great-horned owls was observed. Devil's Canyon campground is closed for the season but may be found about 12 miles south of Monticello on Highway 191. Lloyd's Lake can be found by following 200 South west out of Monticello and then following the signs. It's about two miles south of town.

Lu Giddings
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