Looking south from Mission Road photo by Tim Avery

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Description:
If you happen to be in Bluff during spring take a quick drive to the east along Mission Road/SR-162 towards Montezuma Creek. For the first couple miles the road is borders on the north by red rock cliffs, and on the south by agricultural fields.  Further south is the San Juan River.  There are a couple locations to access the river where lush riparian habitat dominated by cottonwood, willow, and russian olive provide great habitat.  The fields along the road are often flooded in the spring providing wetland type habitat even if just for a few weeks.  During the rest of the year birding along the river is also possible, but the fields won;t be as productive.

Birding:
This quick drive is mostly birding by car, but you can get out and scope the fields to look for waterbirds during migration.  If the fields are wet in April you will usually see a handful of WHITE-FACED IBIS, and may snag some shorebirds like MARBLED GODWIT, or even gulls like FRANKLIN'S GULL.  Along the road there are usually SAY'S PHOEBE, WESTERN KINGBIRD, ROCK WREN, and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.  CHIPPING and BREWER'S SPARROW might be present, while LUCY'S WARBLER can usually be heard in the trees along the river.  Overhead keep an eye out for WHITE-THROATED SWIFT and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW.  One thing to keep an eye out for here is CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN which have been found mixed in with large flocks of COMMON RAVEN in the fields.  The much smaller cousins are quite easy to pick out in a flock if present.  Migrants along the river, as well as waterfowl can be found. Apparently during the winter, large numbers of WOOD DUCKS have been seen but are unreported here in eBird.

Directions:
From the intersection of Red Rock Rd and Main Street in Bluff, head east on Main Street for .8 miles.  Turn right onto Mission Road which you can take for 2.9 miles to the turn off to old swinging bridge on the right.

US-6 south of Woodside from Google Street View

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Description:
US-191/6 travels north-south for 21.5 miles from Woodside south to I-70.  The habit is barren desert, with some shrubsteppe components.  Mostly open and sparsely vegetated the land is not a great type of habitat.  Many birders travel this route to get between southeast Utah and the Wasatch front.  To the east lay the Book Cliffs and to the west the San Rafael Swell.  Two very interesting areas with this low lying valley between.  This stretch of road can be very dangerous due to the amount of traffic, and semi usage.  There are plenty of places to pull off, onto side roads if you are interested in birding.

Birding:
The eBird checklist for this location at the time of writing shows just COMMON RAVEN from here--so you will probably see this species.  On the side roads there are certainly more birds, and things like HORNED LARK, LARK SPARROW, and SAY'S PHOEBE can be found relatively easily.  The barren desert here isn't ideal for much, but you may also come across ROCK WREN, BLACK-THROATED SPARROW, and WESTERN MEADOWLARK.  If you take the time to bird the side roads, be sure to put in a checklist for this middle of nowhere stretch of road!

Directions:
Driving on US-191/6 out of Price, continue south to Woodside.  Once you cross the Price River it is 21.5 miles to I-70 on this location.

Adams Park from Google Street View

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Description:
A very small park--just 1/2 a block by a full block two street west of Utah State University in Logan.  The urban environment here is dotted with deciduous and coniferous trees, like many city parks, providing an excellent location to look for birds in town.  A walking path follows the edge, and cuts through the middle to a playground and picnic area.

Birding:
A handful of checklists identify just 8 species here--mostly the things you expect to find in a city, but with RING-NECKED PHEASANT, CALIFORNIA GULL, and AMERICAN CROW it has a few odd balls.  You can quickly walk the 1/2 block by full block park with trails along the edges and through the middle.

Directions:
From the intersection of 400 North/US-89 and SR-30/US-91 in Logan go est on 400 North for .7 miles. Turn left onto 500 East and travel .1 mile north till you reach the park on your left.

Bell Canyon Gulley from Google Street View

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Description:
Bell Canyon Gulley is a small gulley that follows the course of Big Willow Creek as it winds its between neighborhoods toward Hidden Valley Golf Course. Sloping hills on either side of the creek create different habitat from the riparian section below. The upper slopes mostly consist of tall grass, but there are also fairly large patches of gambel's oak and sagebrush as well. Trails run through all these areas as well as paths that follow the creek. The gulley is mostly dry except for during runoff and following rains. Tall cottonwoods cover the sides of the creek with some thickets mixed in as well. Dog walkers can occasionally be seen on the trails here but for the most part this location receives little traffic.

Birding:
Birding is likely most productive here on both spring and fall migration as migrants would be attracted to the fairly unique habitat for the area. WESTERN TANAGER, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, WARBLING VIREO, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, GRAY and DUSKY FLYCATCHER  have all been seen on migration here. All 4 regularly occurring Utah HUMMINGBIRD species (CALLIOPE, RUFOUS, BROAD-TAILED, and BLACK-CHINNED) have been observed as well, the latter likely resident throughout the summer. CALIFORNIA QUAIL, SPOTTED TOWHEE, BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, and COOPER'S HAWK can be seen year-round in addition to other expected species in the area. Raptors such as AMERICAN KESTREL, and RED-TAILED HAWK, as well as GREAT HORNED and WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS have also been seen. Breeders here include species such as BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, YELLOW WARBLER, and LAZULI BUNTING.

Directions:
From I-15, take exit 292 for 11400 S and proceed east for about 3 miles. Make a right on to 1700 E and head south for .25 miles. Make a left onto Wasatch Boulevard and continue east for .5 miles. Parking is available on the north side of the road in a large dirt lot across from highland drive. To access the gulley from here, walk down the large dirt area between neighborhoods to the trails.

Antelope Drive from Google Street View

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Description:
Antelope Drive is the road leading from I-15 to the entrance station at Antelope Island State Park.  The road is a high traffic route that most birders traveling to the causeway use to get there.  Historically the western reaches of the road were predominantly agricultural.  In recent years the rapid expansion of Syracuse has encroached on most of this leaving very little grassland, agriculture, and open habitat.  However there remains a little bit of habitat here west of 3000 West.  Glen Eagle Golf Course is also found along this route, where several ponds and wet areas visible from the road.  Within the next decade it is possible the surrounding farm land will all be replaced with urban sprawl.

Birding:
This location isn't really a hot spot--but it gets a lot of birders.  The term hot spot is actually a poor choice of terminology that eBird adopted and we use because of them.  This is however a birding location, that lots of birders submit checklists for because of the birds they see on the way to the causeway.  Most birding done here is simply from the car.  Occasionally there are sightings of note that make it worth a quick pull to the side to scan or scope. Interestingly almost all checklists are from the spring migration period form here while summer, fall and winter checklists are rarely reported.  Spring is when the island is most visited by birders, but undoubtedly there are birders on this road every week of the year.  The most notable bird seen along the route is usually the AMERICAN CROW. Sometimes numbering in the 1,000's this species is reliably seen along this route year round. EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE are also omni-present, as are the typical urban fare.  During the spring it is not unusual to see large flocks of WHITE-FACED IBIS in flooded fields--but that may be a thing of the past with the development happening.  These same fields are often good spots for migrant CANADA GEESE.  Various raptors can be seen along the route.  During the winter months MERLIN is possible.  RING-NECKED PHEASANT is occasionally seen from the road, as are flocks of RED-WINGED, YELLOW-HEADED, and BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS.  Near the intersection with 1000 west GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE are often seen near the 7-11, McDonald's, or in the Smith's parking lot.  If you notice birds while traveling to or from the island, its worth submitting a checklist to help add to the data pool for this not-so-hot-hot-spot.

Directions:
From I-15 in Davis County take exit 332 for Antelope Drive to Antelope Island. Heading west the road continues 7 miles till you reach the state park entrance.

View of the Pond Here from Google Street View

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Description:
This cemetery sits on the south end of Sandy and is mostly open lawn with small to mid sized deciduous trees. There are sparse conifers present as well.  Although the actual birding habitat in the cemetery is sparse there is a pond located on the north end of the area surrounded by coniferous trees and small deciduous and coniferous shrubs.

Birding:
Like the Sandy City Cemetery there isn't a huge bird list here... yet.  Since this location has a pond the odds are it will have a much larger list over time.  Visited during spring and fall migration one may turn up various neotropical migrants given the prime habitat in an otherwise open urban environment.  There are no real notable sightings here yet, but AMERICAN CROW have been seen from time to time, and a MERLIN flyover was reported in March 2015.  The cemetery can be visited on your way to or from Dimple Dell Park which sits just to the north.

Directions:
From 1300 East and 10600 South in Sandy go east .6 miles on 10600 south till you reach the cemetery on your right. Continue another .2 miles to the pond on your right where you can pull off the road.

Sandy City Cemetery from Google Street View

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Description:
A small cemetery surrounded by homes and business in Sandy City.  Comprised mostly of a large lawn with numerous large coniferous tree along the east side.  There are trees throughout the cemetery of varying sizes and types.

Birding:
The bird list for the cemetery is small. At the time of this writing is was just 15 species.  The cemetery is notable however, for the small population of AMERICAN CROW that appear to nest hear each spring.  The crows can be seen throughout the year sporadically here, and at several other locations in Sandy

Directions:
The cemetery is located at the corner of 700 east and 9000 south in Sandy to the southwest of the intersection.  It can be entered via both the north and east sides off either 700 east of 9000 south.