Owl Springs photo by Kenny Frisch

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Description:
Rabbit and Owl Springs are 2 springs about a mile apart in the middle of the desert on the northwest edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats.  The springs are several miles north of Lucin and should be birded while at Lucin given the proximity.  Despite little to no water at either site, there is plenty of understory and some decent sized small trees.  These tiny migrant traps can be very productive during the spring and fall and the small areas make them easy to cover thoroughly.

Birding:
The basic idea here is to walk around and through the springs and just see what you can find.   There isn't a ton of habitat so it doesn't take long to check out both sites.  Warblers, sparrows, flycatchers, vireos, and other migrants show up here when they over shoot Lucin in the spring or come up short to Lucin in the fall.  They may also move between these locations during the day, but given the remoteness these tiny springs are islands in the desert. 4 species of empids and 9 species of warbler including AMERICAN REDSTART have been observed here.  Great Horned, LONG-EARED, and SHORT-EARED OWLS have all been recorded as well.

Directions:
From East Wendover, Utah, take I-80 east to exit 4, and get off the freeway. Turn left and head north till the road forks--take the left fork called Leppy Pass Road. After a short drive you will come through Leppy Pass and come to a fork in the road again at a small building, take the left fork and stay left as it forks again right after the building.  You are now on Pilot Mountian Road which eventually turns into Grouse Creek Road. The road swings out to the west into Nevada before looping back into Utah for about 42 miles before reaching Lucin on your right. From Lucin continue to follow the road as it crosses the railroad tracks and heads northeast for .8 miles.  You'll pass a road that shoots off to the right, followed by another road on the right, before Grouse Creek heads due north.  Take that second right and follow it 3.9 miles to Rabbit Springs.  From Rabbit Springs take the road that forks to the left and follow it about a mile to Owl Springs.
You can also take Route 30 from Brigham City to the east, or take I-80 west from Wendover to Route 233 east bound.  These routes both are paved up till the turn off at Grouse Creek Road. Take Grouse Creek Road south 1.1 miles and turn left.  Follow this road 1.4 miles then take a light right for .3 miles to arrive at Rabbit Springs.

Lucin photo by Kenny Frisch

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Description:
Lucin is and abandoned railroad watering station, located about 40 miles north of East Wendover, Utah, just inside the Utah/Nevada line.  A large spring surrounded by tall cottonwoods, willows, and other trees and shrubs provides a great migrant trap in the middle of the barren desert.

Birding:
Lucin has a number of remarkable bird sightings, notably eastern vagrant warblers, thrushes, other songbirds.  As a migrant trap, it means birding at Lucin can be hit or miss--and if you go a couple times in a year you are likely to have hits and misses.  The misses can be painful--a half dozen birds--not species, in a few hours scouring every inch of habitat.  But the hits can be unbelievable.  Birds dripping from trees--constant movement, and colors, grabbing your attention and making you want to keep walking around the small pond in hopes of picking out something that’s been hiding amongst the throngs of birds.  The best times to go are from Mid May through early June and again from early September into October. The most notable sightings include WOOD THRUSH, several OVENBIRDS, PALM WARBLER, NORTHERN PARULA, and CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER.  Several species of eastern warbler show up here almost annually including AMERICAN REDSTART, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, and BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER.  You can camp just about anywhere in the desert out here, or stay in Wendover and make the 40 mile drive north on the days you go.  I like to spend a couple days hitting other migrant traps in the desert and giving yourself a chance at some turnover each day.  At night the road from Wendover can turn up good number of Common Poorwills, Burrowing Owls, and Short-eared Owls.  During the day look for warblers, wrens, thrushes, sparrows, orioles, tanagers, and almost anything that migrates.  Lucin has the potential to turn up something really rare!

Directions:
From East Wendover, Utah, take I-80 east to exit 4, and get off the freeway. Turn left and head north till the road forks--take the left fork called Leppy Pass Road. After a short drive you will come through Leppy Pass and come to a fork in the road again at a small building, take the left fork and stay left as it forks again right after the building.  You are now on Pilot Mountian Road which eventually turns into Grouse Creek Road. The road swings out to the west into Nevada before looping back into Utah for about 42 miles before reaching Lucin on your right. You can also take Route 30 from Brigham City to the east, or take I-80 west from Wendover to Route 233 east bound.  These routes both are paved up till the turn off to Lucin 6 miles north of its location.

Rest Stop  from Google Street View

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Description:
Interstate rest area with a decent sized tree, surrounded by the Bonneville Salt Flats.  There is also a rest stop on the south side (for east bound traffic) that has more trees and a decent view of some water.

Birding:
Although there have only been a few species recorded here as opposed to the rest stop south of the interstate, the majority of the birds here have all be migrants.  Desperate for food while migrating south, this is the first tree migrants heading south will see. WESTERN TANAGER, 3 species of warbler, and WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE are the notable species observed her. IF you are headed towards Wendover, stop here and write down what you see.  Put the checklist into eBird and help build the data set for this atypical "hotspot".

Directions:
Heading west on I-80 towards Wendover take the exit on your right for the Rest Stop about 10 miles from the state line near around MM10 and MM11.

Rest Stop  from Google Street View

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Description:
Interstate rest area with several deciduous trees, surrounded by the Bonneville Salt Flats.  There is also a rest stop on the north side (for west bound traffic) that has even fewer trees.

Birding:
To the average person this looks like a barren rest stop.  But to a birder, it can be a very strange migrant trap.  A number of migrants have been reported here, struggling to find something to eat in the middle of the barren salt flats. WESTERN TANAGER, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, warblers, and the most surprising find a PACIFIC WREN have all been reported here.  There is also some water to the south where a number of waterbirds, including waterfowl, divers, and shorebirds have been seen--including 15 SNOWY PLOVERS in June once.

Directions:
Heading east on I-80 from Wendover take the exit on your right for the Rest Stop about 10 miles from the state line.