American Avocets breed in Utah in the summer.  We’ve very lucky here in Salt Lake City because the map shows that only a small section surrounding the Great Salt Lake is used as breeding territory.

I didn’t see them breed this year, but I can try to find the babies next year.  You can see that the breeding coloring is already fading in the picture below.

The avocets stayed long enough that I captured pictures of their feathers changing.  This was taken on September 18.

This weekend when I went to Farmington Bay the avocets were gone, so October 30th was the last time that I saw them.  The pictures below were taken at Antelope Island.  I love how there were a couple gull interlopers in the group.

There were possibly 100 avocets all sleeping and preening in the group.

I really love avocets.  They’re one of the birds that makes me sad when fall arrives.  I used to love fall so much and now I associate it with the loss of my friends.  I can’t wait for April again.