{"id":110083,"date":"2023-02-07T06:41:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T13:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110083"},"modified":"2023-02-07T06:42:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T13:42:36","slug":"bear-river-mbr-winter-haven-for-tundra-swans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/07\/bear-river-mbr-winter-haven-for-tundra-swans\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear River MBR: Winter Haven For Tundra Swans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I had hoped that this morning would be sunny so I could head to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/bear-river-migratory-bird\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a> to see, listen to, and photograph Tundra Swans on the marshes. Clouds and gray weather are preventing me from heading up that way.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-110081 size-full\" title=\"Adult and immature Tundra Swans in morning flight\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg\" alt=\"Adult and immature Tundra Swans in morning flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Adult and immature Tundra Swans in morning flight \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/5000, ISO 640, EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I took both of the photos I am sharing this morning five years ago today when it was bright, sunny, and very cold. You might think it is strange but I actually didn&#8217;t feel the cold though because I was so immersed in the beauty of hundreds of Tundra Swans and the wetlands in my view. The sounds of the swans <a href=\"https:\/\/xeno-canto.org\/72958\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">calling<\/span><\/a> as they lifted off from the marsh was music to my ears.<\/p>\n<p>The calls of these swans touches something deep inside of me that makes me feel even more connected to them and to all of nature.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-110080 size-full\" title=\"Adult Tundra Swan in an azure sky\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106.jpg\" alt=\"Adult Tundra Swan in an azure sky, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-flight-azure-sky-mia-mcpherson-0106.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Adult Tundra Swan in an azure sky \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/5000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>When I was up at Bear River MBR a few days ago I didn&#8217;t see or hear any swans. On that date there was very little open water because of we&#8217;d had more than a week of very cold weather. The overnight low temps were in the single digits and a few were below 0\u00b0F.<\/p>\n<p>After a few warmer nights and days I had hoped to head to the refuge today to find open water and swans.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m going to have to wait to see and hear these large, beautiful white birds resting on the marsh and taking to the air. It is a good thing that I am a patient woman.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/tundra-swan-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Tundra Swan photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had hoped that this morning would be sunny so I could head to Bear River MBR to see, listen to, and photograph Tundra Swans on the marshes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,158,26],"tags":[4004,13663,4431,4052,4122,4067,4094,4018,4628,3122,2117,2994,2063,4095,373,4193],"class_list":["post-110083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-tundra-swans","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-azure","tag-cygnus-columbianus","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-immature","tag-marsh","tag-sky","tag-swan","tag-swans","tag-tundra-swan","tag-tundra-swans","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sDx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55925,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/03\/focusing-on-the-tundra-swans-and-wetlands-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":110083,"position":0},"title":"Focusing On The Tundra Swans And Wetlands Of Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago today I spent the morning focusing on and photographing the Tundra Swans and wetlands of Bear River MBR and I have to say that those birds and the marshes bring me such joy that I feel like I have to share them over and over.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tundra Swans in the marshes of Bear River MBR at dawn, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-dawn-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-dawn-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-dawn-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8572.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-dawn-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8572.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61881,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/04\/visions-of-tundra-swans\/","url_meta":{"origin":110083,"position":1},"title":"Visions Of Tundra Swans","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I need to get to Bear River MBR soon because I have visions of Tundra Swans drifting through my mind and I'd love to see them in person on the marshes of the refuge again.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult and immature Tundra Swans in flight with a cloudy sky behind them, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96615,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/23\/it-is-time-to-look-and-listen-for-tundra-swans-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":110083,"position":2},"title":"It Is Time To Look And Listen For Tundra Swans In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I noticed in my Facebook memories that I saw and heard my first of season Tundra Swans at Bear River MBR on this date in 2015 and that made me happy.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two adult Tundra Swans flying over wetlands, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/tundra-swans-bear-river-mbr-flying-mia-mcpherson-2134.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/tundra-swans-bear-river-mbr-flying-mia-mcpherson-2134.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/tundra-swans-bear-river-mbr-flying-mia-mcpherson-2134.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/tundra-swans-bear-river-mbr-flying-mia-mcpherson-2134.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50879,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/04\/photographing-the-tundra-swans-of-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":110083,"position":3},"title":"Photographing the Tundra Swans of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a blast photographing the Tundra Swans at the refuge yesterday and for the first time in a while I forgot about practically everything but the birds in front of me and the peace I find at the refuge.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tundra Swan adult flying by, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-flight-mia-mcpherson-8893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-flight-mia-mcpherson-8893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-flight-mia-mcpherson-8893.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-flight-mia-mcpherson-8893.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55606,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/10\/adult-and-immature-tundra-swans-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":110083,"position":4},"title":"Adult And Immature Tundra Swans At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I am itching to get back out into the field and one of the places I am most excited to get back to is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County, Utah because of the Tundra Swans that I know are there.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Tundra Swan flapping its wings, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8486.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8486.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53026,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/09\/refreshing-winter-scenery-and-the-tundra-swans-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":110083,"position":5},"title":"Refreshing Winter Scenery and the Tundra Swans of Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes when the summer heat gets to me I look back at images I have taken during the winter and quite often I find those images to be taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the birds that I find there.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Tundra Swan in flight over Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-0400.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-0400.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-0400.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-0400.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}