{"id":111204,"date":"2023-03-14T04:44:02","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T10:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=111204"},"modified":"2023-03-14T04:53:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T10:53:10","slug":"double-crested-cormorant-on-the-bear-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/14\/double-crested-cormorant-on-the-bear-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Double-crested Cormorant on the Bear River"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I photographed this adult Double-crested Cormorant at the end of March last spring as it swam by me on the Bear River. The color of its eyes was so striking.<\/p>\n<p>Typically there are a few cormorants that overwinter at my local pond but this winter they have been noticeably absent. I missed them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-111200 size-full\" title=\"Spring Double-crested Cormorant on the Bear River\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968.jpg\" alt=\"Spring Double-crested Cormorant on the Bear River, 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\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Spring Double-crested Cormorant on the Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>While going through my photos from around this time last year I noticed that by March 15th I was seeing flights of 60 to 100 <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Double-crested_cormorant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">cormorants<\/span><\/a> heading north over my local pond. March that year was warm and migrant birds seemed to have arrived earlier than they have this year.<\/p>\n<p>But yesterday for the first time this year, I noticed that spring was in the air. The temps rose rapidly throughout the morning and we almost made it to 60 degrees. By yesterday evening the birds sounded cheerier and I felt that way myself. Spring is creeping in and I am thrilled to embrace it head on.<\/p>\n<p>I have a project that is keeping me busy right now but I am hoping that by the end of this week I will have it completed so I can get back out into the field. I need that, I need a healthy dose of birds, warmer weather, and nature.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/double-crested-cormorant-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Double-crested Cormorant photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I photographed this adult Double-crested Cormorant at the end of March last spring as it swam by me on the Bear River. The color of its eyes was so striking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111200,"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":[124,27,1148,144,26],"tags":[4004,4529,5548,5200,149,4173,2504,5558,165,1283,3996,5123,4095],"class_list":["post-111204","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-double-crested-cormorant","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bear-river","tag-cormorant","tag-cormorants","tag-double-crested-cormorant","tag-nannopterum-auritus","tag-reflection","tag-river","tag-spring","tag-swimming","tag-water","tag-waterbirds","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4968.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sVC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40054,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/17\/resting-double-crested-cormorant-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":111204,"position":0},"title":"Resting Double-crested Cormorant at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent the morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday and one of the birds I photographed the most was this resting Double-crested Cormorant.","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":"Double-crested Cormorant resting on a stump, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/double-crested-cormorant-drying-mia-mcpherson-4892.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/double-crested-cormorant-drying-mia-mcpherson-4892.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/double-crested-cormorant-drying-mia-mcpherson-4892.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/double-crested-cormorant-drying-mia-mcpherson-4892.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100505,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/09\/four-double-crested-cormorants-resting-on-the-bank-of-the-bear-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":111204,"position":1},"title":"Four Double-crested Cormorants Resting On The Bank Of The Bear River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"After driving the auto tour loop at Bear River MBR two days ago I stopped to photograph four Double-crested Cormorants resting on the bank of the Bear River.","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":"Four Double-crested Cormorants next to the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/double-crested-cormorants-four-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0074.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/double-crested-cormorants-four-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0074.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/double-crested-cormorants-four-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0074.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/double-crested-cormorants-four-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0074.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":142466,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/02\/double-crested-cormorant-drying-their-wings\/","url_meta":{"origin":111204,"position":2},"title":"Double-crested Cormorant Drying Their Wings","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost two years ago, I was at a small pond in a city park near where I lived in Utah when I photographed this Double-crested Cormorant drying their wings.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Double-crested Cormorant drying their wings, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/double-crested-cormorant-wings-mia-mcpherson-3146.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/double-crested-cormorant-wings-mia-mcpherson-3146.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/double-crested-cormorant-wings-mia-mcpherson-3146.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/double-crested-cormorant-wings-mia-mcpherson-3146.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58904,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/07\/adult-double-crested-cormorant-showing-the-electric-blue-lining-of-its-mouth\/","url_meta":{"origin":111204,"position":3},"title":"Adult Double-crested Cormorant Showing The Electric Blue Lining Of Its Mouth","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"During the breeding season even the inside of the mouths of Double-crested Cormorants show changes, the lining inside their mouths turns into a deep, electric or cobalt blue.","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":"Double-crested Cormorant showing the electric blue lining of its mouth, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/double-crested-cormorant-open-bill-mia-mcpherson-5542.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/double-crested-cormorant-open-bill-mia-mcpherson-5542.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/double-crested-cormorant-open-bill-mia-mcpherson-5542.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/double-crested-cormorant-open-bill-mia-mcpherson-5542.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127397,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/09\/urban-double-crested-cormorant-photos-in-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":111204,"position":4},"title":"Urban Double-crested Cormorant Photos In Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"While looking at my Common Loon photos from last spring, I came across these Double-crested Cormorant photos that I took at the same time last year.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Double-crested Cormorant checking me out, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-pond-mia-mcpherson-2377.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-pond-mia-mcpherson-2377.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-pond-mia-mcpherson-2377.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/double-crested-cormorant-spring-pond-mia-mcpherson-2377.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137325,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/24\/pink-hour-american-white-pelicans-and-double-crested-cormorants-over-the-arkansas-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":111204,"position":5},"title":"Pink Hour: American White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants over the Arkansas River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I'm sharing a photo of a small flock of American White Pelicans and a Double-crested Cormorant flying by in the gorgeous pink sky at the lock and dam.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American White Pelicans&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American White Pelicans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/pelicans\/white-pelicans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants over the Arkansas River in early morning light, Robert S. Kerr Lock and Dam, Le Flore County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-white-pelicans-double-crested-cormorants-pink-mia-mcpherson-9794.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-white-pelicans-double-crested-cormorants-pink-mia-mcpherson-9794.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-white-pelicans-double-crested-cormorants-pink-mia-mcpherson-9794.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-white-pelicans-double-crested-cormorants-pink-mia-mcpherson-9794.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\/111204","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=111204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}