{"id":113164,"date":"2023-05-03T02:52:01","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T08:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=113164"},"modified":"2023-05-03T03:26:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T09:26:22","slug":"springtime-grebe-and-avocet-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/03\/springtime-grebe-and-avocet-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Springtime Grebe And Avocet Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning I am sharing two springtime portraits that I took last week at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a>. The first is a Western Grebe, the second, an American Avocet.<\/p>\n

\"SpringtimeSpringtime Western Grebe portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1000, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I arrived at the location where the Western Grebe was resting, it appeared to be resting peacefully. After a few minutes, the bird lifted its head and seemed to be preparing to regurgitate a pellet or feather, but ultimately didn’t. However, it did open its bill as if it were about to do so.<\/p>\n

Following that behavior, the black and white waterbird appeared to be observing other nearby grebes, providing me with an opportunity to capture some portraits of it. I liked how clean the water was in the background, the soft blue color, and the intensity of the grebe’s red eye.<\/p>\n

\"SpringtimeSpringtime American Avocet portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1000, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike Western Grebes, which I only see during their breeding season, I have seen American Avocets every month of the year in Utah. I’ve even seen flocks of them in December next to the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.<\/p>\n

This male American Avocet was so close to where I sat in my Jeep that I wasn’t sure if my images of it would be sharp. Thankfully, it was just on the good side of the minimum focusing distance of my lens.<\/p>\n

Right now, the American Avocets at the refuge are in their breeding colors. The warm tones of this avocet’s plumage provided a nice contrast to the cool blue hue of the water.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed taking these springtime portraits of these two bird species and my visit to the refuge.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Western Grebe photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my American Avocet photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning I am sharing two springtime portraits that I took last week at Bear River MBR. The first is a Western Grebe, the second, an American Avocet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113158,"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":[451,124,27,1148,26,161],"tags":[4004,699,1634,5828,5350,4053,4142,877,707,4062,4094,4046,4177,274,165,5001,3996,4014,4095],"class_list":["post-113164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-avocets","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-western-grebes","tag-adult","tag-aechmophorus-occidentalis","tag-american-avocet","tag-avocet","tag-avocets","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-close-up","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-portrait","tag-recurvirostra-americana","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-spring","tag-springtime","tag-water","tag-western-grebe","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tre","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":113609,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/30\/springtime-adult-american-avocet\/","url_meta":{"origin":113164,"position":0},"title":"Springtime Adult American Avocet","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I wanted to share a photo of an adult American Avocet taken in the wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Avocet walking in shallow water in spring, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-avocet-springtime-mia-mcpherson-2904.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-avocet-springtime-mia-mcpherson-2904.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-avocet-springtime-mia-mcpherson-2904.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-avocet-springtime-mia-mcpherson-2904.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7443,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/06\/some-of-the-birds-i-love-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":113164,"position":1},"title":"Some of the Birds I Love at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite locations to photograph birds in northern Utah is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I've selected some of the birds there that delight and entertain me while I observe and photograph them.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling Eastern Kingbird on a barbed wire fence, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-adult-head-shot-mia-mcpherson-6136.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-adult-head-shot-mia-mcpherson-6136.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-adult-head-shot-mia-mcpherson-6136.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-adult-head-shot-mia-mcpherson-6136.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":84335,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/13\/spring-clarks-grebe-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":113164,"position":3},"title":"Spring Clark’s Grebe Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I spent time relaxing in the marshes of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge plus I came home with a nice series of spring Clark's Grebe photos.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Clark's Grebe pair with crossed bills, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-pair-mia-mcpherson-5964.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-pair-mia-mcpherson-5964.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-pair-mia-mcpherson-5964.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-pair-mia-mcpherson-5964.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":150809,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/25\/nesting-western-grebe-photos-from-bear-river-mbr-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":113164,"position":4},"title":"Nesting Western Grebe Photos From Bear River MBR In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I\u2019m sharing two nesting Western Grebe photos that were taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101210,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/29\/clarks-and-western-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":113164,"position":5},"title":"Clark’s And Western Grebe Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On my trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last week I was delighted to see and hear both Clark's and Western Grebe species from the auto tour loop.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Spring Clark's Grebe close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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