{"id":117589,"date":"2023-10-29T04:21:05","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T10:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=117589"},"modified":"2023-10-29T04:21:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T10:21:05","slug":"fall-killdeer-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/29\/fall-killdeer-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall Killdeer at Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since moving to Utah, I have seen and photographed Killdeer in every month of the year. It was no surprise that I found several at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a> last Monday.<\/p>\n

\"KilldeerKilldeer walking in shallow water at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though shorebirds in general can look delicate, many of them are pretty tough. Killdeer certainly are. I’ve seen them standing on ice during whiteout snow storms. This year, my first images of this species were taken when it was snowing like crazy.<\/p>\n

Because this year has been a little off kilter for me, I missed the opportunity to photograph these shorebirds during their nesting season with their young ones running around. I did get to see and hear them in Virginia this year though which is something I haven’t done in decades.<\/p>\n

There were two Killdeer in the flooded mudflats toward the end of the auto tour loop at the refuge that I stopped to photograph. While they weren’t as close to the road as I would have liked, I still wanted to capture images of them.<\/p>\n

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The water was calm and glassy. The Killdeer were calm too. After a stormy start to the morning, the wind had died down by the time I arrived at this spot. These birds were simply foraging for their breakfast.<\/p>\n

Overnight and daytime temperatures have dropped quite a bit since last Monday, but I bet there are still Killdeer<\/span><\/a> at the refuge.<\/p>\n

I’m looking forward to my next trip to the refuge because the Tundra Swans have arrived, and I am hoping to see my first-of-year swans and Rough-legged Hawks. While I can’t say that I am looking forward to blowing, shoveling, and scraping snow, I am looking forward to seeing the winter birds I’ve been missing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Since moving to Utah, I have seen and photographed Killdeer in every month of the year. It was no surprise that I found several at Bear River MBR last Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,267,26],"tags":[4004,970,4144,4620,270,6515,4094,4273,1032,5841,275,274,4043,3996,4095],"class_list":["post-117589","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-killdeer","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-charadrius-vociferus","tag-fall","tag-killdeer","tag-killdeers","tag-marsh","tag-mudflats","tag-pickleweed","tag-plover","tag-plovers","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-small-in-frame","tag-water","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/killdeer-flats-marsh-mia-mcpherson-5519.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-uAB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":105042,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/16\/young-killdeer-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":117589,"position":0},"title":"Young Killdeer At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge where the second bird that I photographed was a young Killdeer in the early light of dawn.","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":"Young Killdeer just after dawn, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/killdeer-young-refuge-mia-mcpherson-3508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/killdeer-young-refuge-mia-mcpherson-3508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/killdeer-young-refuge-mia-mcpherson-3508.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/killdeer-young-refuge-mia-mcpherson-3508.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101068,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/27\/killdeer-in-spring-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":117589,"position":1},"title":"Killdeer In Spring At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was at Bear River MBR two days ago I stopped and took a long series of photos of three Killdeer near the entrance to the auto 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":"Preening adult Killdeer, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/killdeer-spring-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5378.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/killdeer-spring-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5378.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/killdeer-spring-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5378.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/killdeer-spring-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5378.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":124694,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/19\/close-up-killdeer-in-soft-morning-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":117589,"position":2},"title":"Close Up Killdeer In Soft Morning Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The first bird I photographed yesterday morning at Bear River MBR was this Killdeer in soft morning light. Truthfully, I am glad my first bird was a Killdeer.","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":"Killdeer in soft morning light, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/killdeer-adult-early-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-0647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/killdeer-adult-early-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-0647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/killdeer-adult-early-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-0647.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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