{"id":119012,"date":"2023-12-14T04:31:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T11:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=119012"},"modified":"2023-12-14T04:31:13","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T11:31:13","slug":"western-meadowlark-and-a-windy-morning-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/14\/western-meadowlark-and-a-windy-morning-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Meadowlark And A Windy Morning At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

I didn’t photograph many birds at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a> yesterday because it was windy. I did take photos of this handsome Western Meadowlark at the refuge though.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Meadowlark on a windy morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I found the meadowlark on the flats of the last leg of the auto tour loop, about 1\/4 of a mile from the end of it. The meadowlark wasn’t close, and I had to hurry to take photos of it because I could see a vehicle quickly catching up to me in my rearview mirror.<\/p>\n

The wind was supposed to have died down by 8 am. That wasn’t the case. The wind was an issue the entire time I was at the refuge, and at some areas of I-15 on the way home, the wind buffeted my Jeep too.<\/p>\n

Wind can keep birds ‘down’; and with the exception of Northern Harriers, gulls, and ducks, it did just that yesterday. The harriers looked like they were simply enjoying the wind as they flew above the wetlands. The gulls seemed to be focused on some kind of hatch, way out in the marsh.<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/div><\/div>\n

I did take a few videos yesterday and wanted to share this one that was taken on the west side of the auto tour loop to show how windy it was. There were whitecaps on the water! I don’t often get to see waves on the water at the refuge.<\/p>\n

The wind really bothered my eyes yesterday, and I didn’t come home with many bird photos. Still, I enjoyed the scenery and the solitude I find at the refuge. It felt great to be there.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I didn’t photograph many birds at Bear River MBR yesterday because it was windy. I did take photos of this handsome Western Meadowlark at the refuge though.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119009,"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":[124,27,1148,26,5362,371],"tags":[4004,970,4620,4094,4824,4825,4378,4104,4061,2791,4308,4095,1193],"class_list":["post-119012","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-utah","category-video","category-western-meadowlarks","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-fall","tag-marsh","tag-meadowlark","tag-meadowlarks","tag-morning","tag-perched","tag-sturnella-neglecta","tag-video","tag-western-meadowlark","tag-wetlands","tag-windy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/western-meadowlark-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-9689.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-uXy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":117752,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/02\/western-meadowlark-amusement\/","url_meta":{"origin":119012,"position":0},"title":"Western Meadowlark Amusement","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Photographing this Western Meadowlark on Monday on my way back to I-15 from Bear River MBR was so much fun for me that it probably ought to be illegal.","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":"Squatting Western Meadowlark with flipped feathers, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/western-meadowlark-fall-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-6829.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/western-meadowlark-fall-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-6829.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/western-meadowlark-fall-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-6829.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/western-meadowlark-fall-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-6829.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7832,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/13\/sounds-of-spring-western-meadowlark\/","url_meta":{"origin":119012,"position":1},"title":"Sounds of Spring – Western Meadowlark","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Normally we have Western Meadowlarks year round here in the Salt Lake Valley but because this past winter was harsh it seemed that they moved south for a bit. 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