{"id":123293,"date":"2024-03-09T04:05:56","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T11:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=123293"},"modified":"2025-05-08T07:47:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T12:47:54","slug":"today-is-utahs-swan-day-for-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/09\/today-is-utahs-swan-day-for-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Today Is Utah’s Swan Day For 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is March 9th, and it is Utah’s Swan Day 2024! The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> auto tour loop is a terrific place to see these lovely white swans.<\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter Tundra Swan portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f11, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Visitor Center will have a swan exhibit, swan themed activities, swan story time, a photo workshop, and live raptor presentations. The events start at 10 a.m. which leaves plenty of time to go to the auto tour loop before or after the events.<\/p>\n

From the visitor center or the auto tour loop it is possible to see and hear<\/span><\/a> the swans lifting off from the marshes and wetlands as they fly towards their feeding grounds.<\/p>\n

During my winters in northern Utah, I have relished both seeing and hearing the Tundra Swans while they are visiting. I’ve also seen a few Trumpeter Swans and one Bewick’s Swan, too.<\/p>\n

Last year on March 2nd, I had my best day with the swans ever. I was able to photograph a banded\/collared Tundra Swan<\/span><\/a> and learn more about that particular swan from the bander.<\/p>\n

I came upon a flock of swans that were close enough to the auto tour loop that I was able to take portraits of the closest swan, which was resting on the ice, without disturbing it. The Tundra Swan was gorgeous on the snow-covered ice, and the specular highlights just seemed to accentuate how cold and snowy it was last winter.<\/p>\n

\"TundraTundra Swan resting way out on the ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/6400, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

That same morning, I found a solitary, resting Tundra Swan way out on the ice and stopped to take some photos. I knew that it would be a great comparison photo to share with any of the portraits I had taken that morning.<\/p>\n

From far away or close up, I always love taking photos of the swans and listening to their calls. They are simply magnificent.<\/p>\n

Visit the refuge if you can; the swans will be leaving for their breeding grounds soon!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Today is March 9th, and it is Utah’s Swan Day 2024! The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour loop is a terrific place to see these lovely white swans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143425,"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":[14512,4007,4008,4142,4431,4064,4094,4069,4046,4156,4043,4050,10469,4628,3122,2117,30,2063,4095,373],"class_list":["post-123293","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-bear-river-mbr","tag-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","tag-box-elder-county","tag-close-up","tag-cygnus-columbianus","tag-ice","tag-marsh","tag-mountains","tag-portrait","tag-resting","tag-small-in-frame","tag-snow","tag-specular-highlights","tag-swan","tag-swans","tag-tundra-swan","tag-utah-2","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-solitary-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-4967.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-w4B","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100583,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/11\/fifteen-tundra-swan-photos-for-swan-day-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":123293,"position":0},"title":"Fifteen Tundra Swan Photos For Swan Day 2022","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This past Monday while I was enjoying the peace and solitude of the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I took hundreds of Tundra Swan photos from inside my Jeep.","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":"Running Tundra Swan with wings up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/tundra-swan-adult-mar-7-2022-mia-mcpherson-9759.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/tundra-swan-adult-mar-7-2022-mia-mcpherson-9759.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Day here in Utah. It is a day to celebrate these large, white, beautiful birds that spend time here during the winter.","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":"Tundra Swans and winter sky, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.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-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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