{"id":14615,"date":"2014-03-25T05:21:32","date_gmt":"2014-03-25T11:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14615"},"modified":"2025-10-30T10:56:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:56:52","slug":"red-winged-blackbirds-are-courting-and-nesting-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/25\/red-winged-blackbirds-are-courting-and-nesting-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-winged Blackbirds are Courting and Nesting at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red-wingedRed-winged Blackbird male on a cattail At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Nikon D300, f6.3,\u00a0 1\/500,\u00a0 ISO 320, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited or called in<\/span><\/p>\n

The Red-winged Blackbirds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/a> have courting and nest building on their minds now that spring is upon us. The flashy males can be found singing and displaying on top of cattails and rushes in an attempt to find a mate.<\/p>\n

Yesterday Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge looked marvelous with plenty of water in the impoundments, a clear sky, and signs of vegetation greening up and in the background the snow covered Wasatch Mountain Range.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Red-winged Blackbird with nesting material\u00a0– Nikon D300, f6.3,\u00a0 1\/500,\u00a0 ISO 320, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited or called in<\/span><\/p>\n

Female Red-winged Blackbirds aren’t as flashy as the males and can be easily overlooked but that doesn’t stop me from finding and photographing them. I photographed this female as she searched for suitable nesting material right at the edge of the auto tour route. She eventually dropped the material in her bill and moved on to locate more.<\/p>\n

A spring morning spent at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is always a gift.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Red-winged Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> is a jewel of a wetland not too far from Brigham City with easy access from I-15. The views are spectacular and the birds are terrific.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Red-winged Blackbirds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge have courting and nest building on their minds now that spring is upon us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,419,26],"tags":[4004,4151,3813,3483,4073,2498,4070,4062,780,4182,4324],"class_list":["post-14615","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-red-winged-blackbirds","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-breeding-season","tag-courting","tag-female","tag-male","tag-nest-building","tag-nesting-material","tag-red-winged-blackbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t