{"id":150809,"date":"2025-07-25T04:30:41","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T09:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=150809"},"modified":"2025-07-25T05:08:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T10:08:21","slug":"nesting-western-grebe-photos-from-bear-river-mbr-in-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/25\/nesting-western-grebe-photos-from-bear-river-mbr-in-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Nesting Western Grebe Photos From Bear River MBR In Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning I\u2019m sharing two nesting Western Grebe photos that were taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

\"NestingNesting Western Grebe in spring \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/640, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why I hadn\u2019t shared these grebe on their nest photos. I\u2019d tucked them into the folder where I keep images I want to share. This photo has waited ten years to be seen. I took it in June of 2015.<\/p>\n

I didn’t find many nesting grebes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>, sometimes when I did they were too far from the auto tour loop to take high quality photos. It was always a thrill to find, point out, and photograph a grebe nest.<\/p>\n

\"NestingNesting Western Grebe \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I found this nesting Western Grebe at the refuge in June of 2020 on the western side of the auto tour loop at the refuge. Everything was still so green that June.<\/p>\n

Clark\u2019s and Western Grebes both build large floating nests made of aquatic vegetation. They anchor them among reeds or rushes near the water\u2019s edge in shallow, sheltered areas of lakes or marshes. The water under the nests is usually less than a foot deep.<\/p>\n

Both parents help with nest building. The male usually brings in the big, sturdy plant material, and the female adds wet vegetation to bind everything together and shape the central spot where the eggs will rest.<\/p>\n

The nests are often found in dense colonies, and they\u2019re designed to rise and fall with changing water levels. That helps protect the eggs from flooding or being left high and dry.<\/p>\n

After the female lays a clutch of two or three eggs, both adults take turns incubating them. That lasts for about 24 days.<\/p>\n

The chicks hatch covered in down and waste no time. Within minutes, they climb onto their parents\u2019 backs, where they\u2019ll be carried and fed for the first few weeks of life.<\/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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning I\u2019m sharing two nesting Western Grebe photos that were taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150785,"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":[124,27,1148,26,161],"tags":[4004,699,4073,472,877,707,4094,4075,3976,165,2315,3996,5123,4014,4095],"class_list":["post-150809","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-western-grebes","tag-adult","tag-aechmophorus-occidentalis","tag-breeding-season","tag-eggs","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-marsh","tag-nest","tag-nesting","tag-spring","tag-summer-3","tag-water","tag-waterbirds","tag-western-grebe","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-4541.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Dep","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101210,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/29\/clarks-and-western-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":150809,"position":0},"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, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"February 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge three days ago I realized that in just a few weeks the Clark's and Western Grebes will be returning to the marshes for their breeding season.","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":"Western Grebes on nest, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebes-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-9197.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-grebes-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-9197.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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