{"id":26811,"date":"2015-07-20T04:32:44","date_gmt":"2015-07-20T10:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=26811"},"modified":"2025-11-14T07:44:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T13:44:47","slug":"a-quiet-morning-spent-with-the-birds-of-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/20\/a-quiet-morning-spent-with-the-birds-of-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Quiet Morning Spent with the Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Black-neckedBlack-necked Stilt juvenile at Bear River NWR – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/640, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I headed up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> yesterday morning and I am very glad I did because of the wonderful birds I saw.<\/p>\n

As I drove north the sky cleared and I knew I would have good light. I hadn’t been to the refuge in just over a month and I was curious about the birds I might see because month to month and year to year there are differences due to water levels and the availability of food.<\/p>\n

The first shorebirds I could photograph were Black-necked Stilts that were feeding in the shallow water. This juvenile’s parent was close by keeping an eye on its chick.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Willet at Bear River NWR – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I came across one solitary juvenile Willet on the auto tour route road that was hanging around with some Black-necked Stilts.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile American Coot nibbling on veggies – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And then I found a juvenile American Coot pigging out on some underwater vegetation. They might be abundant but I stopped for it anyway. I don’t have that many images of them at this stage of maturity.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron lifting off from a stand of rushes – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw a Great Blue Heron resting on top of a mound of rushes and pulled off to the side so I could take images of it if it took off and it did eventually fly away…<\/p>\n

\"FluffedFluffed up Marsh Wren – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

But before the heron flew off this Marsh Wren flew in close and caught my eye so I couldn’t resist photographing it. It didn’t hang around long but I did get about 6 images of it.<\/p>\n

\"Pied-billedPied-billed Grebe in breeding plumage – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I also couldn’t resist photographing this Pied-billed Grebe in breeding plumage as it swam slowly past me heading towards the west.<\/p>\n

I saw a few people fishing on my way in and only one other photographer on the auto tour route. It was a quiet, delightful morning spent with the birds on the refuge. So very peaceful.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my bird photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I headed up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning and I am very glad I did because of the wonderful birds I saw. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,124,27,1463,1148,166,538,135,26,308],"tags":[4010,4117,1464,777,2772,2773,4121,3987,877,707,627,626,4370,2118,4378,4009,4166,9084,274,3950,3951,4168,313,4047,5802,3822],"class_list":["post-26811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-coots","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-black-necked-stilts","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-great-blue-herons","category-marsh-wrens","category-pied-billed-grebes","category-utah","category-willets","tag-american-coot","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-black-necked-stilt","tag-cistothorus-palustris","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-fulica-americana","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-himantopus-mexicanus","tag-marsh-wren","tag-morning","tag-pied-billed-grebe","tag-podilymbus-podiceps","tag-quiet","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-stilt","tag-stilts","tag-tringa-semipalmata","tag-wading-birds","tag-willet","tag-wren","tag-wrens"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-necked-stilt-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-6380.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-6Yr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7443,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/06\/some-of-the-birds-i-love-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":26811,"position":0},"title":"Some of the Birds I Love at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite locations to photograph birds in northern Utah is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I've selected some of the birds there that delight and entertain me while I observe and photograph them.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling Eastern Kingbird on a barbed wire fence, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"August 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Thousands upon thousands of Black-necked Stilts make the marshes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah their home during 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":"Juvenile Black-necked Stilts in the marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-necked-stilts-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-0446.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-necked-stilts-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-0446.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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