{"id":27532,"date":"2015-08-21T05:35:38","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T11:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=27532"},"modified":"2025-07-23T09:26:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T14:26:38","slug":"a-western-grebe-in-early-morning-smokey-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/21\/a-western-grebe-in-early-morning-smokey-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Grebe in early morning, smokey light"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WesternA Western Grebe in early morning, smokey light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

For nearly a week now smoke from western wildfires from other states has hung over the northern Utah and it created some odd lighting conditions two days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/a> <\/span>early in the morning.<\/p>\n

The sun has looked red when it has been rising and setting and for a brief period of time the birds I photograph not long after dawn seem to glow differently than they do on a smoke-free day.<\/p>\n

This Western Grebe was preening and flapping on the Bear River in that glowing, smokey light not long after dawn.<\/p>\n

\"BearBear River Migratory Bird Refuge and Smoke from Western Wildfires – Cell phone photo
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

This is what it looked like about half way out to the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge two days ago as the sun came over the mountains.<\/p>\n

The thing is that the smoke has been worse than this on other mornings. I hope the states where the wildfires are the most active see some relief soon. Very soon.<\/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 Western Grebe was preening and flapping on the Bear River in that glowing, smokey light not long after dawn. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150667,"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":[124,27,1148,26,161],"tags":[4004,699,877,707,4094,5376,4591,4014,4095,1770,3200],"class_list":["post-27532","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-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-marsh","tag-smoke","tag-smokey-light","tag-western-grebe","tag-wetlands","tag-wildfires","tag-wing-flapping"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-dawn-mia-mcpherson-8129.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-7a4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29600,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/10\/11\/they-might-be-common-but-i-love-coots-and-comparing-them-to-western-grebes\/","url_meta":{"origin":27532,"position":0},"title":"They Might Be Common But I Love Coots","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Both American Coots and Western Grebes have fascinating red eyes, interesting bills and black & white plumage.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Coot flapping its wings, Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-flapping-mia-mcpherson-3663.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-flapping-mia-mcpherson-3663.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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