{"id":34695,"date":"2016-01-03T05:49:35","date_gmt":"2016-01-03T12:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=34695"},"modified":"2025-08-05T13:18:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T18:18:55","slug":"ring-billed-gull-in-flight-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/03\/ring-billed-gull-in-flight-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Ring-billed Gull in Flight at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FlyingRing-billed Gull and snow covered mountains – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed this Ring-billed Gull in flight at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> on New Year’s Day on the west side of the auto tour loop. There were gulls and ravens resting on the ice and several gulls in flight over some open water. I could not resist taking images of the gulls with the snow covered Promontory Mountains in the background and this image makes me glad I didn’t think “they are just gulls”.<\/p>\n

The winter light on the white snow and the Ring-billed Gull in flight combine to create what I think is a visually appealing image. This is a common bird that can be uncommonly beautiful and I’m happy to have this image taken at OUR refuge in my portfolio.<\/p>\n

Today I want to express my concern for the safety of the staff at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, the people of the towns nearby and for the government officials that have to deal with and remove the patriots<\/del> militia<\/del> utterly disgusting armed thugs that have illegally and forcibly taken over the refuge headquarters<\/span><\/a> and the refuge.<\/p>\n

Their earlier peaceful protest in town was legal. Taking over the refuge is not.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I photographed this Ring-billed Gull in flight at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on New Year’s Day on the west side of the auto tour loop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151553,"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":[124,27,1148,410,26],"tags":[4004,4052,4122,521,4264,4094,4069,4528,4468,4050,4093,4328,4095,373],"class_list":["post-34695","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-ring-billed-gulls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gulls","tag-larus-delawarensis","tag-marsh","tag-mountains","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-ring-billed-gull","tag-snow","tag-snow-covered","tag-snowy","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-promontory-mountains-mia-mcpherson-2610.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-91B","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35198,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/03\/a-winter-california-gull-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":34695,"position":0},"title":"Winter California Gull at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Ring-billed and California Gulls are the typical gulls I find in Utah so it wasn't much of a surprise to find this California Gull at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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":"Flight of a California Gull in winter at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/california-gull-flight-winter-mia-mcpherosn-8730.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/california-gull-flight-winter-mia-mcpherosn-8730.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/california-gull-flight-winter-mia-mcpherosn-8730.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/california-gull-flight-winter-mia-mcpherosn-8730.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108084,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/16\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-excitement\/","url_meta":{"origin":34695,"position":1},"title":"Ring-billed Gull Feeding Frenzy Excitement","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge two days ago I witnessed several Ring-billed Gull feeding frenzies out on the marshes of the refuge.","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":"Ring-billed Gull feeding frenzy on the marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98709,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/05\/winter-ring-billed-gull-images-from-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":34695,"position":2},"title":"Winter Ring-billed Gull Images From Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago tomorrow I was at Bear River MBR where I took these winter Ring-billed Gull images from the west side of the auto tour loop at the refuge.","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":"Ring-billed Gull flying over a frozen wetland, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-4425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-4425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-4425.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-4425.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42921,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/31\/ring-billed-gulls-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":34695,"position":3},"title":"Ring-billed Gulls at Bear River MBR & How the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Saved Them","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"There were at least 50 Ring-billed Gulls at Bear River MBR diving into the open water looking for fish that winter morning which gave me plenty of chances to photograph them.","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":"Hovering Ring-billed Gull in winter, Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-8696.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-8696.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-8696.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-8696.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48366,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/06\/franklins-and-ring-billed-gulls-flying-in-smoky-skies\/","url_meta":{"origin":34695,"position":4},"title":"Franklin’s and Ring-billed Gulls Flying in Smoky Skies","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I did take some nice Franklin's and Ring-billed Gull photos in flight over the water of the marshes at the refuge despite the smoky sky.","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":"Franklin's Gull flying in a smoky sky","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/franklins-gull-smokey-sky-mia-mcpherson-0860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/franklins-gull-smokey-sky-mia-mcpherson-0860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/franklins-gull-smokey-sky-mia-mcpherson-0860.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/franklins-gull-smokey-sky-mia-mcpherson-0860.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41251,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/23\/adult-and-juvenile-ring-billed-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":34695,"position":5},"title":"Adult and Juvenile Ring-billed Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It will take several molts before this immature Ring-billed Gull looks like an adult but by now, a year after it was photographed, this juvenile should look more like the adult.","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":"Adult Ring-billed Gull in flight on a January morning, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-winter-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-winter-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-winter-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-winter-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}