{"id":34766,"date":"2016-01-11T05:47:14","date_gmt":"2016-01-11T12:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=34766"},"modified":"2025-09-17T07:15:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:15:16","slug":"sunrise-a-bald-eagle-and-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/11\/sunrise-a-bald-eagle-and-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunrise, a Bald Eagle and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-156453 size-full\" title=\"Sunrise, a Bald Eagle and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476.jpg\" alt=\"Sunrise, a Bald Eagle and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"555\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27555%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20555%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27555%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476-200x123.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476-400x247.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476-600x370.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476-768x474.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Sunrise, a Bald Eagle and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge &#8211; Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I photographed this adult Bald Eagle at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/bear_river_migratory_bird_refuge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> early on New Year&#8217;s Day when the light of dawn was still golden.\u00a0 I have photographed Bald Eagles on this post before and I quite enjoy the setting with the frozen marshes of the refuge and the distant mountains in the background. Bald Eagles overwinter in this area by the hundreds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Salt Creek WMA and Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n<p>This refuge means a lot to me personally and it means a lot to birders, bird photographers, nature photographers, hunters, fisherman, bikers, hikers and nature lovers. It might be remote but thousands of people visit this beautiful area each month. If you have never been to this refuge I highly recommend visiting it as soon as you can. This is a place where winds blow over the marshes, the calls of the birds rise into the air and we are enveloped by nature.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-156456 size-full\" title=\"Adult Bald Eagle on New Year's Day at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2574.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2574.jpg\" alt=\"Adult Bald Eagle on New Year's Day at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"640\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20640%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2574-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2574-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2574-600x750.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2574.jpg 640w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">An adult Bald Eagle on New Year&#8217;s Day &#8211; Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It seems ironic to me that I photographed this Bald Eagle, a symbol of our country, on a National Wildlife Refuge the day <em>before<\/em> hostile, flag-waving, extremist, constitutionally-challenged, idiots took over <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/Malheur\/about.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Malheur National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> in nearby Oregon which belongs to all of us just like Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge does.<\/p>\n<p>These are OUR lands. They do not belong in the hands of armed extremist pukes. Not now, not ever.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/bald-eagle-images\/\">here<\/a> <\/span>to see more of my Bald Eagle photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I photographed this adult Bald Eagle at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge early on New Year&#8217;s Day when the light of dawn was still golden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156453,"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":[151,124,27,1022,26],"tags":[4004,846,2663,3903,3133,4109,4152,4064,4094,4104,153,5558,12670,4095,373,8917],"class_list":["post-34766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bald-eagle","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bald-eagle","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-eagle","tag-eagles","tag-grasses","tag-haliaeetus-leucocephalus","tag-ice","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-river","tag-symbol","tag-wetlands","tag-winter","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-92K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":98688,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/04\/bald-eagle-photos-on-a-leaning-wooden-post-thru-the-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":0},"title":"Bald Eagle Photos On A Leaning Wooden Post Thru The Years","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"If you go to Bear River MBR during the winter chances are that you have or will see a Bald Eagle perched on this large wooden post at one time or another.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bald Eagle on a leaning wooden post - January 2, 2022, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-2602.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-2602.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-2602.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-2602.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64491,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/16\/bald-eagle-on-an-icy-marsh-small-in-frame\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":1},"title":"Bald Eagle On An Icy Marsh &#8211; Small In Frame","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago I photographed an adult Bald Eagle resting on the frost-covered, icy marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bald Eagle on an icy marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-8725.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-8725.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-8725.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-8725.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75266,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/11\/veterans-day-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":2},"title":"Veterans Day 2020","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Veterans Day is always held on November 11th and is a day set aside to honor all of those who have served our country in war or peace.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bald Eagle in dawn light of a new year, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-dawn-new-year-mia-mcpherson-2472.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-dawn-new-year-mia-mcpherson-2472.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-dawn-new-year-mia-mcpherson-2472.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-dawn-new-year-mia-mcpherson-2472.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65396,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/24\/sub-adult-bald-eagle-resting-in-marsh-habitat\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":3},"title":"Sub-adult Bald Eagle Resting In Marsh Habitat","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I did find a sub-adult Bald Eagle resting on the ice on the last leg of the refuge loop and even though it was at a distance I wanted to photograph it because of the marshy habitat it was in.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sub-adult Bald Eagle resting on ice, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-sub-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3082.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-sub-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3082.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-sub-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3082.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-sub-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3082.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98010,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/07\/merlin-on-a-large-wooden-post-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":4},"title":"Merlin On A Large Wooden Post At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I spotted a Merlin perched on a large wooden post way out in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Merlin on a large wooden post, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/merlin-at-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-6956.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/merlin-at-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-6956.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/merlin-at-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-6956.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/merlin-at-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-6956.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1715,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/30\/bald-eagle-and-depth-of-field\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":5},"title":"Bald Eagle and Depth of Field","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I believe these two eagle pictures illustrate what changes the depth of field settings can have on the appearance of an image.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Bald Eagle at f\/6.3, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-perched-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0246.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-perched-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0246.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-perched-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0246.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34766","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=34766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}