{"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_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"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":100523,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/10\/adult-bald-eagle-resting-on-ice\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":0},"title":"Adult Bald Eagle Resting On Ice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week I took a few adult Bald Eagle on ice photos at Bear River MBR from the west side of the twelve mile auto tour loop at the refuge.","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 ice near the end of winter, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-adult-on-ice-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-9447.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-adult-on-ice-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-9447.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-adult-on-ice-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-9447.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-adult-on-ice-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-9447.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100335,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/02\/two-bald-eagle-images-from-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":1},"title":"Two Bald Eagle Images From Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The first bird I photographed on the last day of February was an adult Bald Eagle in the soft morning light who was perched on a leaning wooden post.","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 soft morning light, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-at-dawn-mia-mcpherson-6442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-at-dawn-mia-mcpherson-6442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-at-dawn-mia-mcpherson-6442.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-at-dawn-mia-mcpherson-6442.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":120281,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/31\/bald-eagle-on-a-leaning-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":2},"title":"Bald Eagle On A Leaning Post Plus Trees With The Earth Shadow And Belt Of Venus","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was up at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday, I photographed a Bald Eagle on a leaning post, plus trees with the Earth Shadow and Belt of Venus.","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":"Regal Bald Eagle perched on a leaning post, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-4922.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-4922.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-4922.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-4922.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100250,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/26\/adult-bald-eagle-resting-on-an-icy-wetland\/","url_meta":{"origin":34766,"position":3},"title":"Adult Bald Eagle Resting On An Icy Wetland","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this month I watched as this adult Bald Eagle flew in and landed on an ice shelf to take a rest on the wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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 resting on an ice shelf, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bald-eagle-on-ice-shelf-mia-mcpherson-7880.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bald-eagle-on-ice-shelf-mia-mcpherson-7880.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bald-eagle-on-ice-shelf-mia-mcpherson-7880.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bald-eagle-on-ice-shelf-mia-mcpherson-7880.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"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":4},"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":5},"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":[]}],"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}]}}