{"id":39622,"date":"2016-05-21T05:30:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-21T11:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39622"},"modified":"2025-06-27T09:27:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T14:27:47","slug":"two-snowy-egrets-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/21\/two-snowy-egrets-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Snowy Egrets at Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PairA pair of Snowy Egrets at Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/5000, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve seen more and more Snowy Egrets the past few weeks but haven’t had any great opportunities to photograph them yet this year. When I lived in Florida I saw these wading birds all year long but here in Utah they are migratory and are only here for a few months like the Cattle Egrets that are also migratory here.<\/p>\n

In Florida these birds nested in trees as a colony and here in Utah, at least at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>, they most likely nest in the marsh grasses because there are very few trees on the refuge. They might have a rookery at nearby farms where cottonwood, poplar and other tree species have been planted. I am just not sure.<\/p>\n

But they are very attracted to the marshes at the refuge and at times they congregate in groups of 20 or more to forage in the shallow waters. I saw one at a stinky, spring fed pond in northern Utah last week and it reminded me that I hadn’t posted this image yet. When I photographed these two Snowy Egrets at Bear River MBR last August they were already through raising their young for the season. There were also immature egrets nearby when I photographed this pair.<\/p>\n

Admittedly I took seeing Snowy Egrets for granted while I lived in Florida but since I moved here I find myself being more appreciative of their presence at the local areas where I photograph birds most often.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

When I photographed these two Snowy Egrets at Bear River MBR last August they were already through raising their young for the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149509,"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":[124,27,1148,255,26],"tags":[4004,743,351,4120,4136,5155,4094,2139,4156,5558,3988,3964,313,3996,4095],"class_list":["post-39622","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-snowy-egrets","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-egretta-thula","tag-foraging","tag-late-summer","tag-marsh","tag-pair","tag-resting","tag-river","tag-snowy-egret","tag-stretching","tag-wading-birds","tag-water","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egrets-stretch-mia-mcpherson-4518.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aj4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58909,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/08\/snowy-egret-in-flight-over-the-green-marsh-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":39622,"position":0},"title":"Snowy Egret In Flight Over The Green Marsh At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes the simplicity of an image is what draws me in and keeps me happily satisfied with it and that is what I enjoy about this photo of a Snowy Egret in flight over the marsh at Bear River MBR, the simplicity.","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 Snowy Egret in flight over the green marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, 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2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently I spent two days in a row photographing birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (aka Bear River National Wildlife Refuge) and found plenty of birds to aim my lens at.","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":"Snowy Egret about to land in a marsh at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6154.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6154.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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I especially loved the clearer skies.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flying juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron with Promontory Mountains in the distance, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-flight-promontory-mia-mcpherson-2755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-flight-promontory-mia-mcpherson-2755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-flight-promontory-mia-mcpherson-2755.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Snowy Egrets of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge never fail to delight me with their bright white plumage, golden feet, bright yellow lores and feathery plumes.","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":"Snowy Egret scratching its neck, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-scratching-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-scratching-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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