{"id":39972,"date":"2016-06-12T06:41:09","date_gmt":"2016-06-12T12:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39972"},"modified":"2025-03-29T11:20:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T16:20:21","slug":"red-rock-river-cliff-swallow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/12\/red-rock-river-cliff-swallow\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Rock River Cliff Swallow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CliffCliff Swallow resting near the Red Rock River – Nikon D810, DX Mode, f10, 1\/640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Red Rock River starts at the west side of the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> and flows west through the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County into the Lima Reservoir then begins a turn northwest until it flows into the Clark Canyon Reservoir. The Red Rock River is about 70 miles long.<\/p>\n

On my recent trip up to Idaho and Montana the Lima Reservoir was full and the Red Rock River had backed up and flowed into the fields near Lyons Bridge on Stibel Lane (and Price Lane on Google maps<\/em>). The area was full of ducks, sparrows, swallows phalaropes, coots, pelicans, blackbirds, willets, swans and gulls though most of the birds stayed away from the bridge.<\/p>\n

This Cliff Swallow resting near the Red Rock River was cooperative and gave me the opportunity to photograph it on a strand of barbed wire fencing, in fact it was still perched there when I left the area. The green in the background are the lush grasses near the river with the blue sky above.<\/p>\n

The Centennial Valley has more water this year than I have seen in several years which is wonderful for the birds and wildlife that inhabit the valley.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This Cliff Swallow resting near the Red Rock River was cooperative and gave me the opportunity to photograph it on a strand of barbed wire fencing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142252,"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":[1513,27,223,489,12],"tags":[4004,4430,2420,5194,641,5193,4156,5558,5195,4807,3470],"class_list":["post-39972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-cliff-swallows","category-montana","tag-adult","tag-barbed-wire","tag-cliff-swallow","tag-lyons-bridge","tag-petrochelidon-pyrrhonota","tag-red-rock-river","tag-resting","tag-river","tag-stibel-lane","tag-swallow","tag-swallows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-resting-mia-mcpherson-1827.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aoI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47737,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/18\/bank-swallow-over-the-red-rock-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":39972,"position":0},"title":"Bank Swallow Over the Red Rock River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"While I looked around four days ago I saw this Bank Swallow resting on a fence that hangs over the Red Rock River and could not resist photographing it with the blue water below and behind it.","rel":"","context":"In "Bank Swallows"","block_context":{"text":"Bank Swallows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/swallows\/bank-swallows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Bank Swallow, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/bank-swallow-montana-mia-mcpherson-5561.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/bank-swallow-montana-mia-mcpherson-5561.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/bank-swallow-montana-mia-mcpherson-5561.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/bank-swallow-montana-mia-mcpherson-5561.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":125851,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/25\/tree-swallows-have-migrated-into-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":39972,"position":1},"title":"Tree Swallows Have Migrated Into Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the weekend, I read on Facebook that Tree Swallows have migrated back into Northern Utah for their breeding season. I am so excited about that news!","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tree Swallow peeking out of a natural nesting cavity in the High Uintas, Uinta Mountains, Uinta National Forest, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-aspen-high-uintas-mia-mcpherson-6727.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-aspen-high-uintas-mia-mcpherson-6727.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-aspen-high-uintas-mia-mcpherson-6727.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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\"Montana\" so often has gotten me anxious, antsy and itching to head north soon to see more of a state that beckons to me because I have fallen in love with it.","rel":"","context":"In "American White Pelicans"","block_context":{"text":"American White Pelicans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/pelicans\/white-pelicans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Montana Great Horned Owl juvenile, Glacier County, Montana\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-1566.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-1566.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-1566.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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