{"id":42548,"date":"2016-10-09T07:03:16","date_gmt":"2016-10-09T13:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=42548"},"modified":"2026-04-04T11:37:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T16:37:52","slug":"birds-of-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-celebrating-national-wildlife-refuge-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/09\/birds-of-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-celebrating-national-wildlife-refuge-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Celebrating National Wildlife Refuge Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WintryWintry view of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the Promontory Mountains<\/span><\/p>\n

This is National Wildlife Refuge Week<\/span><\/a> and in celebration I wanted to do a pictorial essay that includes some of my images of the Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Plus I’ve added a few landscape images which show the beauty of the marshes on the refuge and I hope the serenity I find at the refuge shows in them.<\/p>\n

\"BaldBald Eagle landing on Bear River Christmas day 2012<\/span><\/p>\n

During the winter look for Bald Eagles in flight overhead, perched on the ice or trees on the road out to the auto tour route. Also look for them on or near the Bear River.<\/p>\n

\"Rough-leggedRough-legged Hawk male giving me an over the shoulder look<\/span><\/p>\n

Other winter visitors include Rough-legged Hawks, arctic birds of prey that overwinter on the refuge.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleNorthern Harrier bringing nesting material to the nest<\/span><\/p>\n

Northern Harriers can be seen at the refuge year round but if you watch them carefully in the spring you might just find one building a nest.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Grebe back-brooding large chick<\/span><\/p>\n

There are grebes aplenty at the refuge and I’ve seen Eared, Horned Pied, Western and Clark’s Grebes floating on the waters of the refuge.<\/p>\n

\"HenHen Redhead on the Bear River<\/span><\/p>\n

Ducks of all kinds visit or breed on the refuge, some nest on the refuge and some rest there on migration.<\/p>\n

\"TundraTundra Swans in flight on a March morning<\/span><\/p>\n

During the winter Tundra Swans arrive by the thousands and their calls echo over the marshes and they can easily be seen from the auto tour route at the refuge.<\/p>\n

\"ColorfulColorful Autumn view of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/p>\n

The marshes do get colorful in the Autumn when the reeds and phragmites and other vegetation change colors.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Black-necked Stilt foraging in the Bear River<\/span><\/p>\n

Shorebirds by the hundreds of thousands feed in the marshlands of the refuge. Some of them use this important area of the flyway to rest and fuel up for their long migrations.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Avocet adult in low light<\/span><\/p>\n

And some of the shorebirds breed and raise their young on the refuge. Thousands and thousands of them!<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/p>\n

American White Pelicans feed on the fish in the marshes of the refuge and can be seen in large squadrons flying overhead.<\/p>\n

\"MarshMarsh Wren searching for nesting material<\/span><\/p>\n

There are smaller birds that make their homes at the refuge like the saucy little Marsh Wrens<\/p>\n

\"StandStand of Tree Swallows at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/p>\n

And five different species of swallows that can be seen there too.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAn adult White-faced Ibis feeding<\/span><\/p>\n

White-faced Ibis arrive in the spring to nest and raise their young.<\/p>\n

\"Sandhill<\/p>\n

Sandhill Crane right after the sunrise<\/span><\/p>\n

As do the Sandhill Cranes whose trumpeting calls can be heard from far away.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Black-crowned Night Heron landing in the Bear River<\/span><\/p>\n

Where even the more elusive Black-crowned Night Herons can be seen in flight, feeding or feuding with other wading birds that call the refuge home.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Virginia Rail and its reflection<\/span><\/p>\n

Virginia Rails and Sora call in the spring and raise their young. There are hard to find but a delight when they come out into the open.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Barn Owl in flight head on<\/span><\/p>\n

And I mustn’t forget the owls that can be seen at the refuge which include Barn Owls, Short-eared Owls, Great Horned Owls, Burrowing Owls and if you are really lucky a Long-eared Owl might show up too.<\/p>\n

\"SummerSummer view of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/p>\n

I couldn’t cover all of the birds in a single post because there are more than 270 species of birds have been found at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and every month of the year is a great time to visit.<\/p>\n

I love Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and every visit there feel right at home.<\/p>\n

Are you going to visit a National Wildlife Refuge this week to celebrate? Find one<\/span><\/a> and go!<\/p>\n

Life is good and our National Wildlife Refuges makes it even better.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

For a gallery of all kinds of images taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge click <\/em>here<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is National Wildlife Refuge Week and in celebration I wanted to do a pictorial essay that includes some of my images of the Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96365,"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":[451,129,3,151,124,27,321,1463,1148,2460,1087,450,2171,158,26,4582,161,1372],"tags":[4004,8986,3985,3966,970,5350,846,5463,2663,1533,1464,4030,3132,126,3133,707,3164,4169,4359,627,4064,2118,610,530,7577,7576,3976,3956,3957,4006,294,706,4528,4586,4560,4156,1648,4518,274,3951,3470,3122,8987,2994,4583,313,8985,4340,373,3822],"class_list":["post-42548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-avocets","category-barn-owls","category-white-pelicans","category-bald-eagle","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-black-crowned-night-herons","category-black-necked-stilts","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-redheads","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-sandhill-cranes","category-tree-swallows","category-tundra-swans","category-utah","category-virginia-rails","category-western-grebes","category-white-faced-ibises","tag-adult","tag-american-avocets","tag-barn-owl","tag-american-white-pelican","tag-autumn","tag-avocets","tag-bald-eagle","tag-birds-of-bear-river","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-black-crowned-night-heron","tag-black-necked-stilt","tag-breeding","tag-cranes","tag-ducks-2","tag-eagles","tag-grebes-2","tag-harriers","tag-hawks","tag-hen","tag-heron","tag-ice","tag-marsh-wren","tag-marshes","tag-migration","tag-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-national-wildlife-refuge-week","tag-nesting","tag-night-heron","tag-night-herons","tag-northern-harrier","tag-owls","tag-pelicans","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-rails","tag-redhead","tag-resting","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-sandhill-crane","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-stilts","tag-swallows","tag-swans","tag-tree-swallows","tag-tundra-swans","tag-virginia-rail","tag-wading-birds","tag-western-grebes","tag-white-faced-ibis","tag-winter","tag-wrens"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-adult-mia-mcpherson-1903.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-b4g","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7443,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/06\/some-of-the-birds-i-love-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":42548,"position":0},"title":"Some of the Birds I Love at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite locations to photograph birds in northern Utah is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I've selected some of the birds there that delight and entertain me while I observe and photograph them.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling Eastern Kingbird on a barbed wire fence, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46074,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/09\/missing-the-birds-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":42548,"position":1},"title":"Missing the Birds of Bear River MBR & Spring Migration","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route is still closed and many of the birders, bird photographers and nature lovers are itching to know what birds are there because after all spring migration is an exciting time at the refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flock of Long-billed Dowitchers in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/long-billed-dowitchers-flock-mia-mcpherson-9688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/long-billed-dowitchers-flock-mia-mcpherson-9688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/long-billed-dowitchers-flock-mia-mcpherson-9688.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/long-billed-dowitchers-flock-mia-mcpherson-9688.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57784,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/05\/13\/male-ring-necked-pheasant-and-midges-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":42548,"position":2},"title":"Male Ring-necked Pheasant And Midges At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know if the Ring-necked Pheasants eat the midges but I know that many of the other birds at the refuge do so I like to think of midges as bird food on the wing.","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-necked Pheasant and Midges, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/ring-necked-pheasant-portrait-midges-mia-mcpherson-5855.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-necked-pheasant-portrait-midges-mia-mcpherson-5855.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/ring-necked-pheasant-portrait-midges-mia-mcpherson-5855.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/ring-necked-pheasant-portrait-midges-mia-mcpherson-5855.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50418,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/31\/my-year-of-bird-photography-in-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":42548,"position":3},"title":"My Year of Bird Photography in 2017","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I love what I do, I love my subjects and it doesn't matter if I find them close to home or further away. I am blessed. 2017 has been wonderful and I am excited for what 2018 may bring.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green-tailed Towhee head tilt, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-head-tilt-mia-mcpherson-3855.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-head-tilt-mia-mcpherson-3855.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-head-tilt-mia-mcpherson-3855.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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