{"id":42921,"date":"2016-10-31T06:44:37","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T12:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=42921"},"modified":"2024-11-13T04:29:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T10:29:52","slug":"ring-billed-gulls-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/31\/ring-billed-gulls-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Ring-billed Gulls at Bear River MBR & How the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Saved Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ring-billedRing-billed Gull in flight over open water \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I shared a photo of a Barn Owl in flight<\/span><\/a> taken last January from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> on a clear day and I thought I would share some other images I took that same morning. Usually some water stays open during the winter at the refuge and those small areas of open water attract waterfowl, the herons that are year round residents, eagles, coots and scads of gulls.<\/p>\n

Some people don’t like gulls and some can’t stand them at all but I do like them and love to photograph them when I have the opportunity.<\/p>\n

There were at least 50 Ring-billed Gulls at Bear River MBR diving into the open water looking for fish that winter morning which gave me plenty of chances to photograph them. There were other species of gulls around that morning too but I will share those at a later date.<\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter Ring-billed Gull at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/6400, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Ring-billed Gulls were hunted for their plumage in the late 19th century for the millinery trade and were among approximately 50 species of North American birds that were slaughtered just for their feathers. The feathers were stuck on ladies hats and other garments and considered quite fashionable.<\/p>\n

Fortunately two Boston socialites,\u00a0Harriet Hemenway<\/span><\/a> and her cousin, Minna Hall, started a movement to protect birds after Harriet read an article that explained how many birds were being killed and asked Minna to help her by asking their socialite friends to stop wearing feathers, boycott the trade and then they formed the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Some women kept wearing their feathered garments but more than 900 women joined the Massachusetts Audubon Society and after more chapters opened in other areas the National Audubon Society was formed.<\/p>\n

\"Ring-billedRing-billed Gull in landing pose \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to the movement of Harriet and Minna, other environmentally-minded citizens, the National Audubon Society and concerned members of the scientific communities the Migratory Bird Treaty Act<\/span><\/a> was passed in 1918 which makes it unlawful without a waiver to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill or sell birds listed as “migratory” and also grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs and nests.<\/p>\n

\"HoveringHovering Ring-billed Gull in winter \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was passed and the birds were protected they began to recover and thrive. As a bird lover, birder and bird photographer I can’t imagine a world without the species that were saved by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act including what is probably the most common gull of North America, the Ring-billed Gull.<\/p>\n

I wish I could personally thank Harriet and Minna for helping to end the feather trade.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

There were at least 50 Ring-billed Gulls at Bear River MBR diving into the open water looking for fish that winter morning which gave me plenty of chances to photograph them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136742,"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":[124,27,1148,410,26],"tags":[4052,4122,3539,521,4174,4123,4264,4094,4528,4468,4050,373],"class_list":["post-42921","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-ring-billed-gulls","category-utah","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-hovering-2","tag-landing","tag-larus-delawarensis","tag-marsh","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-ring-billed-gull","tag-snow","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-8696.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bah","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108084,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/16\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-excitement\/","url_meta":{"origin":42921,"position":0},"title":"Ring-billed Gull Feeding Frenzy Excitement","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge two days ago I witnessed several Ring-billed Gull feeding frenzies out on the marshes of the refuge.","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-billed Gull feeding frenzy on the marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-4425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-4425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-4425.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-4425.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99018,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/17\/four-winter-ring-billed-gull-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":42921,"position":3},"title":"Four Winter Ring-billed Gull Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was just as excited to take Ring-billed Gull images as I was to take photos of a delightful Horned Grebe on the marsh at Bear River MBR.","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-billed Gull looking down at icy water, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-ice-reflection-mia-mcpherson-8978.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ring-billed-gull-winter-ice-reflection-mia-mcpherson-8978.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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