{"id":45262,"date":"2017-02-27T06:30:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T13:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=45262"},"modified":"2026-04-04T11:11:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T16:11:22","slug":"flooding-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/27\/flooding-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Flooding at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Road Closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FloodedFlooded marshes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – HTC One M8 cell phone picture<\/span><\/p>\n

Local residents have more than likely been made aware of the flooding at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> which has closed West Forest Street west of the refuge visitor center that goes out to the auto tour loop but since I have viewers from out of state who often write to me asking about the birds and conditions at the refuge I thought I would share two photos of the flooding seen right before the closed gate. These were taken yesterday.<\/p>\n

This photo was taken looking due north from the edge of West Forest Street, I have never seen the water this high or close to the road in this location. This water is from the Bear River which has overflowed its banks, the flooding has occurred because of warm temps melting some of the snow pack early and quickly and from the snow and rain we have had in the area recently. The mountains you see on the right are part of the Wasatch Mountain Range.<\/p>\n

\"FloodingFlooding next to the road going to the Bear River MBR auto tour loop – HTC One M8 cell phone picture<\/span><\/p>\n

This photo was taken looking nearly due west from West Forest Street, right after the white line ends there is a closed gate (hard to see in this image) and that is as far as we can go right now. You can see that the water comes right to the edge of the road on both sides. The Bear River isn’t even all that close to this area (about 1.4 km) though the Reeder Overflow is just beyond the gate. I can only imagine what it looks like where the Bear River is right next to the road.<\/p>\n

I’m sure local folks will easily recognize this view from the road. That is the Promontory Mountain Range way off in the distance.<\/p>\n

\"MapMap view of Bear River MBR closure<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This flooding is probably good for the Great Salt Lake for raising the lake level but it has caused damage to many homes in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

I hope all the roads and structures past the closed gate at the refuge are okay.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron in the marsh at Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I am anxious to get out to the Bear River MBR auto tour loop of the refuge to see what migrants have flown in but right now that isn’t possible and there isn’t any information on when the road will open again (last I checked).<\/p>\n

\"TundraTundra Swans lifting of at Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Tundra Swans are probably enjoying the marshes at the refuge without humans traveling the auto tour loop but they have already begun to move north towards their breeding grounds. I hope some of them hang around until after the road opens again, I need a swan call fix before they leave!<\/p>\n

I’ll post a note when the auto tour loop at the refuge is open again.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

The visitor center at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is open its normal hours.<\/em><\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of\u00a0 my photos of birds, animals, insects, plants, and scenery at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am anxious to get out to the Bear River MBR auto tour loop of the refuge to see what migrants have flown in but right now that isn’t possible and there isn’t any information on when the road will open again<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174140,"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":[124,27,1148,166,158,26],"tags":[4117,4529,5695,4431,5692,5693,3987,626,4094,4092,3122,2117,313,5694],"class_list":["post-45262","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-great-blue-herons","category-tundra-swans","category-utah","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-bear-river","tag-closed","tag-cygnus-columbianus","tag-flood","tag-flooding","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-herons","tag-marsh","tag-refuge","tag-swans","tag-tundra-swan","tag-wading-birds","tag-west-forest-street"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-flood-mia-mcpherson-3823.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bM2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46074,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/09\/missing-the-birds-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":45262,"position":0},"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":63480,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/28\/great-blue-herons-in-heavy-fog-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":45262,"position":1},"title":"Great Blue Herons In Heavy Fog At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These foggy Great Blue Heron photos are probably the foggiest images in my portfolio and despite that I truly like how they turned out.","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":"Great Blue Heron landing in heavy fog. 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The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour loop is a terrific place to see these lovely white swans.","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":"Winter Tundra Swan portrait, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-solitary-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-4967.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-solitary-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-4967.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-solitary-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-4967.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As I photographed this pair of Tundra Swans in flight I could hear the whir of their wings and the calls of the other swans that were still on the water and also getting ready to lift off.","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":"Tundra Swan pair in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-mia-mcpherson-2136.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-mia-mcpherson-2136.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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