{"id":45606,"date":"2017-03-16T06:09:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T12:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=45606"},"modified":"2025-05-18T12:34:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:34:13","slug":"sandhill-cranes-plus-views-of-flooded-marshes-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/16\/sandhill-cranes-plus-views-of-flooded-marshes-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandhill Cranes Plus Views of Flooded Marshes at Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ViewView of the water at Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> is open again so yesterday that was where I had to be. I had missed being able to see the marshes and the birds at the refuge and I was glad when I found out on Tuesday that it had reopened. The river is still running high and some of the flats are still flooded but the road was dry all the way to the auto tour loop and the dirt roads on the loop were on great condition. I haven’t seen this much water in at the refuge in a long time.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring view at Bear River MBR – March 15, 2017 – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 48mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I love the spring weather we have been having but there is still danger of more flooding because of the early, very warm temps melting the snow too quickly in the mountains.<\/p>\n

It was beautiful out there yesterday and it was quiet except for the calls of the birds. I saw my first of the year Western and Clark’s Grebes and Tree Swallows and I was excited about that.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Sandhill Crane keeping an eye on his mate – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw and photographed a mated pair of Sandhill Cranes yesterday morning in the marsh from the auto tour loop and watched them search for food. The have both molted recently and their plumage is a soft gray for now though it won’t be long and it will be stained from the water and muds found at the refuge.<\/p>\n

Male Sandhill Cranes are taller and larger than the females so it was easy for me to tell their sexes yesterday.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Sandhill Crane in the marsh at Bear River MBR – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The male seemed intent on keeping an eye on the female and looked her way often as he slowly walked through the marsh.<\/p>\n

The midges, small flying, non-biting insects, were out in force yesterday and I even saw a few midge tornadoes along side the road. I also saw and heard one or two mosquitoes. Those insects will soon feed thousands of birds and the swallows are already feeding on them.<\/p>\n

I know it is hard to see at the size posted but there are midges all around this cranes head.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Sandhill Crane looking at something in the sky – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The midges can bee seen as little dark specks near the crane’s head in this frame too.<\/p>\n

I really don’t know why this crane was craning his head to look so high in the sky but there are still a few Bald Eagles in the area and maybe one flew overhead and the sandhill was just keeping an eye on it.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Sandhill Crane in a Bear River MBR marsh – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The female Sandhill Crane spent most of the time foraging for food while I watched and photographed her and a few times she raised her head to look for her mate. Sandhill Cranes mate for life and they will only look for another mate if their mate dies so they are often seen in pairs on their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring Swans at Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/6400, ISO 640, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 52mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There are still Tundra Swans on the refuge but I wasn’t able to get close to\u00a0 any of them for frame filling images but I loved this “birdscape” that show the swans on the water at the refuge and the Promontory\u00a0 Mountain Range in the distance. The swans will be leaving soon to head to their breeding grounds much further north on the Canadian and Alaskan tundra.<\/p>\n

I got my Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge fix yesterday.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I saw and photographed a mated pair of Sandhill Cranes yesterday morning in the marsh from the auto tour loop and watched them search for food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140885,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,450,158,26],"tags":[4259,3823,3132,4431,4070,5693,4062,4094,610,2138,4518,4949,2117,5731],"class_list":["post-45606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-sandhill-cranes","category-tundra-swans","category-utah","tag-antigone-canadensis","tag-crane","tag-cranes","tag-cygnus-columbianus","tag-female","tag-flooding","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-marshes","tag-mates","tag-sandhill-crane","tag-sandhills","tag-tundra-swan","tag-water-level"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-male-looking-up-mia-mcpherson-5760.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bRA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110519,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/25\/migrating-sandhill-cranes-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":45606,"position":0},"title":"Migrating Sandhill Cranes On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I heard through the grapevine that Sandhill Cranes have returned to Farmington Bay WMA. Since the cranes are there they might be at other Utah locations too.","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":"Sandhill Crane calling in flight with snowy mountains behind it, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sandhill-crane-spring-flight-mia-mcpherson-0109.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sandhill-crane-spring-flight-mia-mcpherson-0109.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sandhill-crane-spring-flight-mia-mcpherson-0109.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sandhill-crane-spring-flight-mia-mcpherson-0109.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":80115,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/02\/ten-sandhill-cranes-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":45606,"position":1},"title":"Ten Sandhill Cranes At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It was the highlight of my morning to find, observe, listen to, and photograph ten Sandhill Cranes at Bear River MBR yesterday.","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":"Three Sandhill Cranes displaying in the marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sandhill-cranes-dancing-mia-mcpherson-5282.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sandhill-cranes-dancing-mia-mcpherson-5282.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sandhill-cranes-dancing-mia-mcpherson-5282.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sandhill-cranes-dancing-mia-mcpherson-5282.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99817,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/11\/february-tundra-swan-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":45606,"position":2},"title":"February Tundra Swan Photos Plus Some Very Early Sandhill Cranes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last month I mentioned that I hadn't yet gotten the Tundra Swan photos that I wanted to take. Yesterday at Bear River MBR I was delighted to remedy that situation.","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 stink eye, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0486.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0486.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42548,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/09\/birds-of-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-celebrating-national-wildlife-refuge-week\/","url_meta":{"origin":45606,"position":3},"title":"Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Celebrating National Wildlife Refuge Week","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Virginia Rail and its reflection at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-adult-mia-mcpherson-1903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-adult-mia-mcpherson-1903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-adult-mia-mcpherson-1903.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-adult-mia-mcpherson-1903.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":120623,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/07\/tundra-swans-and-precious-memories\/","url_meta":{"origin":45606,"position":4},"title":"Tundra Swans And Precious Memories","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Tundra Swans and memories are on my mind this morning. Six years ago, I sat in my Jeep watching hundreds of Tundra Swans at Bear River Migratory Bird 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":"Immature and adult Tundra Swans flying over the wetlands at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-february-7-2018-mia-mcpherson-0182.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-february-7-2018-mia-mcpherson-0182.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-february-7-2018-mia-mcpherson-0182.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-february-7-2018-mia-mcpherson-0182.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50924,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/10\/tundra-swans-at-home-in-the-landscape-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":45606,"position":5},"title":"Tundra Swans at Home in the Landscape of Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Tundra Swans are truly at home in the landscape of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and they belong there as much as the mountains, marshes, birds, animals, fish, sky and the clouds overhead do.","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 Swans in the landscape of 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-landscape-mia-mcpherson-8703.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-landscape-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-landscape-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-landscape-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}