{"id":48715,"date":"2017-09-29T05:04:27","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T11:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48715"},"modified":"2026-04-04T11:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T16:19:10","slug":"autumn-marsh-wren-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/29\/autumn-marsh-wren-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Autumn Marsh Wren at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-174147 size-full\" title=\"Bear River NWR marsh in early autumn, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8032.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8032.jpg\" alt=\"Bear River NWR marsh in early autumn, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27570%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20570%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27570%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8032-200x127.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8032-320x202.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8032-400x253.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8032-600x380.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8032-768x486.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8032.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Bear River NWR marsh in early autumn &#8211; Nikon D810, f11, 1\/800, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 20mm, natural light<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>On the 20th of September it was so delightful to see skies that weren&#8217;t smoky, to feel the cool air on my skin and to see the changes that autumn is bringing to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/bear_river_migratory_bird_refuge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> and beyond the refuge&#8217;s boundaries.<\/p>\n<p>Just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/portfolio-items\/smoky-skies-over-bear-river-mbr-september-2017\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">15 days earlier the sky was filled with smoke<\/span><\/a> which made it hard to even see the Promontory Mountains to the west, in this photo they are clearly visible.<\/p>\n<p>This is one of my photos where I wish the viewer could hear what I heard as well as see it because the American Coots in the image were running across the water with their huge feet and I love to hear them do that, there was also a pair of Clark&#8217;s Grebes calling, Barn Swallows twittering away as they flew overhead, the occasional blackbirds calling as they zipped by and at least a dozen Marsh Wrens chattering while they searched for prey in the rushes and other vegetation. I wish I could share all the sounds I heard that morning when I took this photo of the marsh at Bear River MBR.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-116136 size-full\" title=\"Autumn Marsh Wren\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365.jpg\" alt=\"Autumn Marsh Wren, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-peeking-mia-mcpherson-6365.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Autumn Marsh Wren &#8211; Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>About 200 feet from where I photographed the marsh scene above I stopped hoping to take photos of Forster&#8217;s Terns again before they leave for the winter and although not many of them were hunting in that area a few other birds made sitting there worth it. Besides, I had great views of the scenery, the clean air, the sounds of the marsh and it felt so soothing.<\/p>\n<p>The Marsh Wrens at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge live there year round even through the heat of summer and our harsh winters they are there going about the business of living. There have only been a few times I have visited the refuge and not seen or heard a wren.<\/p>\n<p>This Marsh Wren popped up into clear view to briefly perch and looks towards me before it dove back down into the vegetation. Sometimes a brief look and a few frames is all you get when photographing these frenetic, tiny birds. I know that I was happy just to get a quick burst of images of this one before it disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/marsh-wren-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Marsh Wren photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Marsh Wrens at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge live there year round even through the heat of summer and our harsh winters they are there going about the business of living.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174147,"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":[124,27,1148,538,26],"tags":[970,777,4101,6151,4094,2118,4035,4104,4528,4092,4941,4018,5802,3822],"class_list":["post-48715","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-marsh-wrens","category-utah","tag-autumn","tag-cistothorus-palustris","tag-clouds","tag-landscape","tag-marsh","tag-marsh-wren","tag-nature-photography","tag-perched","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-refuge","tag-rushes","tag-sky","tag-wren","tag-wrens"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-mbr-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8032.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cFJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32766,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/15\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-and-a-marsh-wren\/","url_meta":{"origin":48715,"position":0},"title":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and A Marsh Wren","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge looks beautiful this time of the year so I took a few images of it with my cell phone and a short video when I was there two days ago.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Bear River Autumn, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge-mia-mcpherson-2467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge-mia-mcpherson-2467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge-mia-mcpherson-2467.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge-mia-mcpherson-2467.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60497,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/26\/autumn-marsh-wrens-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":48715,"position":1},"title":"Autumn Marsh Wrens In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Marsh Wrens are year round residents here in northern Utah and this week I've photographed them in the marshes of both Farmington Bay WMA and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Marsh Wren peeking out from the marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8522.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8522.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8522.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8522.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107749,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/05\/marsh-wren-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":48715,"position":2},"title":"Marsh Wren At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing this photo of a tiny Marsh Wren hanging upside down in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge simply because I like it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Marsh Wren hanging upside down, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/marsh-wren-upside-down-mia-mcpherson-3267.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/marsh-wren-upside-down-mia-mcpherson-3267.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/marsh-wren-upside-down-mia-mcpherson-3267.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/marsh-wren-upside-down-mia-mcpherson-3267.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":95830,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/03\/october-marsh-wren\/","url_meta":{"origin":48715,"position":3},"title":"October Marsh Wren","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Four years ago I found a Marsh Wren perched on a Cocklebur on a bright October morning in the wetlands of the refuge.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"October Marsh Wren perched on a Cocklebur, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsh-wren-autumn-cocklebur-mia-mcpherson-0907.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsh-wren-autumn-cocklebur-mia-mcpherson-0907.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsh-wren-autumn-cocklebur-mia-mcpherson-0907.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsh-wren-autumn-cocklebur-mia-mcpherson-0907.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":126936,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/31\/march-marsh-wren\/","url_meta":{"origin":48715,"position":4},"title":"March Marsh Wren","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago today, I spotted a Marsh Wren in the marsh of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and stopped to take photos of the wren singing out in the open.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Marsh Wren singing on the last day of March, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/marsh-wren-last-day-of-march-mia-mcpherson-1546.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/marsh-wren-last-day-of-march-mia-mcpherson-1546.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/marsh-wren-last-day-of-march-mia-mcpherson-1546.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/marsh-wren-last-day-of-march-mia-mcpherson-1546.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115967,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/19\/immature-marsh-wren-in-late-summer\/","url_meta":{"origin":48715,"position":5},"title":"Immature Marsh Wren In Late Summer","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago, as I was driving along the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I spotted a cute yet somewhat grumpy-looking immature Marsh Wren.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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 Marsh Wren in the wetlands of Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-immature-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-0784.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-immature-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-0784.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-immature-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-0784.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-immature-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-0784.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\/48715","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=48715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174149,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48715\/revisions\/174149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}