{"id":48940,"date":"2017-10-14T06:49:11","date_gmt":"2017-10-14T12:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48940"},"modified":"2025-02-06T03:29:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T09:29:37","slug":"franklins-gulls-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/14\/franklins-gulls-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Franklin’s Gulls at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Franklin’s Gulls are only here in northern Utah during the breeding season, during the winter they spend their time along the west coast of South America.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Franklin’s Gull on the wing – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

From all indications the majority of the Franklin’s Gull here in Utah have already migrated because in the past week I have only seen one of them along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and I have seen none of them at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst Summer Franklin’s Gull – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I miss Franklin’s Gulls when they are gone. I miss seeing them feeding on brine flies along the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake. I miss seeing them flying over the marshes in huge flocks. I miss seeing them splashing down onto the waters of the marshes to chase another gull away. And I miss watching them flying over the sagebrush hills near the Promontory Mountains\u00a0 hawking insects from the air.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult nonbreeding Franklin’s Gull with a fish – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I miss seeing them catching fish in freshwater lakes, marshes and ponds. And I miss their calls which for some odd reason I find soothing and delightful.<\/p>\n

Calling Franklin’s Gulls<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Franklin’s Gulls and the other gulls I see are truly appealing to me and I make no excuses about about my feelings for them. They are just as fascinating to me as an eagle, warbler, falcon, a hummingbird or any bird at all.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Franklin\u2019s Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Franklin’s Gulls are only here in northern Utah during the breeding season, during the winter they spend their time along the west coast of South America. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139328,"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":[124,27,1148,1336,26],"tags":[4004,4432,4052,4122,4329,3539,521,5381,4341,4067,4071,4330,4094,530,4106,2315,3996,4095,4193],"class_list":["post-48940","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-franklins-gulls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-fish","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-franklins-gull","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-hatch-year","tag-hatch-year-bird","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-leucophaeus-pipixcan","tag-marsh","tag-migration","tag-prey","tag-summer-3","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/franklins-gull-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cJm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56437,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/03\/06\/early-franklins-gull-at-bear-river-mbr-on-march-6-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":48940,"position":0},"title":"Early Franklin’s Gull at Bear River MBR on March 6, 2018","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"While I had the Sandhill Crane and the Ring-billed Gulls in my view finder I heard a call and it only took a second for my brain to figure out that I was hearing a Franklin's Gull which surprised me because it was at the refuge much earlier than I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Early Franklin's Gull at Bear River MBR - March 6, 2018, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I like gulls, I know that gulls are not always a popular subject for many bird photographers and that they will often pass them by but to me they are as delightful, beautiful and fascinating as any other bird.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Franklin's Gulls","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/franklins-gulls-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-2764.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/franklins-gulls-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-2764.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/franklins-gulls-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-2764.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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