{"id":50924,"date":"2018-02-10T06:16:29","date_gmt":"2018-02-10T13:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=50924"},"modified":"2025-05-18T15:10:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T20:10:24","slug":"tundra-swans-at-home-in-the-landscape-of-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/10\/tundra-swans-at-home-in-the-landscape-of-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Tundra Swans at Home in the Landscape of Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TundraTundra Swans in the landscape of Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f11, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 18-200mm at 200mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week I shared some of the photos I had taken of Tundra Swans at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> in flight and lifting off from the marshes plus one image of the swans in a landscape type of photo at 18mm so today I wanted to share a few more of the Tundra Swans showing the habitat where we find these big, white birds at the refuge a little bit closer up.<\/p>\n

I wish I could adequately explain in words how amazing it is to visit the refuge when the Tundra Swans are here in the winter, the sounds of them calling is just as breathtaking and touching to me as the calls of Sandhill Cranes, those calls touch something deep inside of me.<\/p>\n

\"TundraTundra Swans in the marshes of Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f11, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 18-200mm at 200mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The calls of these swans have echoed over these marshes for eons and when I think about how much we have done to change their lives in just a few centuries a whirl of emotions wrap around me, some of those feelings are hard to deal with because we have altered their habitat, we have hunted them and we have polluted their “home” but mostly I take delight in their presence. The swans continue to come back, year after year to spend their winters in the marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake.<\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter Tundra Swan landscape – Nikon D810, f11, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 18-200mm at 105mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

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, other birds, animals, fish, sky and the clouds overhead do. Me, I’m just a frequent and thoroughly enchanted visitor to the place where they are so very much at home during the winter.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Tundra Swan photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Note: Typically at this time of the year the mountains in the background would be covered in snow but this year the extremely mild winter and lack of snow made a big difference visually. I miss winter.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144769,"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":[124,27,1148,158,26],"tags":[4101,4431,4040,4247,6151,4069,4156,4018,4628,3122,2994,3996,373],"class_list":["post-50924","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-tundra-swans","category-utah","tag-clouds","tag-cygnus-columbianus","tag-feeding","tag-flock","tag-landscape","tag-mountains","tag-resting","tag-sky","tag-swan","tag-swans","tag-tundra-swans","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-landscape-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dfm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110083,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/07\/bear-river-mbr-winter-haven-for-tundra-swans\/","url_meta":{"origin":50924,"position":0},"title":"Bear River MBR: Winter Haven For Tundra Swans","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I had hoped that this morning would be sunny so I could head to Bear River MBR to see, listen to, and photograph Tundra Swans on the marshes.","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":"Adult and immature Tundra Swans in morning flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118007,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/10\/time-to-see-and-hear-tundra-swans\/","url_meta":{"origin":50924,"position":1},"title":"Time To See And Hear Tundra Swans","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Now is a great time to see and hear Tundra Swans from the marshes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I saw several large flocks of them yesterday from there.","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":"Autumn flock of Tundra Swans in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tundra-swan-flock-in-november-mia-mcpherson-7045.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tundra-swan-flock-in-november-mia-mcpherson-7045.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tundra-swan-flock-in-november-mia-mcpherson-7045.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago today I spent the morning focusing on and photographing the Tundra Swans and wetlands of Bear River MBR and I have to say that those birds and the marshes bring me such joy that I feel like I have to share them over and over.","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 marshes of Bear River MBR at dawn, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-dawn-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8572.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-dawn-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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