{"id":5141,"date":"2012-06-05T07:20:46","date_gmt":"2012-06-05T13:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5141"},"modified":"2025-06-26T04:55:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T09:55:46","slug":"birds-of-bear-river-mbr-snowy-egrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/05\/birds-of-bear-river-mbr-snowy-egrets\/","title":{"rendered":"Birds of Bear River MBR – Snowy Egrets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently I spent two days in a row photographing birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/a><\/span> in northern Utah and found plenty of birds to aim my lens at. Going to the refuge means getting up at o’dark hundred and leaving by shortly after 5 am to get there as the sun comes up but it is worth the trip. I even saw the partial eclipse of the moon.<\/p>\n

\"SnowySnowy Egret about to land in a marsh – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Snow Egrets are numerous in the refuge during spring, summer and fall. Yesterday there were large numbers of them on the west side of the auto tour loop fishing in a drainage canal along with Great Blue Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons, and White-faced Ibis.<\/p>\n

I photographed the Snowy Egret above as it prepared to land, the lovely green of cattails and golden tones of last years phragmites made for a beautiful background. This egret shows a touch of the peachy-pink lores typical of this species during breeding season in front of the eye.<\/p>\n

\"SnowySnowy Egret in a drainage canal – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 400, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 350mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I wasn’t able to figure out what all the birds were hunting for but I was more than glad to take advantage of the opportunity to get images of them. While I found Snowy Egrets fairly easy to approach in Florida they aren’t as approachable here in Utah so I am always happy to see and photograph them when I get the chance.<\/p>\n

\"SnowySnowy Egret fishing in a small retention pond – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/3000, ISO 800, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed the Snowy Egret above in the early part of May.\u00a0I loved how well it shows the plumes on the back and how the occipital plumes are raised. There were quite a few Snowy Egrets and one Great Egret fishing in the pond that morning.<\/p>\n

\"SnowySnowy Egret in flight over a marsh – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I \u00a0never know exactly where I will find Snowy Egrets on the refuge but usually if you find one there are several more nearby. This egret flew past me with the golden tips of last years phragmites and the distant mountains in the background. It sure shows those “Golden Slippers” off! It shouldn’t be long before we start seeing their young hunting along\u00a0with the adults in the marshy areas of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Recently I spent two days in a row photographing birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (aka Bear River National Wildlife Refuge) and found plenty of birds to aim my lens at.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149382,"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":[124,27,1148,255,26],"tags":[4004,5576,11404,743,351,4120,4379,4052,3970,7391,4094,4092,3988,313,4095],"class_list":["post-5141","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-snowy-egrets","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-auto-tour-route","tag-drainage-canal","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-egretta-thula","tag-fishing","tag-flight","tag-hunting","tag-lores","tag-marsh","tag-refuge","tag-snowy-egret","tag-wading-birds","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6154.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1kV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68502,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/17\/my-first-of-year-snowy-egret-sightings\/","url_meta":{"origin":5141,"position":0},"title":"My First Of Year Snowy Egret Sightings","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago I spotted my first of the year Snowy Egret at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when two egrets flew out of a ditch on the way to the auto tour loop.","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":"Snowy Egret shaking its feathers in a marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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McPherson","date":"February 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Snowy Egrets of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge never fail to delight me with their bright white plumage, golden feet, bright yellow lores and feathery plumes.","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":"Snowy Egret scratching its neck, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-scratching-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-scratching-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Mornings this time of the year at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge are cool, delightful and early on the subjects can appear to glow from the soft light like this Snowy Egret.","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":"Snowy Egret in breeding plumage at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-7288.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-7288.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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