{"id":58774,"date":"2019-06-30T04:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T10:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=58774"},"modified":"2025-03-29T12:35:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T17:35:03","slug":"juvenile-cliff-swallows-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/06\/30\/juvenile-cliff-swallows-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile Cliff Swallows At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EarlyEarly morning juvenile Cliff Swallow – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It is now the time of the year when young birds are being seen at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> and among the young are juvenile Cliff Swallows. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I saw my first of year Cliff Swallows arriving at the refuge during spring migration and already their young have joined them on the wing over the marshes.<\/p>\n

Some of the young Cliff Swallows have white speckles on their foreheads and chins which is one way to tell that they are young, another is their yellowish gapes which adult Cliff Swallows do not have.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Cliff Swallow looking towards the sky – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed all three of these individual juvenile Cliff Swallows in the same area next to the auto tour route, there were quite a few of the juveniles perched on top of the phragmites but I only had clear views of these three.<\/p>\n

I have to admit that I was thinking “Awww” in my mind as I photographed these young birds partly because I think they are cute little buggers and the other part was because I was happy to see that these swallows seemed to have had a successful breeding season.<\/p>\n

\"BlueBlue sky with a juvenile Cliff Swallow – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The soft, early morning light was beautiful when I took these juvenile Cliff Swallow images and I am pleased with how the photos came out.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The soft, early morning light was beautiful when I took these juvenile Cliff Swallow images and I am pleased with how the photos came out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[124,27,1148,489,26],"tags":[2420,4067,4071,4094,4104,641,4059,6428,4807,3470,4095,4193],"class_list":["post-58774","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-cliff-swallows","category-utah","tag-cliff-swallow","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-petrochelidon-pyrrhonota","tag-phragmites","tag-phrags","tag-swallow","tag-swallows","tag-wetlands","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5249.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fhY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2580,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/06\/27\/cliff-swallow-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":58774,"position":0},"title":"Cliff Swallow Juveniles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Cliff Swallows catch and eat flying insects of many species the wing so I adore them because they eat mosquitoes, an insect that I personally despise!","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":"Juvenile Cliff Swallow (pale-throated variant?), Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cliff-swallow-juvenile-pale-throated-utah-perched-mia-mcpherson-8975.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cliff-swallow-juvenile-pale-throated-utah-perched-mia-mcpherson-8975.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cliff-swallow-juvenile-pale-throated-utah-perched-mia-mcpherson-8975.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cliff-swallow-juvenile-pale-throated-utah-perched-mia-mcpherson-8975.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":84465,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/14\/spring-cliff-swallow-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":58774,"position":1},"title":"Spring Cliff Swallow Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to focus on a nearby adult Cliff Swallow as it warmed up on the dirt auto tour loop road and take a nice series of images of it in the soft light.","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":"Back view of an adult Cliff Swallow, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cliff-swallow-adult-on-road-mia-mcpherson-5414.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cliff-swallow-adult-on-road-mia-mcpherson-5414.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bear River Cliff Swallow perched on phragmites, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23463,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/12\/preening-cliff-swallow-and-a-short-video-of-the-flock\/","url_meta":{"origin":58774,"position":3},"title":"Preening Cliff Swallow And A Short Video Of The Flock","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Cliff Swallows at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge are busy catching bugs and building nests but they do take time out to preen and fluff like this one did 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":"Preening Cliff Swallow at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1426.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1426.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1426.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1426.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60050,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/07\/swallow-quartet-bank-barn-cliff-and-tree-swallows-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":58774,"position":4},"title":"Swallow Quartet – Bank, Barn, Cliff And Tree Swallows At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I was glad to be able to photograph Bank, Barn, Cliff and Tree Swallows perched on top of a stand of phragmites near the auto tour route on the refuge in early morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "Bank Swallows"","block_context":{"text":"Bank Swallows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/swallows\/bank-swallows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Barn Swallow lifting off, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/barn-swallow-adult-lifting-off-mia-mcpherson-0067.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/barn-swallow-adult-lifting-off-mia-mcpherson-0067.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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