{"id":59926,"date":"2019-09-02T05:21:35","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T11:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=59926"},"modified":"2024-04-02T03:35:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T09:35:45","slug":"mirage-as-seen-from-bear-river-mbr-auto-tour-route","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/02\/mirage-as-seen-from-bear-river-mbr-auto-tour-route\/","title":{"rendered":"Mirage As Seen From Bear River MBR Auto Tour Route"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FataFata Morgana or Superior Mirage? Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I place a lot of confidence in my visual acuity and I am constantly scanning for birds, large and small, near and far when I am out in the field and once in a while I see the oddest things. Last week on a trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on 29 August I was scanning the dried up marshes for birds from the west side of the auto tour route while looking towards the southeast and happened to spot a long, dark, odd looking mirage.<\/p>\n

I struggled for a second because my brain knew that what I was seeing shouldn’t be there but I believed my eyes.<\/p>\n

I think I was looking towards where Willard Bay is located and I know I could see the Wasatch Mountain Range in the distance but that dark area over the marsh that looks like Spanish moss draped over a invisible line touching the horizon? It shouldn’t be there, it isn’t<\/em> physically there but yet, it was.<\/p>\n

\"MirageMirage seen from Bear River MBR – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The mirage might be a superior mirage<\/span><\/a> or a fata morgana<\/span><\/a> mirage, I really don’t know for sure but I do know that it was fascinating to see and photograph. The mirage stretched for miles and appeared to fade into nothingness at both ends.<\/p>\n

It was hazy that morning with some clouds overhead, I’d seen a low of 53\u00b0F but don’t know what the temp was when I took these images.<\/p>\n

Whatever this mirage was, it got my attention and I felt I had to stop and take photos of this naturally occurring optical phenomena, I mean I don’t see things like this everyday!<\/p>\n

Isn’t nature astonishing?<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whatever this mirage was, it got my attention and I felt I had to stop and take photos of this naturally occurring optical phenomena, I mean I don’t see things like this everyday!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127027,"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":[124,1148,26,7641],"tags":[5576,7636,7635,4094,7633,7639,7637,6017,7638,4092,7634,4111,7640],"class_list":["post-59926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-weather-phenomena","tag-auto-tour-route","tag-complex-mirage","tag-fata-morgana","tag-marsh","tag-mirage","tag-mirages","tag-odd-things-i-see","tag-optical-illusion","tag-optical-phenomena","tag-refuge","tag-superior-mirage","tag-weather","tag-weather-phenomena"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mirage-from-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-6343.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fAy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":72402,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/08\/03\/wintry-view-of-bear-river-mbr-and-the-snow-covered-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":59926,"position":0},"title":"Wintry View Of Bear River MBR And The Snow-covered Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Just viewing this winter photo of the refuge made me feel refreshed and cooler. I also realized it might be hot now but cooler weather will be here before long.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter view of Bear River MBR and the snowy Wasatch Mountains, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-winter-view-mia-mcpherson-0594.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-winter-view-mia-mcpherson-0594.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-winter-view-mia-mcpherson-0594.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Two years ago when I photographed this stormy sky with a Great Blue Heron in flight I also photographed loads of other birds from the auto tour route including wading and shorebirds, geese, ducks, ibis, terns, gulls, rails, pelicans and coots.","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":"Stormy sky with a Great Blue Heron in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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