{"id":63498,"date":"2020-01-29T05:53:24","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T12:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=63498"},"modified":"2026-04-04T10:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:41:24","slug":"photographing-a-herring-gull-in-thick-fog-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/29\/photographing-a-herring-gull-in-thick-fog-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing An American Herring Gull In Thick Fog At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BearBear River in thick fog \u2013 Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 800, +2.0 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As I mentioned in my Great Blue Heron<\/span><\/a> post yesterday the fog was about the thickest I have ever seen it at the refuge two days ago. Spotting birds in the distance was a problem so my hope was to find some birds close enough to see and<\/em> photograph. I didn’t find many but I liked the foggy images of the birds I did locate.<\/p>\n

Because of the heavy fog it felt to me as if I was visiting a new or different refuge because I couldn’t see the landmarks I usually can. Some where out in the fog in this image are the snow-covered Promontory Mountains but you’d never guess that they were there because of the curtain of fog that hid them. I couldn’t even see a hint of the mountain peaks.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Herring Gull in thick fog \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 800, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While I was photographing the first Great Blue Heron two mornings ago I also spotted a gull on a shelf of ice, the fog was thick enough that from a distance the gull looked huge when I compared it to another nearby heron.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t sure what species of gull it was when I took this photo but because of its light colored eyes I was certain it wasn’t a California Gull. After reviewing the images I took of the gull at home on a larger screen I was happy to see that it was a American Herring Gull, gulls we only see in the winter here.<\/p>\n

Just twenty days earlier I had seen my first American Herring Gull of the winter and at the time hoped I’d be able to add more images of them to my portfolio. I did and I like that the new images I took of this winter visitor were foggy photos.<\/p>\n

I have taken photos of American Herring Gulls in Florida in the sea fog that at times rolled in from the Gulf but these are my first foggy images of American Herring Gulls here in Utah.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Even when it is foggy.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

After reviewing the images I took of the gull at home on a larger screen I was happy to see that it was a Herring Gull, gulls we only see in the winter here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137343,"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":[1299,124,27,1148,26],"tags":[4004,1589,4529,4175,3984,3539,521,8479,4064,8485,4317,156,4246,8300,6329,4188,4050,6319,3996,373],"class_list":["post-63498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-herring-gulls","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-herring-gull","tag-bear-river","tag-fog","tag-foggy","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-heavy-fog","tag-ice","tag-ice-shelf","tag-larus-smithsonianus","tag-low-light-2","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-photographing","tag-riverbank","tag-shoreline","tag-snow","tag-thick-fog","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/herring-gull-in-heavy-fog-mia-mcpherson-5990.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-gwa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109376,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/06\/immature-herring-gull-testing-the-ice\/","url_meta":{"origin":63498,"position":0},"title":"Immature American Herring Gull Testing The Ice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It was January 6, 2021, when I photographed this immature American Herring Gull testing the ice at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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":"Immature American Herring Gull testing the ice, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/herring-gull-immature-ice-mia-mcpherson-4236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/herring-gull-immature-ice-mia-mcpherson-4236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this month I was able to take third winter American Herring Gull photos at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on the ice from the auto tour route.","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":"Calling third cycle American Herring Gull, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/herring-gull-third-winter-mia-mcpherson-4393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/herring-gull-third-winter-mia-mcpherson-4393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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One of the birds I photographed that winter morning was this close-up adult Herring Gull in flight.","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 American Herring Gull in flight close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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