{"id":66310,"date":"2020-03-07T05:23:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-07T12:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=66310"},"modified":"2024-07-16T02:35:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T07:35:27","slug":"song-sparrow-singing-on-the-marsh-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/07\/song-sparrow-singing-on-the-marsh-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Song Sparrow Singing On The Marsh At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SongSong Sparrow singing on the marsh – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Three days ago I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> hoping to get some frame filling photos of the Tundra Swans that migrate through Utah and stop at the refuge to rest and refuel. Before I even got to where the swans were I stopped and took photos of Red-winged Blackbirds<\/span><\/a> and a Song Sparrow singing in the marsh.<\/p>\n

I had nice morning light and angled my Jeep so the distant, snowy Promontory Mountains were in the background when I photographed this Song Sparrow singing. Song Sparrows are year round residents here in northern Utah and over the past month or so I have been hearing them singing more regularly and have been seeing them perched up high on rushes, phrags and other vegetation.<\/p>\n

The songs<\/span><\/a> of these sparrows always delight me. I stopped and just listened to this Song Sparrow before I even began to photograph it.<\/p>\n

\"TundraTundra Swans and the Promontory Mountains \u2013 Nikon D810, f11, 1\/2500, ISO 800, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 48mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t have much luck at all with the Tundra Swans because they were too far from the road but I did take a few long distance photos of them with the Promontory Mountains in the background. The ice is coming off of the water, I can see some signs of spring growth and I know it won’t be long before the swans head north to their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

My window of opportunity for photographing the swans may soon close but I am happy that I have some birds like Song Sparrows here year round to see through my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I had nice morning light and angled my Jeep so the distant, snowy Promontory Mountains were in the background when I photographed this Song Sparrow singing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,204,26],"tags":[4004,4094,4202,4069,4104,4059,6428,4528,4179,4093,4328,4023,855,4195,373],"class_list":["post-66310","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-song-sparrows","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-marsh","tag-melospiza-melodia","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-phragmites","tag-phrags","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-singing-2","tag-snow-covered","tag-snowy","tag-song-sparrow","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-snowy-mountains-mia-mcpherson-6270.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-hfw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48544,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/21\/adult-and-immature-song-sparrows\/","url_meta":{"origin":66310,"position":0},"title":"Adult and Immature Song Sparrows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was able to photograph and adult Song Sparrow eating while perched at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge early in the morning.","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 Song Sparrow at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-adult-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-6020.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-adult-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-6020.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-adult-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-6020.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-adult-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-6020.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113359,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/10\/savannah-sparrow-in-side-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":66310,"position":1},"title":"Savannah Sparrow In Side Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I went to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I very much needed the peace, tranquility, and birds I found there, including this Savannah Sparrow.","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":"Spring Savannah Sparrow in side light, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101612,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/18\/savannah-sparrow-in-the-marsh-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":66310,"position":2},"title":"Savannah Sparrow In The Marsh Of Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been hearing more Savannah Sparrows than usual at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge this spring. I hope that means their numbers are increasing.","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":"Savannah Sparrow perched in the marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32766,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/15\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-and-a-marsh-wren\/","url_meta":{"origin":66310,"position":4},"title":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and A Marsh Wren","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge looks beautiful this time of the year so I took a few images of it with my cell phone and a short video when I was there two days ago.","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":"Bear River Autumn, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge-mia-mcpherson-2467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge-mia-mcpherson-2467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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