{"id":78571,"date":"2021-01-30T06:38:30","date_gmt":"2021-01-30T13:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=78571"},"modified":"2025-05-18T18:27:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T23:27:44","slug":"adult-tundra-swan-on-the-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/30\/adult-tundra-swan-on-the-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Tundra Swan On The Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Tundra Swan on the wing \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve been thinking that I need to hop into my Jeep and head to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to photograph the Tundra Swans before they head north to breed and nest. The last time that I was at the refuge I heard and saw the swans way off in the distance. They weren’t close enough to photograph but I loved hearing them calling while they flew over the frozen marsh.<\/p>\n

I haven’t been close enough to the Tundra Swans to take high quality photos of them even once this winter.<\/p>\n

These swans are among my favorite avian subjects because they are beautiful birds and listening to their calls<\/span><\/a> soothes and relaxes me. Being out in the marshes with these swans is a joy.<\/p>\n

The month of February has generally been a great month for me to find and photograph the Tundra Swans on the refuge. I have photographed them as late as the second week of April a few times.<\/p>\n

Having Tundra Swans in my viewfinder is always a thrill especially when they are on the wing because of how graceful they are in flight. When I photographed this adult I was delighted with the layers of blue in the background, the soft light, and by how well the swan stood out from the sky.<\/p>\n

Tundra Swans breed in the northern tundra of Canada and Alaska. I feel fortunate that these large, white birds spend time on the marshes surrounding the Great Salt Lake during the winter. They can be seen now at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>, Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a>, Salt Creek WMA<\/span><\/a>, and on the wing in many areas of northern Utah.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I’ve been thinking that I need to hop into my Jeep and head to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to photograph the Tundra Swans before they head north to breed and nest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144872,"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":[124,27,1148,158,26],"tags":[4004,4101,4431,4052,4122,4094,6384,4018,4628,3122,2117,2063,373],"class_list":["post-78571","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-tundra-swans","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-clouds","tag-cygnus-columbianus","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-marsh","tag-on-the-wing","tag-sky","tag-swan","tag-swans","tag-tundra-swan","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-winter-sky-mia-mcpherson-9815.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-krh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51386,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/26\/tundra-swans-of-bear-river-mbr-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":78571,"position":0},"title":"Tundra Swans Of Bear River MBR On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Seeing a few flocks of Tundra Swans in flight two days in northern Utah was a reminder that these big, white swans have already begun their migration to their breeding grounds on the tundra of northern Canada and Alaska.","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":"Tundra Swans flying east over the marsh at Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-east-mia-mcpherson-8658.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-east-mia-mcpherson-8658.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-east-mia-mcpherson-8658.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-east-mia-mcpherson-8658.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110686,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/03\/big-beautiful-tundra-swans-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":78571,"position":1},"title":"Big & Beautiful: Tundra Swans of Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I spent time with a flock of big, beautiful Tundra Swans at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I loved every moment that I had with the swans.","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":"Seventy-six Tundra Swans and the Promontory Mountains, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/tundra-swan-adults-and-immature-76-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0865.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/tundra-swan-adults-and-immature-76-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0865.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/tundra-swan-adults-and-immature-76-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0865.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/tundra-swan-adults-and-immature-76-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0865.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55606,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/10\/adult-and-immature-tundra-swans-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":78571,"position":2},"title":"Adult And Immature Tundra Swans At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I am itching to get back out into the field and one of the places I am most excited to get back to is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County, Utah because of the Tundra Swans that I know are there.","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":"Immature Tundra Swan flapping its wings, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8486.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8486.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61881,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/04\/visions-of-tundra-swans\/","url_meta":{"origin":78571,"position":3},"title":"Visions Of Tundra Swans","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I need to get to Bear River MBR soon because I have visions of Tundra Swans drifting through my mind and I'd love to see them in person on the marshes of the refuge again.","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 and immature Tundra Swans in flight with a cloudy sky behind them, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99817,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/11\/february-tundra-swan-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":78571,"position":4},"title":"February Tundra Swan Photos Plus Some Very Early Sandhill Cranes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last month I mentioned that I hadn't yet gotten the Tundra Swan photos that I wanted to take. Yesterday at Bear River MBR I was delighted to remedy that situation.","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":"Tundra Swan stink eye, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0486.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tundra-swan-adult-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0486.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":80995,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/11\/swan-day-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":78571,"position":5},"title":"Swan Day in Utah – March 13, 2021","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2021","format":"chat","excerpt":"This Saturday, March 13th, is Swan Day here in Utah. It is a day to celebrate these large, white, beautiful birds that spend time here during the winter.","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":"Tundra Swans and winter sky, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}