{"id":83456,"date":"2021-04-05T05:26:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T11:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=83456"},"modified":"2026-10-23T12:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T17:19:11","slug":"listening-to-a-marsh-wren-serenade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/05\/listening-to-a-marsh-wren-serenade\/","title":{"rendered":"Listening To A Western Marsh-Wren Serenade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WesternWestern Marsh-Wren singing on a spring morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent a few minutes with a singing Western Marsh-Wren that I spotted in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> last week. The tiny bird wasn’t close, so pointing the wren out was no easy task.<\/p>\n

It was the song<\/span><\/a> of the Western Marsh-Wren that caught my attention and it was the song that kept it. When this wren sang I felt serenaded.<\/p>\n

Western Marsh-Wrens are year round residents in northern Utah but they don’t often sing during the winter and because during that season they are more secretive there are people that mistakenly think they have migrated out of the state. They haven’t but you have to be very observant to see them.<\/p>\n

Spring is a great time to listen to, observe, and photograph Western Marsh-Wrens at the refuge because they are active, are singing, and are busy building nests.<\/p>\n

When photographing Western Marsh-Wrens my advice is to drive slowly where the vegetation is close to the auto tour route road, listen for the wrens singing or chattering away, and then stop and sit there for a bit.<\/p>\n

Western Marsh-Wrens are territorial before and during the nesting season and generally stay within their territorial boundaries so if you find one close to the road chances are you’ll have several opportunities to see and photograph the same bird. The wrens may come in closer if you have ample patience and wait for that to happen.<\/p>\n

Listening to this Western Marsh-Wren singing on a sunny March morning in the marsh was soothing, relaxing, and a joy.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Western Marsh-Wren photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Update<\/strong>: Marsh wrens were split in October 2026 to Eastern and Western Marsh-Wrens. This post has been updated to reflect that change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent a few minutes with a singing Western Marsh-Wren that I spotted in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last week. The tiny wren wasn’t close so pointing him out was no easy task.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116035,"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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,26,538],"tags":[4004,17605,4094,4059,6428,4179,165,5245,11346,17606,4095,5802,3822],"class_list":["post-83456","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-utah","category-marsh-wrens","tag-adult","tag-cistothorus-paludicola","tag-marsh","tag-phragmites","tag-phrags","tag-singing-2","tag-spring","tag-territorial","tag-territorial-boundaries","tag-western-marsh-wren","tag-wetlands","tag-wren","tag-wrens"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t