{"id":84259,"date":"2021-04-12T05:37:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T11:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=84259"},"modified":"2025-09-01T15:05:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T20:05:46","slug":"great-egret-in-the-marsh-of-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/12\/great-egret-in-the-marsh-of-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Egret In The Marsh Of Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Egret in the marsh of Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I lived in Florida Great Egrets were almost everywhere but in Utah I find them much harder to find. One week ago today I found a Great Egret in the marshy wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> that was close enough to photograph.<\/p>\n

The light angle wasn’t perfect but I simply didn’t care because the egret was illuminated by the soft golden light.<\/p>\n

There were American White Pelicans, Ring-billed and California Gulls, ducks and another distant Great Egret in the area. It was this egret that I kept in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

I don’t know where the Great Egrets that live in the wetlands at the refuge nest. In many of their breeding areas including Florida they use trees to nest in and form large, colonial rookeries. There aren’t any large stands of trees at the refuge so perhaps they nest on the ground.<\/p>\n

What I do know is that when I find a Great Egret here in northern Utah I do what I can to photograph it because I simply don’t see them as often as I would like.<\/p>\n

Several Range maps indicate that Great Egrets aren’t year round residents in northern Utah but I question those results because I have seen them in every month of the year here including the depths of winter<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whatever the season I am always delighted to have Great Egrets in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

One week ago today I found a Great Egret in the marshy wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge that was close enough to photograph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153793,"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":[124,27,1148,362,26],"tags":[4004,4272,743,351,4254,363,4094,4059,6428,4342,313,4095],"class_list":["post-84259","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-great-egrets","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-ardea-alba","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-golden-light","tag-great-egret","tag-marsh","tag-phragmites","tag-phrags","tag-side-lit","tag-wading-birds","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-golden-light-mia-mcpherson-3523.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-lV1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5141,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/05\/birds-of-bear-river-mbr-snowy-egrets\/","url_meta":{"origin":84259,"position":0},"title":"Birds of Bear River MBR – Snowy Egrets","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently I spent two days in a row photographing birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (aka Bear River National Wildlife Refuge) and found plenty of birds to aim my lens at.","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":"Snowy Egret about to land in a marsh at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6154.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6154.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Egret shaking its feathers in a marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-shaking-feathers-mia-mcpherson-5469.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-shaking-feathers-mia-mcpherson-5469.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-shaking-feathers-mia-mcpherson-5469.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-shaking-feathers-mia-mcpherson-5469.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egrets-stretch-mia-mcpherson-4518.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egrets-stretch-mia-mcpherson-4518.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egrets-stretch-mia-mcpherson-4518.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egrets-stretch-mia-mcpherson-4518.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58909,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/08\/snowy-egret-in-flight-over-the-green-marsh-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":84259,"position":3},"title":"Snowy Egret In Flight Over The Green Marsh At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes the simplicity of an image is what draws me in and keeps me happily satisfied with it and that is what I enjoy about this photo of a Snowy Egret in flight over the marsh at Bear River MBR, the simplicity.","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 Snowy Egret in flight over the green marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/snowy-egret-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-5491.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/snowy-egret-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-5491.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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plumage at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Mornings this time of the year at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge are cool, delightful and early on the subjects can appear to glow from the soft light like this Snowy Egret.","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":"Snowy Egret in breeding plumage at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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