{"id":94056,"date":"2021-08-26T06:15:12","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T12:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=94056"},"modified":"2026-03-17T09:26:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:26:50","slug":"summer-dragonflies-and-butterflies-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/08\/26\/summer-dragonflies-and-butterflies-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Dragonflies And Butterflies At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MatingMating Blue-eyed Darner dragonflies in a marsh<\/span><\/p>\n

There are times when birds are slow to appear in my viewfinder that I look around for other subjects. Today I am sharing some of the dragonflies and butterflies I’ve found at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a> in the summer. They are other things with wings and I adore being able to photograph them during the warmer months of the year. All of these images were taken on September 12, 2017.<\/p>\n

The first photo is of mating Blue-eyed Darner dragonflies (Rhionaeschna multicolor<\/em>) that I found close to the edge of the auto tour route. This was the first time I have had this species of dragonfly mating and<\/em> this close to me. As I recall I had to suppress a “whoop” when I found them.<\/p>\n

\"PurplishPurplish Copper butterfly in the marsh at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/p>\n

Next up I photographed several Purplish Copper butterflies (Tharsalea helloides<\/em>) at the southwest corner of the auto tour loop in between photographing diving Forester’s Terns and feeding American White Pelicans.<\/p>\n

\"PurplishPurplish Copper butterfly nectaring on smartweed<\/span><\/p>\n

These butterflies are tiny and I wish I had been able to get closer to them. Hopefully the next time I photograph them I will be able to exit my vehicle and move closer.<\/p>\n

\"CloudedClouded Sulphur nectaring on a Common Sunflower<\/span><\/p>\n

Later in the morning I was able to photograph dozens of Clouded Sulphur butterflies (Colias philodice<\/em>) nectaring on Common Sunflowers that were blooming next to the road.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Clouded Sulphur butterfly in summer<\/span><\/p>\n

The Clouded Sulphurs were moving around frequently and with so many in view it was hard to decide which one to have in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

\"CloudedClouded Sulphur Butterfly at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/p>\n

I appreciated the Clouded Sulphurs that came in close to me because I could see all the fine details in their scales.<\/p>\n

\"TwoTwo Clouded Sulphur butterflies on a Common Sunflower<\/span><\/p>\n

And when I could get two of the Clouded Sulphur butterflies in one frame I was more than thrilled and excited.<\/p>\n

Even when birds are slow or too far way at the refuge there always seems to be something that catches my eyes and that I want in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider photos. Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.<\/p>\n

All images were taken with my Nikon D500 with the Nikkor 500mm VR lens and 1.4x TC attached.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I am sharing some of the dragonflies and butterflies I’ve found at Bear River MBR in the summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95743,"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":[124,12158,1148,12171,12164,26],"tags":[4004,6627,6098,12180,6041,6042,12178,12177,2649,12184,12185,3713,5366,2204,4070,6028,4062,4094,4363,6044,2139,12182,12181,4018,1571,12179,2315,5052,105,12183,4095,4307,5063],"class_list":["post-94056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-blue-eyed-darner-dragonflies","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-clouded-sulphur-butterflies","category-purplish-copper-butterflies","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bloom","tag-blooming","tag-blue-eyed-darner","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-clouded-sulphur","tag-colias-philodice","tag-common-sunflower","tag-copper","tag-coppers","tag-copulating","tag-dragonflies","tag-dragonfly","tag-female","tag-helianthus-annuus","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-mating","tag-nectaring","tag-pair","tag-purplish-copper","tag-rhionaeschna-multicolor","tag-sky","tag-sulphur","tag-sulphurs","tag-summer-3","tag-sunflower","tag-sunflowers","tag-tharsalea-helloides","tag-wetlands","tag-wildflowers","tag-yellow-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/clouded-sulphur-butterfly-on-common-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-4408.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ot2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":105859,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/09\/06\/some-recent-butterfly-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":94056,"position":0},"title":"Some Recent Butterfly Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I wanted to share a few of my recent butterfly images taken in the marsh at Bear River MBR and high up in the Wasatch Mountains.","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":"Woodland Skipper butterfly resting on a leaf, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/woodland-skipper-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1122.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/woodland-skipper-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1122.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On the 26th of June I had a darner dragonfly land on a honeysuckle in front of me, that dragonfly was a California Darner.","rel":"","context":"In "California Darners"","block_context":{"text":"California Darners","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/california-darners\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"California Darner dragonfly resting on honeysuckle, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/california-darner-dragonfly-mia-mcpherson-2340.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/california-darner-dragonfly-mia-mcpherson-2340.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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With dedicated efforts, we can help butterfly populations rebound\u2014but time is running out.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Monarch butterfly feeds on purple flowers, showcasing its distinctive orange and black wing pattern, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/monarch-butterfly-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-7435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/monarch-butterfly-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-7435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/monarch-butterfly-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-7435.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/monarch-butterfly-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-7435.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\/94056","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=94056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}