{"id":98010,"date":"2021-12-07T05:48:47","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T12:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=98010"},"modified":"2021-12-07T05:48:47","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T12:48:47","slug":"merlin-on-a-large-wooden-post-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/07\/merlin-on-a-large-wooden-post-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Merlin On A Large Wooden Post At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MerlinMerlin on a large wooden post \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week I spotted a Merlin perched on a large wooden post way out in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> in northern Utah. To the naked eye this small falcon was just a light spot on top of the weathered wooden post when I first saw it.<\/p>\n

I knew that the Merlin was going to be small in the frame when I took images of it but I liked that the out of focus marsh in the background gave this photo a hint of the habitat that I found the bird in. I do wish that I had been able to get closer to this Merlin because this image is cropped more than 50% but seeing the falcon there that morning reminded me of the other birds of prey I have seen perched on this particular old wooden post over the years.<\/p>\n

\"BaldBald Eagle on a large wooden post \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

More often than not during the fall and winter I see Bald Eagles on the same wooden post on chilly to bitter cold mornings. The sun must feel great to the birds that perch on it after a long, cold night of being exposed to the elements out on the wetlands of the refuge. I took this image of an adult Bald Eagle on the wooden post on the first day of 2016. I can’t recall the precise temperature that it was at the time but I remember it being extremely cold that morning.<\/p>\n

Even though this weathered, old wooden post is leaning towards the ground a little bit more every year I hope that it stays straight enough so that I and others will be able to see and photograph birds of prey resting on it for years to come.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Last week I spotted a Merlin perched on a large wooden post way out in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98004,"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":[151,124,27,1148,1182,26],"tags":[4004,970,846,2663,3903,3133,4297,12623,4078,4279,4620,4152,4064,4094,4296,4295,4104,12622,153,4043,4095,373,8917],"class_list":["post-98010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bald-eagle","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-merlins","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-bald-eagle","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-eagle","tag-eagles","tag-falco-columbarius","tag-falco-columbarius-richardsonii","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-fall","tag-haliaeetus-leucocephalus","tag-ice","tag-marsh","tag-merlin","tag-merlins","tag-perched","tag-prairie-merlin","tag-raptors","tag-small-in-frame","tag-wetlands","tag-winter","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/merlin-at-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-6956.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-puO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":99361,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/28\/adult-male-prairie-merlin-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":98010,"position":0},"title":"Adult Male Prairie Merlin At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the birds I photographed yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was an adult male Prairie Merlin that I spotted on a fence post close to the road.","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":"Male Prairie Merlin on a wooden post, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-4453.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-4453.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Merlins are winter visitors in the Salt Lake Valley so I have just a few more weeks to attempt photographing them. Merlins are used to be called \"pigeon hawks\" because their shape and flight patterns are similar to pigeons.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"High key Merlin, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-mia-mcpherson-8382.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-mia-mcpherson-8382.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-mia-mcpherson-8382.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-mia-mcpherson-8382.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Any time I can see and photograph two falcon species in a single day is a great day and yesterday I photographed a Prairie Merlin and several American Kestrels.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Prairie Merlin perched in a tree, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-female-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-female-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-2200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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