Wanted to make a quick blog post about today’s little adventure. With the Tundra Swans beginning to migrate down through Utah I wanted to see if I could find any at my favorite place to go capture birds. That meant I was up at 0530 to head out to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (have I mentioned that this is one of the best places in all of North America to go birding?!). The early start was great because I was able to get out there before sunrise and capture this beautiful shot of the sun coming up behind the Wasatch Front, reflecting off the river.
Utah Sunrise
If you remember from my last post while I was out here, the mosquitoes are horrendous. But, with the brisk 25degree frosty mornings they are nowhere to be seen (lucky for me). It’s crazy to see how many fewer birds there are here in fall due to the migration and cooler weather. This didn’t mean that I didn’t capture anything. Off in the distance I kept seeing a Northern Harrier Hawk, circling the marsh. While it was roughly 100yds from the trail I still managed to capture a few shots of it. Wish it would have come closer, but it is what it is.
Moving forward there are still quite a few Grebes that can be seen on the water, along with a good amount of American Coot’s, with their bright red eyes. Still testing the abilities of the D500 I am amazed at the speed and accuracy of the auto focus, which nailed this Coot coming in for a landing. By the way, check out just how big those feet are!
With the cool morning frost starting to thaw with the sunrise it bad for some perfect lighting and beautiful reflections.
Unfortunately, the Tundra Swans have yet to make it Utah, so I will have to try again over the next few weeks to capture some shots of them. But, on my way out I still managed to get some great shots of Malards taking flight, a baby Loch Ness Monster (haha), and the bird of Utah (the Seagull).
Seeing that it was only 0830, I still had time to kill so on the way home I decided to stop by one of my other favorite spots that has a good amount of waterfowl year-round and is close to home, Beus Pond. I have never seen so many Wood Ducks here in the past, being a very skiddish duck, they often swim or fly off if you get anywhere near them. However, I was lucky enough to snag a few good shots of them, along with a very photogenic Malard Duck.
After walking around the pond a couple of times, I caught a glimpse of a blue bird off on the other side of the pond. Walking over to get a closer look, it took off again. Luckily having the big lens on I could zoom to see just what it was. At first I didn’t quite believe what I was seeing, it looked like a Kingfisher, but I have yet to see one of these in Utah, and didn’t even know that there were any here. But after it came a bit closer I was sure it was a Kingfisher. Turns out it was a female Belted kingfisher judging by the rust color breast feathers. After doing a bit of research it seems like it may just be stopping by for a few days while it is migrating south for the winter.
And that’s it for today’s blog. Even though it’s getting chilly out there, bundle up and go explore and see what the world has to offer! I hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions please drop a comment below and let me know.