15 June 2013 - Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Decided I need to do something besides stay at home and feel sorry for myself.  I have been meaning to go see the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge since we moved back here.  I thought it would be a quick drive up I-15.  Well, it certainly was a drive. I had forgotten that Brigham City was 77 miles up the road.  I had an hour's drive north. It has been decades since I have been north of Ogden, so it was like seeing it for the first time. Again, I am awed by how beautiful this state is. 

Here are a few views from the drive north. It is quite lovely-- the valley is so flat and the mountains rise up out of nothing. All along the Wasatch Front, you can see how the rocks are twisted, curved, folded and heaved up out of the earth. Stunning.

 

 The refuge has a 12 mile road that winds in and out of water ways, marshes, open water, dry flats--many different terrains. I only saw two other people on my trip and I was there from 4pm to 7:30. Took me a long time to drive those 12 miles. 

My main goal for this trip was to see a white-faced ibis and a bobolink. My final count was 37 varieties of birds, and eight of them were firsts!  A good day. I think I need a different camera- one with a faster shutter. So many pictures have blurred birds. Guess they don't like sitting for portraits. 

First new bird. One of the first birds I saw was the very bird I was hoping to see-- a white-faced ibis. I was so excited! He was a little far away for good pictures, but I was snapping away like crazy trying for a decent shot. Who knows, it could have been the only one I saw all day. For the most part, the overall color you see is a cinnamon brown. But with the right light, you can see all kinds of colors and sheens in their feathers. 

Here's the funny part. After finding the first solitary bird, I ended up seeing several hundred of these birds. They were everywhere and in big numbers. Here is just a tiny section of shallows that is filled with ibises. I think there are about 78 of them in this picture alone.

Not only were there hundreds of ibises in the meadows and wading in the shallows, but huge groups of them were practicing vee formations overhead. 

You don't even want to know how many pictures I took of the ibis, much less anything else. 


Second new bird:  A Long-billed Curlew. I watched a parent with two screaming juveniles for some time. The babies were not afraid of me at all, and other than taking turns yelling, did not move away. The parent was more restrained. 

Third:  Bullock's Oriole. Really pretty. Too far away and too fast for a good picture. 
It kills me that the tamarisk tree he is sitting in is in focus. Maybe I need to learn about manual focus. 

Fourth: This cutie pie is an Eastern Kingbird. 

Fifth: Western Kingbird. These little birds are all over, but they are extremely fast and rather shy. You'll see them sitting on wires, road signs, and the top-most branch of little shrubs, taking off in the most amazing acrobatic flights chasing flying insects.  Here are two photos:  This is the Western Kingbird from the backside, and a side view with their lovely yellow belly.

 



 








Sixth:  A Wilson's Pharalope. This one was so new to me that I had not even heard the name before.  Thank goodness for Sibley--my favorite field guide to birds. 

Seventh: Clark's Grebe.
I have previously seen Eared Grebes and Western Grebes--saw hundreds of Western Grebes on this trip.  I had pulled over to read a sign that mentioned the refuge was a great place to see both Western and Clark's grebes. Had to look them up.

Boy do they look alike! The defining difference for me was that on a Clark's Grebe, there is white above the eye and on a Western Grebe, the eye is surrounded by black. Subtle stuff.   Here is a Clark's Grebe.

        And for comparison purposes, here is the Western Grebe. 

Eighth:  Lark Bunting. This bird was really hard to catch. He was along the roadside bouncing in and out of the grassy cover chasing bugs. His black and white markings were very showy, although in this photo he looks grayer than he really is. 



Nineth? As I was leaving, I saw these two youngsters on a pole. I am not sure who they are. Broadtailed hawk? Need to do some research. 

Here are a bunch of old friends and some of the scenery from my very wonderful day. 

Snowy Egrets. 

Lots of them. 
I love how their bright yellow feet accent those black legs. 

 This is an immature Little Blue Heron. What a surprise to find out the juveniles start out white. His lores (the skin at the top of the beak) is pink. That is the deciding factor. That and his legs are gray, not black. 



Ring-necked pheasant. 

Black-necked Stilts

 Killdeer

Sandhill crane

Great-tailed Grackle. This was another surprise. I don't remember seeing these in Utah. But I love all things grackle, so I'm happy.

 

Seagulls: The ever-present California Gull in front, and near the back the black-headed birds are Franklin's Gulls. 

 

Pelicans and Cormorants - they seem to hang together.

Pelicans and more Ibises 

Black-crowned Night-Herons

 

Great Blue Heron

Yellow-headed black birds. Did I mention how noisy the refuge was? Most of the racket was from the blackbirds. They sound like rusty hinges when they squawk, and do they ever squawk.

  

And speaking of all the bird calls, and how the air fairly quivered with bird songs, it wasn't just birds. 

 

Oh, Canada(s)

Other funny stuff. Carp. HUGE  carp. On my way into the refuge, I stopped at a pull-off to look at the rather spectacular scenery. I kept hearing a sound like splashing in a  really big barrel. 

Here I am standing on a concrete barrier that is 5 feet above the water level. Carp, at least two and a half feet long are trying to jump up and over this barrier. If they made it, they would die, but it was quite something to see as they leaped out of the water.  I have my toes in the picture for scale. It was startling to have them come hurtling up out of the water. This carp's nose was higher than the edge of the cement.

Next are way too many pictures of the refuge. Every corner   opened up new vistas. All gorgeous.

 

 

 

One last funny story. Whenever I stopped and got out of the car I was set upon by biting horse flies. Yep, today I am covered with welts. They were slow enough that when you felt the prick you could slap them dead. But when I got back in the car and was driving away they would fly alongside my car-- actually flying faster than I was driving. I would look out my side window and there would be one to five or more of these huge green-headed flies staying even with me.  It was like something out of a cartoon. I could see their evil little grins. "Gonna get you!"  And they did.