Bear River NWR, Utah

The following photos were taken at the Bear River National Wildlife Refuge just outside Brigham City, Utah in mid-April.  The refuge has a relatively new, large visitors center and features a very long driving loop along the tops of a series of dikes.  This probably isn't the best time of year to visit but the wildlife is still abundant. 

This photo is one of the last I took when leaving the refuge... an American avocet feeding in the shallows...

This is a Clark's grebe in one of the canals.  Note that the bird's eye is in the white portion of the feathers on the bird's head...

This is a Western grebe.  Note that the black feathers on the head encompass the bird's eye.  

An American White pelican flying with mountains in the background.  Some of the mountains still had considerable snow at this time of year.

Always one of my favorites... a meadowlark singing on top of a fence post.  There are two species of meadowlarks (Eastern and Western) whose ranges overlap.  Apparently the only reliable way of telling the difference is by the birds' songs, but these are probably Western meadowlarks. 

 

This is a Yellow-headed blackbird which are found on the refuge by the hundreds, greatly outnumbering the Red-winged blackbirds.  There are millions of midges in the refuge which on my initial trip I mistook for mosquitoes.  They ruined some of my early photos of blackbirds performing an hilarious mating ritual on top of a sign.  The midges are apparently a vital part of the food chain at the refuge and the blackbirds can often be seen snatching them from the air as they fly by.  

 I also saw and photographed nutria, Long-billed curlews, a Savannah sparrow and various waterfowl.