A Pictorial Of Some Of The Other Interesting Sights You May Have Missed During The Recent Flooding Of The Bear River.

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farm equipment on forest street surrounded by flood water

I guess I’ll finally admit the old-school photographer in me never likes to be confined to just one subject.

Birds are, without question, my favorite target to point a camera toward but I just can’t limit myself to only birds no matter how much I enjoy photographing them.

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Place a good scene in front of me, any kind of scene that sets off the old ‘photography alarm’ inside my head, and the inner photog deep within me has to try and capture it somehow.

A few weeks ago during the recent flooding on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, this was most definitely the case as I came across a compelling scene along Forest Street that is, well, rarely seen and strangely enough has nothing to do with birdwatching per se.

old farm equipment being flooded out from the nearby bear river
(This farm equipment on Forest Street near the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge has rarely seen water like this where the nearby Bear River just couldn’t hold anymore of the spring runoff from a record-breaking snowpack.)

In fact, I can only remember seeing it twice since the road was rebuilt from the devastating floods way back when the Great Salt Lake completely covered the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge with salt water.

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That was after the heavy winter of 1983-84, a winter season coupled with a very wet spring that wreaked havoc on much of the Wasatch Front with an incredible rise in the Great Salt Lake which flooded the federal bird refuge for a couple years or so and destroyed dikes, structures, and the asphalt road known as Forest Street leading to the auto tour route.

The floods of 2023 won’t be recorded in history as having anything near the effect on the bird refuge the ’84 winter did but this particular flood did cover quite a bit of federal and private land with a foot or two of water for nearly a month or more.

old farm equipment casting a perfect shadow in the flood waters on the bear river migratory bird refuge
(With a smooth, watery backdrop the old farm equipment cast a near-perfect reflection in the flood waters, something rarely seen in this particular landscape setting.)

Water from the overburdened Bear River displaced some birds but also created a temporary new habitat for water birds along Forest Street when the usually dry and often parched grasslands were inundated with water flowing over the banks of the nearby river.

I spent a lot of time birdwatching along Forest Street during this period as birds such as American avocets, snowy egrets, black-necked stilts, white-faced ibis, and even American pelicans filled the shallow waters with some great birdwatching for a few weeks.

One day while out chasing birds with my camera, however, I came across an interesting scene with some of the old, sleepy farm equipment that currently resides on one section of private land on Forest Street as you head down to the auto tour route.

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Those of you that have had the pleasure of birding on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge are most likely familiar with the area I am referring to.

Honestly, I’d never given this old machinery much thought until I saw it in a completely different setting, one where each piece of equipment was being gently cradled by the smooth, reflective flood waters that were covering the grasslands at that time.

The waters have since receded for the most part and the scene depicted in the images on this blog post is long gone but I was able to capture a few images with my camera on a perfectly calm day to help show some of the other interesting sights visitors to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge were treated to during the flooding.

old farm machinery on Forest Street near the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
(With the flood waters finally receding this is what the old farm machinery looks like today on Forest Street as you head down to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route.)

Some of the images below were photographed with my DSLR camera and others were taken with my phone but, hopefully, I captured the scene before me well enough with both cameras that the beauty and tranquility I was privileged to enjoy at that particular moment will show through.

Forest Street, the 12-mile county road that ends at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route, is an incredible place for birdwatching but it also has some great scenery, including some spectacular sunsets, if you catch it on the right day like I did when I captured the images for this article, including the small gallery below, one morning during the flooding.

So next time you visit the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I would suggest keeping your eyes open for not only the birds that can be found on this portion of the refuge but watch out for some of the compelling scenery that can also be enjoyed there as well.

If you are a fan of the famous Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge like I am, I make the offer to head on over to our subscribe page and sign up for email notifications for future blog posts about the refuge and the other natural places I visit and photograph almost daily.

It is through this website and my photography efforts I hope to show others how beautiful the natural world is around us to help garner more interest, education, and eventually more support and protection for wildlife and the natural areas they rely on such as the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge for all to visit and enjoy.

old farm equipment surrounded by flood waters from the Bear River
(Birdwatchers heading to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge are accustomed to the old farm equipment but only laying in a dry pasture and not surrounded by floodwaters from the nearby Bear River.)
old tractor sitting in the flood waters on forest street near the bear river migratory bird refuge
(This old tractor not only made for an interesting photography scene but also played as a depth gauge with the flood waters slowly rising and lowering against the old, worn-out tires.)
reflection on the smooth flood waters on the bear river
(The smooth flood waters seemed to go on forever and offered an interesting reflection on windless days.)
flood water from the bear river on forest street
(Maybe it’s just me but I found the glass-smooth flood waters from the Bear River quite interesting as it covered endless acres of dry pasture.)
farm equipment giving a reflection in the flood waters near the bear river migratory bird refuge
(I was lucky to catch this old farm equipment on an almost windless day, one that offered a near-perfect reflection and a most interesting photo opportunity of the old farm machinery I have passed countless times and paid little attention to prior to the floods as I headed down to the bird refuge auto tour route to look for birds.)
old farm equipment near the bear river migratory bird refuge being surrounded by flood water
(The old farm equipment near the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge rarely caught my eye until I came across it on a perfectly windless day during the floods.)

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