Young Green-tailed Towhee posing in a serviceberry – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I found this young Green-tailed Towhee perched in a serviceberry high in a mountain canyon on a sunny morning on the last day of July this year. I’ve been meaning to share this towhee photo for a while now and today seems like as good a day as any.
Earlier in the morning I had photographed a pair of Sandhill Cranes at this same location and I had driven back to see if the cranes were still there. I didn’t find the cranes again but when this beautiful young towhee popped up I was thrilled. Green-tailed Towhees are only here for their breeding season so I photograph them as often as I can while they are in northern Utah. I love listening to the adults sing and call plus I enjoy watching the young towhees develop before they migrate.
I don’t think this immature Green-tailed Towhee could have picked a more visually pleasing spot than this berry laden serviceberry for me to photograph it on that morning. The light was wonderful and the eye contact I had with the young bird was terrific.
By now many of the Green-tailed Towhees have started their fall journeys to their overwintering grounds. A few may still be in the mountains but it might be a while before I get back up there.
After days and days of record breaking temps we have finally started to cool off but smoke has come back to this area. I opened my living room window this morning and immediately smelled the acrid smoke of western wildfires. My window was closed almost as soon as I inhaled that first whiff of smoke.
Bad air quality September 10, 2022 from PurpleAir.com
I’m going to hunker down and stay inside until this smoke clears out. That smoke is really nasty.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Green-tailed Towhee photos plus facts and information about this species.
The Towhee pic is beautiful. Thanks Mia.
Sorry that you’re having to endure such awful air quality. [Actually, it’s just a typical summer day in L.A.] We are no strangers to wildfires here in So. Calif. Not only is the smoke awful but it lingers for days and has been compounded by the extreme heat and humidity we’ve been experiencing. No fun. Fall can’t get here soon enough.
When I took some birds for release at Mt Dell I saw big groups of spotted towhees. They were digging and eating under the big service berry bushes.
Smoke is nasty. And pervasive.
Thank you for sharing this beauty and I hope your air clears quickly.
Another beautiful bird… with a lot of berries to get to! Here’s hoping the fire and the smoke end very soon.