{"id":102449,"date":"2022-05-17T05:42:28","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T11:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=102449"},"modified":"2023-02-17T06:41:12","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T13:41:12","slug":"its-a-special-day-here-at-on-the-wing-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/17\/its-a-special-day-here-at-on-the-wing-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s A Special Day Here At On The Wing Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is special day here at On The Wing Photography because it marks my 4000th post AND<\/em> it is also my Mom’s 90th Birthday!<\/p>\n

\"HappyHappy 90th Birthday Mom!<\/span><\/h2>\n

I took this Mountain Bluebell photo four years ago today while my mother was visiting me in Utah. It was a special treat to have her with me on her birthday and to spend the morning with my mom up in the Wasatch Mountains. We were both taking photos of the birds, animals, flowers and the scenery that we found together.<\/p>\n

I knew that I wanted to select a photo I took on her birthday four years ago to create a birthday card for her. I put this image on my mom’s Facebook page this morning too. I’ll be calling my mom later this morning.<\/p>\n

It worked out nicely that I am writing my 4000th post on her birthday of all days.<\/p>\n

I’m Sticking with A Sky Blue Theme Today<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"MaleMale Lazuli Bunting perched in sage \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Since my primary focus at On The Wing Photography IS<\/em> birds I also wanted to share some bird photos to celebrate my 4000th post here. Two days ago I listened to and photographed this striking male Lazuli Bunting perched on top of sagebrush in northern Utah. The beautiful blue color of his breeding plumage stood out well in the sea of sage.<\/p>\n

\"LazuliLazuli Bunting male singing on sagebrush \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I enjoyed listening to this male Lazuli Bunting singing<\/span><\/a> while he perched on the sage as much as I was delighted to photograph him. Before long the buntings will head to habitats in Utah where they will breed. I most often see them nesting high in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n

There is a weird coincidence from this day four years ago. Right before my mom visited me in 2018 I was bitten by a no-see-um next to my right eye and my eye was swollen up from the bite when I picked my mother up from the airport. Two days ago I got bit by another no-see-um by my right eye and this morning as I write my eye is swollen again. I was wearing a no-see-um head net which worked well but I made the mistake of taking off the netting when I thought there weren’t any of those biting gnats around. While I was stopped to look for birds at a ranch pond one of the nasty buggers found me.<\/p>\n

Happy Birthday, Mom! I \u2764 you!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Lazuli Bunting photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is special day here at On The Wing Photography because it marks my 4000th post AND it is also my Mom’s 90th Birthday!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1148,380,26],"tags":[12884,4004,2519,11480,7155,11286,4053,6530,5817,3940,4098,1828,4062,10139,12883,10136,4069,4270,4104,2817,4057,4179,165,4176,4307],"class_list":["post-102449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-lazuli-buntings","category-utah","tag-90th-birthday","tag-adult","tag-artemisia-tridentata","tag-big-sagebrush","tag-blue-wildflowers","tag-bluebells","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-bunting","tag-buntings","tag-canyon","tag-desert","tag-lazuli-bunting","tag-male","tag-mertensia-ciliata","tag-mom","tag-mountain-bluebells","tag-mountains","tag-passerina-amoena","tag-perched","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-singing-2","tag-spring","tag-wasatch-mountains","tag-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/lazuli-bunting-male-on-sage-mia-mcpherson-4945.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qEp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59574,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/17\/pre-migration-lazuli-buntings-fattening-up-on-fruit\/","url_meta":{"origin":102449,"position":0},"title":"Pre-migration Lazuli Buntings Fattening Up On Fruit","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago today I was up in the Wasatch Mountains photographing pre-migration Lazuli Buntings fattening on the fruits of serviceberries and most of them were either immature or female buntings.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Lazuli Bunting foraging in a serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-female-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-6291.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-female-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-6291.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Lazuli Bunting in a Serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-mia-mcpherson-8013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-mia-mcpherson-8013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-mia-mcpherson-8013.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-mia-mcpherson-8013.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/lazuli-bunting-immature-gape-mia-mcpherson-inset-7588.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/lazuli-bunting-immature-gape-mia-mcpherson-inset-7588.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/lazuli-bunting-immature-gape-mia-mcpherson-inset-7588.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/lazuli-bunting-immature-gape-mia-mcpherson-inset-7588.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":71957,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/15\/male-lazuli-buntings-photographed-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":102449,"position":3},"title":"Male Lazuli Buntings Photographed In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past week I have had the pleasure of photographing male Lazuli Buntings high in the Wasatch Mountains in several different settings.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lazuli Bunting male perched in tall grasses, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-4973.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-4973.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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