{"id":104467,"date":"2022-07-23T04:35:28","date_gmt":"2022-07-23T10:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=104467"},"modified":"2022-07-23T05:47:11","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T11:47:11","slug":"willow-flycatcher-in-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/23\/willow-flycatcher-in-july\/","title":{"rendered":"Willow Flycatcher In July"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-104460 size-full\" title=\"Adult Willow Flycatcher in a thicket\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7050.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7050.jpg\" alt=\"Adult Willow Flycatcher in a thicket, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah\" width=\"640\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20640%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7050-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7050-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7050-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7050-600x750.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7050.jpg 640w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Adult Willow Flycatcher in a thicket \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 1600, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Yesterday morning I spent a few minutes with a cooperative adult Willow Flycatcher in a willow thicket high in the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wasatch_Range\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a>. The light I had while I was with this flycatcher was variable due to clouds to the east hanging over the mountain tops.<\/p>\n<p>I knew there were clouds before I headed up into the mountains but decided to go anyway. I needed to feel the cooler mountain air and to relax in nature. The flycatcher was a bonus.<\/p>\n<p>For what ever reasons this year I haven&#8217;t had as many opportunities to photograph Willow Flycatchers as I have had in previous years.\u00a0 Mostly, they just haven&#8217;t been close enough or hidden from view. Having this Willow Flycatcher up close and out in the open was a treat I hadn&#8217;t expected.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-104461 size-full\" title=\"Willow Flycatcher on a July morning\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074.jpg\" alt=\"Willow Flycatcher on a July morning, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Willow Flycatcher on a July morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the morning I watched this Willow Flycatcher launching itself from the top of a willow to hawk insects from the air repeatedly. At that time the sun hadn&#8217;t come over the mountains yet and the creekside willows were all in the shade. I knew that I would have struggled with low shutter speeds so I simply observed the flycatcher catching its breakfast.<\/p>\n<p>I believe that this Willow Flycatcher and its mate have a nest in the area because it gets quite defensive and animated when other birds get near a particular clump of willows. I have seen it chase after Song Sparrows, Gray Catbirds and Lazuli Buntings to name a few of the birds it reacts to. I hope the pair of flycatchers raises a brood that will come back to this area next year.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/willow-flycatcher-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Willow Flycatcher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday morning I spent a few minutes with a cooperative adult Willow Flycatcher in a willow thicket high in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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":""},"categories":[27,1731,26,773,3805],"tags":[4004,3940,3807,5241,3808,4884,4069,4104,9626,2315,3806,6070,902],"class_list":["post-104467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","category-willow-flycatchers","tag-adult","tag-canyon","tag-empidonax-traillii","tag-empids","tag-flycatcher","tag-flycatchers","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-summer-3","tag-willow-flycatcher","tag-willow-thicket","tag-willows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/willow-flycatcher-adult-in-july-mia-mcpherson-7074.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-raX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":91360,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/01\/late-june-willow-flycatcher-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":104467,"position":0},"title":"Late June Willow Flycatcher Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't had many opportunities to take Willow Flycatcher photos so far this year but two days ago I had one in my view finder and took images of it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willow Flycatcher on a dead branch, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-in-willow-thicket-mia-mcpherson-8961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-in-willow-thicket-mia-mcpherson-8961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-in-willow-thicket-mia-mcpherson-8961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-in-willow-thicket-mia-mcpherson-8961.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104711,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/03\/willow-flycatcher-up-close\/","url_meta":{"origin":104467,"position":1},"title":"Willow Flycatcher Up Close &#8211; What Are Rictal Bristles?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On Sunday I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph an adult Willow Flycatcher up close when it landed very near my vehicle high in the Wasatch Mountains.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Willow Flycatcher up close, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/willow-flycatcher-rictal-bristles-mia-mcpherson-9961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/willow-flycatcher-rictal-bristles-mia-mcpherson-9961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/willow-flycatcher-rictal-bristles-mia-mcpherson-9961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/willow-flycatcher-rictal-bristles-mia-mcpherson-9961.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":103789,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/02\/one-wary-dusky-flycatcher\/","url_meta":{"origin":104467,"position":2},"title":"One Wary Dusky Flycatcher","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a story behind these Dusky Flycatcher photos that I took earlier this week while I sat in my Jeep next to a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bird ID&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bird ID","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/bird-identification\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wary Dusky Flycatcher, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dusky-flycatcher-mia-mcpherson-1524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dusky-flycatcher-mia-mcpherson-1524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dusky-flycatcher-mia-mcpherson-1524.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dusky-flycatcher-mia-mcpherson-1524.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":103623,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/25\/creekside-willow-flycatcher\/","url_meta":{"origin":104467,"position":3},"title":"Creekside Willow Flycatcher","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This creekside Willow Flycatcher photo was a highlight and my favorite photo that I took yesterday while I was high in the mountains looking for birds.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Creekside Willow Flycatcher, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/willow-flycatcher-perched-by-creek-mia-mcpherson-1232.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/willow-flycatcher-perched-by-creek-mia-mcpherson-1232.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/willow-flycatcher-perched-by-creek-mia-mcpherson-1232.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/willow-flycatcher-perched-by-creek-mia-mcpherson-1232.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58936,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/10\/photographing-an-adult-willow-flycatcher-on-various-branches\/","url_meta":{"origin":104467,"position":4},"title":"Photographing An Adult Willow Flycatcher On Various Branches","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It seems that I have spent a lot of time photographing Willow Flycatchers this year and I am happy that I have because I enjoying taking photos of these flycatchers.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Willow Flycatcher perched on a branch, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/willow-flycatcher-favorite-perch-mia-mcpherson-6520.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/willow-flycatcher-favorite-perch-mia-mcpherson-6520.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/willow-flycatcher-favorite-perch-mia-mcpherson-6520.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/willow-flycatcher-favorite-perch-mia-mcpherson-6520.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":89045,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/25\/resting-willow-flycatcher\/","url_meta":{"origin":104467,"position":5},"title":"Resting Willow Flycatcher","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I heard several \"FITZ-bew\" calls but didn't see a single Willow Flycatcher out in the open.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting adult Willow Flycatcher, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-adult-willows-mia-mcpherson-3700.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-adult-willows-mia-mcpherson-3700.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-adult-willows-mia-mcpherson-3700.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-adult-willows-mia-mcpherson-3700.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}