{"id":104614,"date":"2022-07-30T04:49:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-30T10:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=104614"},"modified":"2022-07-30T04:49:03","modified_gmt":"2022-07-30T10:49:03","slug":"fledgling-gray-catbird-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/30\/fledgling-gray-catbird-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Fledgling Gray Catbird Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FledglingFledgling Gray Catbird portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning while photographing a male Yellow Warbler I caught some movement with my peripheral vison and saw a young Gray Catbird very close to me. The warbler flew off immediately and I focused on taking portraits of the fledgling Gray Catbird. I was concerned that the catbird was just at the edge of my minimum focusing distance because it was just that close.<\/p>\n

Over this past week I have been seeing quite a few Gray Catbird juveniles high in the Wasatch Mountains. Until yesterday I hadn’t been close enough to them to take high quality images of the young birds.<\/p>\n

\"CloseClose up young Gray Catbird \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The immature Gray Catbird didn’t stay in front of me for very long. I was only able to take twenty-three images of it before the gray bird dove for cover. I could see the catbird moving around in the willow thicket but it didn’t come back out into the open after these portraits were taken.<\/p>\n

This spring and summer I have enjoyed hearing adult catbirds in the mountains calling<\/span><\/a> and singing<\/span><\/a> but they have been more challenging for me to photograph for various reasons. That made taking photos of the young and momentarily cooperative Gray Catbird all the more rewarding for me.<\/p>\n

I find Gray Catbirds most often in riparian habitats in the Wasatch and Uinta mountain ranges in northern Utah. More often than not I hear this species before I see them.<\/p>\n

This young Gray Catbird was silent. If I hadn’t caught its movement out of the corner of my eye I might have missed seeing and taking photos of it altogether. Paying attention outside of my viewfinder paid off once again.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday morning while photographing a male Yellow Warbler I caught some movement with my peripheral vison and saw a young Gray Catbird very close to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104608,"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":[27,3605,4594,26,773],"tags":[3940,6559,6558,4134,4142,3607,4141,3606,4071,4069,4046,9626,2315,6070,902,4193],"class_list":["post-104614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-gray-catbirds","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-canyon","tag-catbird","tag-catbirds","tag-chick","tag-close-up","tag-dumetella-carolinensis","tag-fledgling","tag-gray-catbird","tag-juvenile","tag-mountains","tag-portrait","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-summer-3","tag-willow-thicket","tag-willows","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/gray-catbird-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8991.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-rdk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":71815,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/11\/begging-fledgling-gray-catbird-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":104614,"position":0},"title":"Begging Fledgling Gray Catbird High In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When I saw a Gray Catbird fledgling inch its way up a stick two days ago and then exhibit begging behavior by raising its wings and opening its bill I locked on to it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Gray Catbird begging in the Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/gray-catbird-fledgling-begging-mia-mcpherson-8107.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/gray-catbird-fledgling-begging-mia-mcpherson-8107.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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years ago I was able to find and photograph quiet a few young Gray Catbirds high in the Wasatch Mountain canyons including this one who seemed to be keeping an eye on me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Gray Catbird perched on a branch, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"June 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I'm grateful that I spotted a single Gray Catbird pop up on top of a snowberry bush yesterday morning because if I hadn't none of the following photos would have been possible.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two adult Gray Catbirds interacting, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gray-catbirds-interacting-mia-mcpherson-0049.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gray-catbirds-interacting-mia-mcpherson-0049.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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