{"id":107434,"date":"2022-10-21T03:40:39","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T09:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=107434"},"modified":"2022-10-21T10:28:26","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T16:28:26","slug":"desert-townsends-solitaire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/21\/desert-townsends-solitaire\/","title":{"rendered":"Desert Townsend’s Solitaire"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AutumnAutumn Townsend’s Solitaire in a desert \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was thrilled to find and take pictures of a Townsend’s Solitaire perched on the bare branches of a sumac on my journey yesterday morning to far northern Utah. I’ve found these subtle gray birds in this location during previous autumns so I wasn’t surprised to find one there. I was excited because it was so close to the road.<\/p>\n

\"RoadsideRoadside Townsend’s Solitaire \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

More often than not I hear this species songs or calls<\/span><\/a> before I see them. This solitaire was silent.<\/p>\n

The Townsend’s Solitaire seemed to be looking for something when I photographed it. It turned its head from side to side several times while I observed it through my viewfinder. When the solitaire lifted off it flew to the other side of the road in the shadow created by a rabbitbrush. I could tell that it had prey but the light wasn’t the best.<\/p>\n

\"Townsend'sTownsend’s Solitaire perched in sage \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After a few seconds the solitaire lifted off with the prey and flew towards my side of the road and landed on a clump of sage. I turned my Jeep on and moved forward slowly. By the time I was close enough to take the photo above the solitaire had consumed whatever it was that it had caught.<\/p>\n

I could have been disappointed that I was unable to capture the bird with its prey. Not me. Having these pictures when I got home made me beam with delight.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Townsend\u2019s Solitaire photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was thrilled to find and take pictures of a Townsend’s Solitaire perched on the bare branches of a sumac on my journey yesterday morning to far northern Utah. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107425,"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":[27,1148,7832,26],"tags":[4004,2519,970,11480,4098,4620,6767,7834,4104,6768,5300,2817,4057,7835,7836,7630,7833],"class_list":["post-107434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-townsends-solitaires","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-artemisia-tridentata","tag-autumn","tag-big-sagebrush","tag-desert","tag-fall","tag-fragrant-sumac","tag-myadestes-townsendi","tag-perched","tag-rhus-aromatica","tag-roadside","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-solitaire","tag-solitaires","tag-sumac","tag-townsends-solitaire"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/townsends-solitaire-autumn-mia-mcpherson-1554-2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-rWO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":95839,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/04\/autumn-townsends-solitaire-plus-snow-in-the-10-day-forecast\/","url_meta":{"origin":107434,"position":0},"title":"Autumn Townsend’s Solitaire Plus Snow In The 10 Day Forecast","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I found quite a few birds yesterday in far northern Utah and of all the photos I took this autumn Townsend's Solitaire was my favorite.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Autumn Townsend's Solitaire, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/townsends-solitaire-adult-sumac-fall-mia-mcpherson-8262.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/townsends-solitaire-adult-sumac-fall-mia-mcpherson-8262.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/townsends-solitaire-adult-sumac-fall-mia-mcpherson-8262.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/townsends-solitaire-adult-sumac-fall-mia-mcpherson-8262.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118391,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/20\/my-solitaire-common-name-change-recommendation\/","url_meta":{"origin":107434,"position":1},"title":"My Solitaire Common Name Change Recommendation","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2024, the common name for Townsend's Solitaire might change, along with many other bird names. My recommendation would be to rename it the Juniper Solitaire.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Townsend's Solitaire perched on a snowy juniper, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/townsends-solitaire-snow-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8383.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/townsends-solitaire-snow-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8383.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/townsends-solitaire-snow-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8383.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"October 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Friday as I looked for birds in a few West Desert canyons I was serenaded by the songs and calls of Townsend's Solitaires and while I loved hearing them it was frustrating because they were either too far away or hidden from my view.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alert Townsend's Solitaire perched on top of a tree, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-hackberry-perched-mia-mcpherson-4840.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-hackberry-perched-mia-mcpherson-4840.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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