{"id":109488,"date":"2023-01-10T03:27:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T10:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109488"},"modified":"2023-01-10T03:28:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T10:28:43","slug":"some-days-are-golden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/10\/some-days-are-golden\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Days Are Golden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some days are golden. Some days are decidedly not. This is just a short post because yesterday was definitely not.<\/p>\n

This photo of the backlit golden Water Birch leaf was taken at one of my local ponds last fall. The circular specular highlight in the background was created by the sunlight hitting a small clump of freshly fallen snow on a distant branch.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden Water Birch leaf and specular highlight \u2013 Nikon D500, handheld, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 800, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday there were plenty of clouds. Heavy, waterlogged, leaden gray clouds. The kind of clouds that mute any of the available light from the sun.<\/p>\n

And then there was the rain. Cold, wet rain that fell most of the day.<\/p>\n

To top off the first two weather conditions there was wind. Not super strong winds but just enough wind to be thoroughly annoying when combined with the dark clouds and falling rain.<\/p>\n

It’s only the second week of January and this has already been the most overcast and grayest winter since I moved to Utah which makes me wonder what February and March will be like.<\/p>\n

We need the moisture here in northern Utah whether it comes in the form of rain or snow. I know that. Whatever precipitation we get now will definitely help when spring finally arrives because our reservoirs need refilling. Additionally, this moisture will help the trees, shrubs, and wildflowers to grow when warmer days return.<\/p>\n

Even though yesterday wasn’t golden I know that eventually the moisture that fell will create golden moments for me in the spring and summer.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my wildflower, shrub and tree photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some days are golden. Some days are decidedly not. This is just a short post because yesterday was definitely not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109485,"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":[709,5345,26,13621],"tags":[13623,13624,13625,13626,4142,7624,5679,3973,13627,4427,4076,8018,30,13622],"class_list":["post-109488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-trees","category-utah","category-water-birch","tag-betula-occidentalis","tag-birch","tag-birches","tag-broadleaf-tree","tag-close-up","tag-golden","tag-leaf","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-specular-highlight","tag-tree","tag-trees","tag-urban","tag-utah-2","tag-water-birch"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/water-birch-autumn-mia-mcpherson-3455.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-stW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118369,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/19\/box-elder-seeds-and-water-birch-leaves\/","url_meta":{"origin":109488,"position":0},"title":"Box Elder Seeds And Water Birch Leaves","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing two photos this morning: one of Box Elder Maple seeds and another of Water Birch leaves that I took last autumn while on walks close to home.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elders"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elders","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/trees-shrubs-and-flowers\/trees\/box-elders\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Box Elder Maple seeds in autumn, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/box-elder-seeds-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-3027.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/box-elder-seeds-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-3027.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/box-elder-seeds-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-3027.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/box-elder-seeds-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-3027.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107902,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/11\/golden-cottonwood-leaf-on-fresh-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":109488,"position":1},"title":"Golden Cottonwood Leaf On Fresh Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I had planned on walking along the Jordan River after the sun came up and when I saw that there was fresh snow on the ground I was even more excited.","rel":"","context":"In "Eastern Cottonwood"","block_context":{"text":"Eastern 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ice-patterns-christmas-eve-mia-mcpherson-6543.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ice-patterns-christmas-eve-mia-mcpherson-6543.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ice-patterns-christmas-eve-mia-mcpherson-6543.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ice-patterns-christmas-eve-mia-mcpherson-6543.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107621,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/31\/autumn-california-quail-covey\/","url_meta":{"origin":109488,"position":3},"title":"Autumn California Quail Covey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While walking along the Jordan River yesterday, I came upon a covey of about 25 California Quail. I was able to get close enough to photograph a few of them.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"California Quail male and fall leaves, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/california-quail-autumn-mia-mcpherson-3056.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/california-quail-autumn-mia-mcpherson-3056.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/california-quail-autumn-mia-mcpherson-3056.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/california-quail-autumn-mia-mcpherson-3056.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108145,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/19\/drake-mallard-and-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":109488,"position":4},"title":"Drake Mallard And Reflections","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing a simple drake Mallard photo taken at my local pond. I liked this image because of the reflections of the duck, light pole and leaf.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Mallard reflections, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/mallard-reflection-leaf-mia-mcpherson-3767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/mallard-reflection-leaf-mia-mcpherson-3767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/mallard-reflection-leaf-mia-mcpherson-3767.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/mallard-reflection-leaf-mia-mcpherson-3767.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166269,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/03\/winter-blue-jay-in-a-river-birch\/","url_meta":{"origin":109488,"position":5},"title":"Winter Blue Jay In A River Birch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On New Year\u2019s Day I was outside photographing birds feeding on suet balls I had placed in the crooks of a River Birch, including this striking Blue Jay.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blue Jay in a River Birch, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/blue-jay-suet-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/blue-jay-suet-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/blue-jay-suet-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/blue-jay-suet-mia-mcpherson-3808.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\/109488","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=109488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}