{"id":110489,"date":"2023-02-24T05:04:03","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T12:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110489"},"modified":"2023-02-24T05:05:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T12:05:07","slug":"west-desert-western-bluebird-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/24\/west-desert-western-bluebird-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"West Desert Western Bluebird Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This morning I am sharing a Western Bluebird memory from seven years ago. That day I found small flock of these colorful bluebirds in the West Desert.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-110483 size-full\" title=\"Female Western Bluebird on a wooden fence post\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380.jpg\" alt=\"Female Western Bluebird on a wooden fence post, West Desert, Tooele 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\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Female Western Bluebird on a wooden fence post \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>After stopping my Jeep and pointing the bluebirds out, I proceeded to take as many photos of them as I could. These Western Bluebirds were lifers for me. I&#8217;d seen them before but this was the first time I was able to photograph this species of bluebirds. There was one male and four females in the small flock.\u00a0 The bluebirds <a href=\"https:\/\/xeno-canto.org\/71751\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">called<\/span><\/a> softly as I took images of them which delighted my ears.<\/p>\n<p>I knew that Western Bluebirds weren&#8217;t all that common in northern Utah so I was excited that I had found five of them. That I found them on my son Christopher&#8217;s birthday made them even more special to me.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Happy Birthday Chris! I love you.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-110482 size-full\" title=\"Female Western Bluebird on a rusty metal post\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357.jpg\" alt=\"Female Western Bluebird on a rusty metal post, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20600%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4357.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Female Western Bluebird on a rusty metal post \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Since that morning seven years ago I keep looking to find more Western Bluebirds out in the West Desert.\u00a0 I haven&#8217;t found any, but my hope of finding flocks of these bluebirds is still there. And when I drive past the spot where I found them, I can&#8217;t help myself, I have to smile.<\/p>\n<p>The memory of finding these out of range Western Bluebirds is still sharp in my memory. I was extremely excited to have them in my viewfinder. I could wish they had stuck around longer and that they had been closer but I was super grateful I spotted them on that cold winter morning in the West Desert.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/western-bluebird-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Western Bluebird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This morning I am sharing a Western Bluebird memory from seven years ago. That day I found small flock of these colorful bluebirds in the West Desert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110483,"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":[27,358,26,1314,4937],"tags":[4004,5933,4880,4098,4070,898,4247,7017,531,6613,4104,5668,4938,4018,10452,3844,4881,4940,373,8917],"class_list":["post-110489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","category-western-bluebirds","tag-adult","tag-bluebird","tag-bluebirds","tag-desert","tag-female","tag-fence-post","tag-flock","tag-foothills","tag-lifer","tag-metal-post","tag-perched","tag-rusty","tag-sialia-mexicana","tag-sky","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-western-bluebird","tag-winter","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4380.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sK5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36293,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/25\/headed-west-yesterday-western-bluebirds-in-tooele-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":110489,"position":0},"title":"Western Bluebirds in Tooele County, Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Seeing these uncommon Western Bluebirds in Tooele County in the Stansbury Mountain Range yesterday is part of why I love bird photography so much.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Western Bluebird female, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-4396.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-4396.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-4396.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/western-bluebird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-4396.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102335,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/13\/west-desert-mountain-bluebird\/","url_meta":{"origin":110489,"position":1},"title":"West Desert Mountain Bluebird","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It is always lovely to have a male Mountain Bluebird like this one I found in the West Desert in my viewfinder because they rival the color of the sky overhead.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"West Desert male Mountain Bluebird, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-2046.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-2046.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-2046.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-2046.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8600,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/15\/female-mountain-bluebirds-in-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":110489,"position":2},"title":"Female Mountain Bluebirds in Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"There were Mountain Bluebirds everywhere I looked on my recent trip to Montana where flashes of their brilliant blue plumage were a delight to my eyes.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mountain Bluebird female with prey for her young, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7085.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7085.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7085.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7085.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":85509,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/24\/dreaming-of-mountain-bluebirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":110489,"position":3},"title":"Dreaming Of Mountain Bluebirds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I woke up this morning dreaming of Mountain Bluebirds so I thought I would share two images of them from previous springs.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mountain Bluebird high in a tree, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74484,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/08\/male-mountain-bluebird-glowing-in-early-morning-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":110489,"position":4},"title":"Male Mountain Bluebird Glowing In Early Morning Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This male Mountain Bluebird seemed to glow in the early morning light which was in sharp contrast with the shadows on the mountains in the background.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Mountain Bluebird in the foothills of West Desert mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69228,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/30\/nesting-mountain-bluebirds-and-other-woodland-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":110489,"position":5},"title":"Nesting Mountain Bluebirds And Other Woodland Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I had a blast photographing a pair of Mountain Bluebirds at a natural nesting cavity at the edge of a forest along with some other woodland birds.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mountain Bluebird inside a nesting cavity, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8703-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8703-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8703-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8703-1.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\/110489","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=110489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}