{"id":113359,"date":"2023-05-10T04:46:28","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T10:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=113359"},"modified":"2023-05-10T04:46:47","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T10:46:47","slug":"savannah-sparrow-in-side-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/10\/savannah-sparrow-in-side-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Savannah Sparrow In Side Light"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The last time I went to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I very much needed the peace, tranquility, and birds I found there, including this Savannah Sparrow. The hour-long drive before dawn allows me time to decompress. I sing along to the music on the radio, and while I am not a great singer, I don&#8217;t care because singing brings me joy.<\/p>\n<p>By the time I reach the road to the auto tour route, I am always in a great mood.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-113356 size-full\" title=\"Spring Savannah Sparrow in side light\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg\" alt=\"Spring Savannah Sparrow in side light, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder 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\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Spring Savannah Sparrow in side light \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I heard Savannah Sparrows <a href=\"https:\/\/xeno-canto.org\/717635\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">singing<\/span><\/a> out on the marshes. This sparrow&#8217;s song lead me right to where the small bird was located. The sparrow sang as I photographed it moving from perch to perch and as it made short forays to the ground for food.<\/p>\n<p>I could have sat and listened to the Savannah Sparrow sing for an hour. The soft, distinctive, melodious song soothed me that much. That is the power of song, of music, of auditory delight.<\/p>\n<p>Listening to the Savannah Sparrow&#8217;s song, observing its movements, and capturing images of it reconnected me to the magic of nature that I find in the refuge&#8217;s marshes.<\/p>\n<p>When I drove home with my window down, singing along with the music on the radio, I realized that despite the rough start to that particular week, I was doing great. Actually, I was more than great. Shimmering, singing, dancing, and sparkling great.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/savannah-sparrow-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Savannah Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The last time I went to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I very much needed the peace, tranquility, and birds I found there, including this Savannah Sparrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113356,"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":[124,27,1148,831,26],"tags":[4004,4094,4194,4104,229,1376,4342,855,4195,165,4095],"class_list":["post-113359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-savannah-sparrows","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-marsh","tag-passerculus-sandwichensis","tag-perched","tag-savannah-sparrow","tag-side-light","tag-side-lit","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spring","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tun","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":84060,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/10\/singing-adult-savannah-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":113359,"position":0},"title":"Singing Adult Savannah Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This singing adult Savannah Sparrow was photographed on the road that goes to the auto tour route five days ago and I took a nice series of photos of this bird.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing Savannah Sparrow, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100780,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/15\/late-winter-savannah-sparrow-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":113359,"position":1},"title":"Late Winter Savannah Sparrow Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was delighted to find a late winter Savannah Sparrow out in the open to photograph next to the road.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Late winter Savannah Sparrow perched on a fence, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-late-winter-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-late-winter-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-late-winter-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-late-winter-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45693,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/20\/spring-songs-savannah-sparrows\/","url_meta":{"origin":113359,"position":2},"title":"Spring Songs &#8211; Savannah Sparrows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last two trips up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I have heard Savannah Sparrows singing \"sit sit sit sit suh-EEEEE say\" from somewhere in the marshes.","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":"Savannah Sparrow on fence railing, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57184,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/11\/singing-savannah-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":113359,"position":3},"title":"Singing Savannah Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I wonder if GEICO knows that they can drive a birder\/bird photographer bonkers as easy as they did me over the winter.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Savannah Sparrow singing next to a road, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-7877.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-7877.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-7877.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-7877.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101612,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/18\/savannah-sparrow-in-the-marsh-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":113359,"position":4},"title":"Savannah Sparrow In The Marsh Of Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been hearing more Savannah Sparrows than usual at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge this spring. I hope that means their numbers are increasing.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Savannah Sparrow perched in the marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46178,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/13\/mixture-of-spring-birds-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":113359,"position":5},"title":"Mixture of Spring Birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I was so happy to photograph this mixture of spring birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge that I had a hard time picking out which birds and which photos to share.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Pipits&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Clark's Grebe adult swimming on the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-river-mia-mcpherson-6561.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-river-mia-mcpherson-6561.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-river-mia-mcpherson-6561.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-river-mia-mcpherson-6561.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\/113359","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=113359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}