{"id":113457,"date":"2023-05-16T02:40:20","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T08:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=113457"},"modified":"2023-05-16T02:40:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T08:40:20","slug":"curvy-willow-catkins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/16\/curvy-willow-catkins\/","title":{"rendered":"Curvy Willow Catkins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I took this photo of willow catkins just two years ago high in the Wasatch Mountains because I liked the curvy catkins and the simplicity of the image.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-113454 size-full\" title=\"Close up of Willow catkins\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441.jpg\" alt=\"Close up of Willow catkins, Wasatch Mountains, Summit 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\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Close up of Willow catkins \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not certain which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inaturalist.org\/guides\/5506?tags%5B%5D=Native+Willows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">willow species<\/span><\/a> this image depicts, and I have no problem admitting that. I believe it may be a native species, but I could be mistaken. Being honest rather than claiming expertise on a species that I cannot confidently identify, whether in the field or with more resources available at home, is what I prefer and do.<\/p>\n<p>I am not an expert on everything I observe or encounter in nature, and I find that I need to acknowledge that. To claim otherwise, I believe, would be deceptive, if not dishonest. Although I know birds better than anything else in nature, I still don&#8217;t consider myself an &#8220;expert&#8221; on them and don&#8217;t claim to be. I leave myself plenty of room to learn and grow. Nature teaches me something new all the time.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Back to the willow catkins&#8230;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I am a tactile person and I desperately wanted to touch these fuzzy catkins. If I had touched them I might have even had a part in their pollination. I couldn&#8217;t touch them because the willows were in a creek and walking in the water simply wasn&#8217;t in my cards that day. The thought of touching them still arises each time I view this photo. Maybe I will get to touch willow catkins on another date and time.<\/p>\n<p>What I also liked about this willow catkin image is how almost all of the catkins curved in the opposite direction than the catkins above or below them. The catkin that points towards the right side of this photo caught my eye. I liked that it took a different direction.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/flower-and-tree-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my wildflower, shrubs and tree photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I took this photo of willow catkins just two years ago high in the Wasatch Mountains because I liked the curvy catkins and the simplicity of the image.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113454,"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":[1731,5345,26,773],"tags":[3940,13917,6521,4142,4069,165,4427,4076,6107,902],"class_list":["post-113457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summit-county-utah","category-trees","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-canyon","tag-catkin","tag-catkins","tag-close-up","tag-mountains","tag-spring","tag-tree","tag-trees","tag-willow","tag-willows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/willow-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8441.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tvX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90143,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/09\/female-brown-headed-cowbird-and-willow-catkins\/","url_meta":{"origin":113457,"position":0},"title":"Female Brown-headed Cowbird And Willow Catkins","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last month I photographed this female Brown-headed Cowbird surrounded by willow catkins in East Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Brown-headed Cowbird with willow catkins, East Canyon, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/brown-headed-cowbird-female-willows-mia-mcpherson-0846.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/brown-headed-cowbird-female-willows-mia-mcpherson-0846.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/brown-headed-cowbird-female-willows-mia-mcpherson-0846.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/brown-headed-cowbird-female-willows-mia-mcpherson-0846.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58399,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/06\/07\/adult-male-yellow-warbler-foraging-in-catkins\/","url_meta":{"origin":113457,"position":1},"title":"Adult Male Yellow Warbler Foraging In Catkins","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Before too long I expect to hear the \"peep-peep\" calls of Yellow Warbler chicks begging to be fed by their parents but in the meantime I am having a blast photographing the adults that I have been seeing.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Yellow Warbler foraging in willow catkins, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/yellow-warbler-male-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8035.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/yellow-warbler-male-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8035.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/yellow-warbler-male-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8035.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/yellow-warbler-male-catkins-mia-mcpherson-8035.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87271,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/10\/male-belted-kingfisher-and-pussy-willows\/","url_meta":{"origin":113457,"position":2},"title":"Male Belted Kingfisher And Pussy Willows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Saturday morning I was delighted when a male Belted Kingfisher flew in and perched in front of pussy willow catkins high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Belted Kingfishers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Belted Kingfisher in front of pussy willows, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/belted-kingfisher-male-pussywillows-mia-mcpherson-5450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/belted-kingfisher-male-pussywillows-mia-mcpherson-5450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/belted-kingfisher-male-pussywillows-mia-mcpherson-5450.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/belted-kingfisher-male-pussywillows-mia-mcpherson-5450.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102203,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/07\/male-spotted-towhee-in-morgan-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":113457,"position":3},"title":"Male Spotted Towhee In Morgan County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a few moments to photograph a singing male Spotted Towhee two days ago in Morgan County high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Spotted Towhee in spring, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/spotted-towhee-male-willow-mia-mcpherson-0671.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/spotted-towhee-male-willow-mia-mcpherson-0671.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/spotted-towhee-male-willow-mia-mcpherson-0671.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/spotted-towhee-male-willow-mia-mcpherson-0671.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87133,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/09\/spring-yellow-warbler-joy\/","url_meta":{"origin":113457,"position":4},"title":"Spring Yellow Warbler Joy","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I took my first of year Yellow Warbler photos in the Wasatch Mountains when I drove up into the mountains on Friday morning.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Yellow Warbler perched on a willow branch, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-adult-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-4962.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-adult-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-4962.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-adult-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-4962.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-adult-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-4962.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52326,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/29\/male-yellow-warbler-in-willows\/","url_meta":{"origin":113457,"position":5},"title":"Male Yellow Warbler in Willows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This male Yellow Warbler stayed at the top of a willow for quite some time but I was never able to get a completely clear view of him because a light breeze was moving the out of focus willows in the foreground around.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow Warbler in willows, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-willows-mia-mcpherson-1668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-willows-mia-mcpherson-1668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-willows-mia-mcpherson-1668.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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