{"id":117796,"date":"2023-11-04T04:29:33","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T10:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=117796"},"modified":"2023-11-04T04:41:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T10:41:53","slug":"american-pipit-in-frosted-grasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/04\/american-pipit-in-frosted-grasses\/","title":{"rendered":"American Pipit In Frosted Grasses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last Monday, when I photographed this American Pipit at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/bear-river-migratory-bird\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> in frosted grasses, I had several thoughts whirling around in my mind.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter size-full wp-image-117791\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715.jpg\" alt=\"Adult American Pipit in frosted grasses, 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\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Adult American Pipit in frosted grasses \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>My first thoughts were about getting my Jeep lined up so I could take photos of this pipit. Immediately after that, my second thoughts were about my camera settings. I checked them quickly and my settings were perfect for getting the image I wanted of this bird.<\/p>\n<p>All of the pipits I found at the refuge that morning were extremely skittish and flighty. The photo above was the first of three images that I was able to take of this pipit, and it was by far the best. In the other two photos that I took the bird had turned their head away from me. Those images have been deleted.<\/p>\n<p>Through my viewfinder, I could see the frost on the grass at the feet of the pipit, shining brightly like tiny diamonds glittering in the morning light. That thrilled me, and in a split second, I had an earworm. Rihanna&#8217;s song &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lWA2pjMjpBs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Diamonds<\/span><\/a>&#8221; was playing in my mind.<\/p>\n<p>The American Pipit flew off, but the song kept playing in a loop in my head. &#8216;Diamonds&#8217; wasn&#8217;t a bad earworm to get stuck with, even for a brief period. By the time I found my next bird, the earworm had disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I am not a fan of wearing diamonds. I stopped wearing jewelry years ago, mostly because I didn&#8217;t want to lose my jewelry in the field.<\/p>\n<p>But the phrase &#8216;shine bright like a diamond&#8217; does have meaning for me. It is an attitude and a state of mind, one that I embrace.<\/p>\n<p>A glittering frost, an American Pipit, and my mind twirled and danced.<\/p>\n<p>Yeah, life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/american-pipit-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Pipit photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last Monday, when I photographed this American Pipit at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in frosted grasses, I had several thoughts whirling around in my mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117791,"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":[4654,124,27,1148,26],"tags":[4004,2400,4655,970,4620,3983,6904,368,14550,14549,3747,4109,4094,4246,5475,4895,5300,10469,953,4095],"class_list":["post-117796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-pipits","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-pipit","tag-anthus-rubescens","tag-autumn","tag-fall","tag-frost","tag-frosted","tag-frosty","tag-glitter","tag-glow","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-marsh","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-pipit","tag-pipits","tag-roadside","tag-specular-highlights","tag-standing","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-pipit-frost-diamonds-mia-mcpherson-6715.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-uDW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":117509,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/26\/autumn-american-pipit-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":117796,"position":0},"title":"Autumn American Pipit Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Monday I took my first autumn American Pipit photos of 2023 while I was on the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I was so happy.","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":"American Pipit in roadside grasses, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-pipit-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-pipit-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-pipit-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-pipit-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97921,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/05\/american-pipits-in-my-viewfinder\/","url_meta":{"origin":117796,"position":1},"title":"American Pipits In My Viewfinder","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been seeing and hearing American Pipits since the end of September but this was the first time this fall I was able to get close to them.","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":"Relaxed American Pipit on a rock, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-pipit-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-7792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-pipit-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-7792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-pipit-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-7792.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-pipit-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-7792.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28640,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/27\/american-pipits\/","url_meta":{"origin":117796,"position":2},"title":"American Pipits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"American Pipits were known for a long time as Water Pipits because they feed at the edge of tundra puddles and wet alpine meadows.","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":"American Pipit perched on some rocks at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-mia-mcpherson-9467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-mia-mcpherson-9467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-mia-mcpherson-9467.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-mia-mcpherson-9467.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108427,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/02\/my-fondness-for-american-pipits\/","url_meta":{"origin":117796,"position":3},"title":"My Fondness For American Pipits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been almost exactly one year since I have taken high quality images of American Pipits. I have a fondness for these birds and I have missed them.","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":"American Pipits on the rocks, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-pipit-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-7475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-pipit-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-7475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-pipit-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-7475.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-pipit-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-7475.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55006,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/15\/my-first-plus-my-most-recent-american-pipit-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":117796,"position":4},"title":"My First Plus My Most Recent American Pipit Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I enjoy these tail-bobbing American Pipits every bit as much today as I did the morning I first saw them near Goose Egg Island at Farmington Bay but since I moved to Utah I can see and photograph them more often.","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":"American Pipit in nonbreeding plumage at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-grasses-and-a-boulder-mia-mcpherson-8744.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-grasses-and-a-boulder-mia-mcpherson-8744.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-grasses-and-a-boulder-mia-mcpherson-8744.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-grasses-and-a-boulder-mia-mcpherson-8744.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49060,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/21\/american-pipit-stretch-lift-and-fluff\/","url_meta":{"origin":117796,"position":5},"title":"American Pipit &#8211; Stretch, Lift and Fluff","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"American Pipits aren't flashy birds, their coloring might even be called drab by some people, but I have a great time photographing them whenever I can.","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":"American Pipit stretching both its wings, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-7852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-7852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-7852.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-7852.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\/117796","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=117796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}