{"id":46869,"date":"2017-05-20T04:39:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-20T10:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46869"},"modified":"2025-05-09T14:26:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T19:26:50","slug":"low-light-tree-swallow-in-the-targhee-national-forest-of-idaho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/20\/low-light-tree-swallow-in-the-targhee-national-forest-of-idaho\/","title":{"rendered":"Low light Tree Swallow in the Targhee National Forest of Idaho"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LowLow light Tree Swallow – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/400, ISO 800, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I haven’t really spent any time photographing Tree Swallows this spring, they arrived some time ago. Because Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge had been closed due to flooding I wasn’t able get to where I normally see them in abundance right after they first arrived.<\/p>\n

Last year I was able to spend time photographing this male Tree Swallow in low light in the Targhee National Forest<\/span><\/a> of Idaho and even though the light wasn’t the best I still liked the resulting images.<\/p>\n

It had been a drizzly morning with thick clouds overhead but as the light got a tiny better I was able to get enough shutter speed to capture sharp images of the swallows as they perched near several nesting cavities in an aspen tree.<\/p>\n

I liked the simplicity of the background in this photo and the nice detail in the swallow’s plumage and the texture of the branch it was perched on. I also enjoyed listening to the Tree Swallows that came into the nesting cavity tree.<\/p>\n

Listen to the calls of a Tree Swallow here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I hope to have more opportunities with swallows while they are here for their breeding season this year.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Tree Swallow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year I was able to spend time photographing this male Tree Swallow in low light in the Targhee National Forest of Idaho and even though the light wasn’t the best I still liked the resulting images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[27,2578,2244,3717,2261,2171],"tags":[4004,4897,2304,5370,156,4062,4069,4104,165,4807,3470,4377,1523],"class_list":["post-46869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-clark-county","category-idaho","category-modoc-creek","category-targhee-national-forest","category-tree-swallows","tag-adult","tag-branch","tag-calls","tag-forest","tag-low-light-2","tag-male","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-spring","tag-swallow","tag-swallows","tag-tachycineta-bicolor","tag-tree-swallow"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-low-light-mia-mcpherson-8707.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cbX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39864,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/03\/tree-swallow-near-modoc-creek-idaho\/","url_meta":{"origin":46869,"position":0},"title":"Tree Swallow near Modoc Creek, Idaho","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I liked this image of a Tree Swallow near Modoc Creek because of the eye contact, head turn, colors and the pattern of the conifer needles in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tree Swallow near Modoc Creek, Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-8768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-8768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-8768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-8768.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":82114,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/23\/tree-swallows-have-returned\/","url_meta":{"origin":46869,"position":1},"title":"Tree Swallows Have Returned","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A little birdie told me that Tree Swallows returned to the marshes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge about the middle of this month.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird 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2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing a few male Northern Flicker images that I took seven years ago at the edge of a mountain forest in the Targhee National Forest in Idaho.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Northern Flicker peeking out of his nesting cavity, Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/northern-flicker-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8575.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/northern-flicker-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8575.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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