{"id":48059,"date":"2017-08-11T04:16:06","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T10:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48059"},"modified":"2026-04-13T14:43:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T19:43:29","slug":"when-the-birds-are-slow-in-utah-there-is-always-great-scenery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/11\/when-the-birds-are-slow-in-utah-there-is-always-great-scenery\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Birds are Slow In Utah There is Always Great Scenery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finding birds was very challenging yesterday in the canyons of the Stansbury Mountains<\/span><\/a> but it wasn’t hard to find beauty in the scenery.<\/p>\n

\"SunflowersSunflowers blooming in front of the Stansbury Mountains – Nikon D810, f16, 1\/320, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm at 40mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The birds have finished nesting, most of them have raised their young past the fledging stage and because of the summer heat it has gotten harder to find birds to photograph in many areas.<\/p>\n

We (bird photographers and birders) call that slow.<\/p>\n

Yesterday my best images were photos of these wild sunflowers in front of the Stansbury Mountains.<\/p>\n

\"StansburyStansbury Mountains and wild sunflowers – Nikon D810, f16, 1\/250, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm at 95mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The ruggedness of the West Desert of Utah’s mountain ranges, flats, grassy slopes, and sagebrush steppes never fails to mesmerize me. Add some wildflowers and I am hooked.<\/p>\n

\"Mountains,Mountains, Canyons and Sunflowers – Nikon D810, f16, 1\/250, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm at 200mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I may have dipped on birds yesterday but I did not miss the gorgeous scenery. I am so glad I stopped to enjoy the wildflowers.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Utah landscape and travel photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finding birds was very challenging yesterday in the canyons of the Stansbury Mountains but it wasn’t hard to find beauty in the scenery. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174673,"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":[1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[195,4109,6028,4069,105,1028,4307,6009],"class_list":["post-48059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-canyons","tag-grasses","tag-helianthus-annuus","tag-mountains","tag-sunflowers","tag-wild-sunflowers","tag-wildflowers","tag-yellow"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sunflowers-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7365.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cv9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":161892,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/10\/28\/red-breasted-nuthatch-memories\/","url_meta":{"origin":48059,"position":0},"title":"Red-breasted Nuthatch Memories","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The weather has kept me out of the field lately, so today I wanted to share a few Red-breasted Nuthatch memories since I\u2019ve been seeing and hearing them recently.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch foraging in the Stansbury Mountains of Utah, West Desert, Tooele County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wild Turkey in the Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/wild-turkey-young-mia-mcpherson-3986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/wild-turkey-young-mia-mcpherson-3986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/wild-turkey-young-mia-mcpherson-3986.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/wild-turkey-young-mia-mcpherson-3986.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes I go out to look for birds to photograph and all I get are great views of the scenery, sometimes I am okay with that and sometimes it is very frustrating.","rel":"","context":"In "Stansbury Mountains"","block_context":{"text":"Stansbury Mountains","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/stansbury-mountains-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"West Desert mountain views, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/west-desert-views-mia-mcpherson-100432.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/west-desert-views-mia-mcpherson-100432.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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