{"id":48131,"date":"2017-08-17T04:54:16","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T10:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48131"},"modified":"2026-04-13T19:51:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T00:51:40","slug":"juvenile-dark-eyed-junco-trial-lake-and-mirror-lake-highway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/17\/juvenile-dark-eyed-junco-trial-lake-and-mirror-lake-highway\/","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile Dark-eyed Junco, Trial Lake and Mirror Lake Highway"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TrialTrial Lake View – Uinta National Forest – Nikon D810, f10, 1\/500, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18 mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent time yesterday morning inhaling cool, clean mountain air while enjoying the scenery of the Mirror Lake Highway section of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

High up, I saw a low temp of 34\u00b0F, frost on some camper’s cars and up near Bald Mountain I could still see some small snow fields from last winter. I even shivered a few times while riding around with my window down.<\/p>\n

It was good to get out of the valley and even if it wasn’t particularly “birdy” it was nice to be some where different than my normal “haunts”. It was also great to see and breathe the clear air.<\/p>\n

Before I moved to Utah I photographed Clark’s Nutcrackers near Trial Lake on one of my trips to photograph Utah, yesterday I didn’t photograph any birds there but I did take a few scenics because I loved view of the lake with the morning mist rising from it.<\/p>\n

I have to say that there are more dead trees around Trial Lake now than when I first saw it in 2008. I don’t know what the impact of that is on the birds and wildlife that live there but I know it can’t be good.<\/p>\n

\"Dark-eyedDark-eyed Junco juvenile perched in a conifer – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I was delighted to photograph a lovely, little Dark-eyed Junco juvenile perched in a conifer near Washington Lake which is not too far from Trial Lake and the Mirror Lake Highway.<\/p>\n

The young junco was one of only two birds that I photographed yesterday, I don’t know which subspecies this bird was because juveniles juncos look a lot alike.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t a very productive day for me photographically but I felt wonderful after being up in the high Uintas for a\u00a0 few hours yesterday.<\/p>\n

Oh, and I believe I saw my first bobcat in that area yesterday too, it bounded across the road and I am 99% certain of my ID on it.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Trial Lake is at 9731 feet in elevation, Washington Lake is at 10,000 feet.\u00a0<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

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

I was delighted to photograph a lovely, little Dark-eyed Junco juvenile perched in a conifer near Washington Lake which is not too far from Trial Lake and the Mirror Lake Highway. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134116,"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":[27,2749,1212,1731,5219,26],"tags":[6038,6039,5237,2750,5370,4067,6036,2751,6037,4071,4069,4104,4195,15708],"class_list":["post-48131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-dark-eyed-juncos","category-high-uintas-utah","category-summit-county-utah","category-uinta-wasatch-cache-national-forest","category-utah","tag-alpine-lake","tag-clean-air","tag-conifer","tag-dark-eyed-junco","tag-forest","tag-immature","tag-junco","tag-junco-hyemalis","tag-juncos","tag-juvenile","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-sparrows","tag-trial-lake"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/dark-eyed-junco-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3095.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cwj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59582,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/18\/juvenile-dark-eyed-junco-high-in-the-uinta-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":48131,"position":0},"title":"Juvenile Dark-eyed Junco High In The Uinta Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I was in the high Uinta Mountains near Washington Lake when I spotted this young Dark-eyed Junco and I was able to take a few images of it before it flew away.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Dark-eyed Junco, Uinta Mountains, Uinta National Forest, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3126.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3126.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3126.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3126.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":79577,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/20\/low-light-dark-eyed-junco-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":48131,"position":1},"title":"Low Light Dark-eyed Junco In Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week I photographed a male Dark-eyed Junco in snow close to home in poor, low light conditions. I am happy with how the photo turned out.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low light Dark-eyed Junco in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-adult-male-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-3307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-adult-male-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-3307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-adult-male-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-3307.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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of the seasonal changes I look for in autumn is when I see that the Dark-eyed Juncos have arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Dark-eyed Junco foraging on the ground, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-foraging-ground-mia-mcpherson-4898.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-foraging-ground-mia-mcpherson-4898.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-foraging-ground-mia-mcpherson-4898.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Dark-eyed Junco in a Snow Storm","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As the snow from the storm fell I noticed some of the Dark-eyed Juncos feeding on the ground and I was able to photograph this junco's portrait as it hid behind a mound of snow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dark-eyed Junco portrait in a snow storm, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-3644.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-3644.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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