{"id":48298,"date":"2017-08-29T06:06:48","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T12:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48298"},"modified":"2025-05-31T11:53:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T16:53:18","slug":"gray-catbird-in-a-willow-thicket-near-a-creek-in-a-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/29\/gray-catbird-in-a-willow-thicket-near-a-creek-in-a-canyon\/","title":{"rendered":"Gray Catbird In A Willow Thicket Near A Creek In A Canyon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GrayGray Catbird in a willow thicket – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 320, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was delighted to be able to photograph a Gray Catbird in a willow thicket yesterday up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a>. I could hear Gray Catbirds calling along the creek that runs through the canyon but they are pretty skulky and I’d only gotten short glimpses of them heading south through the canyon.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until later in the morning while stopped near the creek that a Gray Catbird popped up into open view in nice light and hung around long enough for me to take a little over a hundred photos of it, that is a lot for a catbird! Some times all I get is a blurry photo of one taking off they can be so skittish, some times no photos at all.<\/p>\n

At first I wasn’t so excited about the busy willowy setting that I photographed the catbird in but the more I look at this photo the more I like it.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was delighted to be able to photograph a Gray Catbird in a willow thicket yesterday up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":147633,"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":[27,3605,4594,26],"tags":[4004,3940,6559,6558,3843,3607,3606,821,4069,4104,6725,6070,902],"class_list":["post-48298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-gray-catbirds","category-morgan-county","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-canyon","tag-catbird","tag-catbirds","tag-creek","tag-dumetella-carolinensis","tag-gray-catbird","tag-mimids-2","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-thicket","tag-willow-thicket","tag-willows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-willows-mia-mcpherson-9696.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cz0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104614,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/30\/fledgling-gray-catbird-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":48298,"position":0},"title":"Fledgling Gray Catbird Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning while photographing a male Yellow Warbler I caught some movement with my peripheral vison and saw a young Gray Catbird very close to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Gray Catbird portrait, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/gray-catbird-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8991.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/gray-catbird-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8991.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"June 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Gray Catbirds are related to mockingbirds and thrashers and are in the family Mimidae and all of them are noted for their vocalizations and their ability to mimic a wide variety of bird songs and calls and human made sounds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gray Catbird singing in a stand of willows, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-singing-mia-mcpherson-4613.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-singing-mia-mcpherson-4613.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":"Juvenile Gray Catbird peeking out of a thicket, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I have truly been enjoying being able to photograph Gray Catbirds this spring and summer because they are challenging to get out in the open, because I think they are dashing in appearance and their songs always delight me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gray Catbird and willows, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-willows-mia-mcpherson-0421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-willows-mia-mcpherson-0421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-willows-mia-mcpherson-0421.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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