{"id":48396,"date":"2017-09-08T06:13:01","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T12:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48396"},"modified":"2026-04-16T09:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:10:59","slug":"juvenile-mourning-dove-in-morning-light-in-southwestern-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/08\/juvenile-mourning-dove-in-morning-light-in-southwestern-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile Mourning Dove in Morning Light in Southwestern Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JuvenileJuvenile Mourning Dove in morning light – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Today the predicted south wind should clear some of the smoke out of the Salt Lake Valley and I hope that it does because not only has the air been unhealthy it is also quite ugly to look at.<\/p>\n

When I can’t get out to photograph sometimes I look through my old files to see what I was photographing in years past, two years ago today I was up in southwestern Montana photographing birds in the Beaverhead County<\/span><\/a> and these doves caught my eyes.<\/p>\n

The juvenile and out of focus adult Mourning Doves were perched on a lichen encrusted, slightly frosted fence rail near the road in the southern part of the Centennial Valley. As I recall the temps had dropped down pretty low overnight and the doves were probably warming up in the light of the rising sun.<\/p>\n

I don’t believe I have ever shared an image of a juvenile Mourning Dove before on my blog or my photo galleries. The young dove’s feathers look slightly “scaly” and that is how I can tell them apart from the adults.<\/p>\n

\"RedRed Rock Lakes NWR September sunset at the Lower Lake – Nikon D300, f10, 1\/50, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two years ago today I was also enjoying the big skies of Montana, clear air and great views of Montana’s sunrises and sunsets.<\/p>\n

\"SmokySmoky haze over the Great Salt Lake and Wasatch Mountains – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a photo from yesterday morning taken from the causeway that goes out to Antelope Island, I was facing southeast when I took the image. Believe it or not this was an improvement from the day before.<\/p>\n

When I took this image if there hadn’t been smoke there would have been sweet golden light over the Great Salt Lake in the Wasatch Mountains in the distance.<\/p>\n

I really do hope the south wind clears the smoke out of the valley today, it will probably only be a temporary respite from the smoky haze but it sure would be nice to see the valley without it.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The juvenile and out of focus adult Mourning Doves were perched on a lichen encrusted, slightly frosted fence rail near the road in the southern part of the Centennial Valley. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[511,1513,27,223,12,1189,26],"tags":[4004,4101,3763,3764,834,4067,4071,5178,3291,4378,4069,1190,4104,3993,4193,1191],"class_list":["post-48396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-mourning-doves","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-clouds","tag-dove","tag-doves","tag-fence-rail","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-lake","tag-lichen","tag-morning","tag-mountains","tag-mourning-dove","tag-perched","tag-sunset","tag-young","tag-zenaida-macroura"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t