{"id":49644,"date":"2017-12-02T06:13:59","date_gmt":"2017-12-02T13:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=49644"},"modified":"2023-03-07T07:09:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T14:09:10","slug":"juvenile-vesper-sparrow-in-southwest-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/02\/juvenile-vesper-sparrow-in-southwest-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile Vesper Sparrow in Southwest Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PerchedPerched juvenile Vesper Sparrow – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve come to the conclusion that I will never be able to go through all of the bird photos I have already taken, process them and share the most interesting images here at On The Wing Photography. Sometimes I take hundreds or even more than a thousand images in a day and I generally share just a few of those in blog posts the day after I take them. Then I go out into the field the next day and do the same thing and there are times I don’t get back to those older folders of images for a weeks or months so some images just sit around waiting for me to come across them again. Certain images do stand out though and eventually I try to remember to edit them and prepare them to share on my site and with the people who view my blog posts.<\/p>\n

One of the photos I have been meaning to share is of this juvenile Vesper Sparrow that I photographed in the Centennial Valley of Montana this past summer. I have seen very few juvenile Vesper Sparrows and I have just a handful of images of them so when I spot one in good light I certainly want to do my best to photograph it.<\/p>\n

I can’t recall if the blue tones in the background of this photo were from out of focus water, sky or distant shadowed mountains behind the bird, all three can look like this in the final photo, but I like how the cool tones of the background contrast with the warmer tones of the bird and the old fence post. The young sparrow was fluffed up because of the chilly morning temperatures and it was most likely waiting for an adult to bring it food.<\/p>\n

Sparrow identification can be difficult plus the identification of juvenile sparrows can tax even those very proficient at sparrow ID. Even though I can’t see the rufous lesser coverts in this photo I can see the white eyering, the white outer tail feathers, longish tail plus the streaked back and chest found in Vesper Sparrow adults which aided me in my identification of this juvenile sparrow. It also helped that I saw and photographed adult Vesper Sparrows nearby so I knew that they were in the area.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it only took me about five months to share this photo of the young Vesper Sparrow that I have been meaning to share since my trip up to southwest Montana this past summer.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I have seen very few juvenile Vesper Sparrows and I have just a handful of images of them so when I spot one in good light I certainly want to do my best to photograph it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110861,"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":[1513,27,223,12,2258],"tags":[215,898,4071,4104,2657,4394,855,6254,4195,2315,5434,2658,8917],"class_list":["post-49644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-vesper-sparrows","tag-bird-id","tag-fence-post","tag-juvenile","tag-perched","tag-poocetes-gramineus","tag-post","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrow-id","tag-sparrows","tag-summer-3","tag-valley","tag-vesper-sparrow","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/vesper-sparrow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2374.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cUI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39927,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/08\/cooperative-vesper-sparrow-in-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":49644,"position":0},"title":"Cooperative Vesper Sparrow in Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Five evenings ago I was able to photograph a cooperative Vesper Sparrow in Montana's Centennial Valley.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched adult Vesper Sparrow, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-0124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-0124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-0124.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-0124.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15834,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/15\/centennial-valley-bathing-vesper-sparrows\/","url_meta":{"origin":49644,"position":1},"title":"Centennial Valley Bathing Vesper Sparrows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A Vesper Sparrow caught my eye last week as it fluttered and fluffed on an old barb wire fence near the road and I just had to photograph it.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bathing Vesper Sparrow, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-bathing-mia-mcpherson-4251.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-bathing-mia-mcpherson-4251.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-bathing-mia-mcpherson-4251.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-bathing-mia-mcpherson-4251.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-spring-mia-mcpherson-5216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-spring-mia-mcpherson-5216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-spring-mia-mcpherson-5216.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-spring-mia-mcpherson-5216.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87559,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/13\/springtime-vesper-sparrow-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":49644,"position":3},"title":"Springtime Vesper Sparrow Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I 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I was enchanted and thrilled at the same time.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Vesper Sparrow perched on a small rock, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-6697.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-6697.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-6697.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vesper-sparrow-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-6697.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":103942,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/07\/summer-vesper-sparrow-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":49644,"position":4},"title":"Summer Vesper Sparrow Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today my post is focused on a little brown bird with a wonderful song I photographed yesterday in the Wasatch Mountains. The LBB was a handsome Vesper Sparrow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vesper Sparrow fluffing its feathers, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/vesper-sparrow-summer-mountains-mia-mcpherson-3187.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/vesper-sparrow-summer-mountains-mia-mcpherson-3187.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/vesper-sparrow-summer-mountains-mia-mcpherson-3187.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/vesper-sparrow-summer-mountains-mia-mcpherson-3187.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54278,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/09\/24\/fall-vesper-sparrow-perched-on-a-wild-rose-bush\/","url_meta":{"origin":49644,"position":5},"title":"Fall Vesper Sparrow Perched On A Wild Rose Bush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I saw a single Vesper Sparrow which came in and perched out in the open on a lovely Wild Rose that was full of rose hips in nice light. 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