{"id":51055,"date":"2018-02-24T05:30:02","date_gmt":"2018-02-24T12:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51055"},"modified":"2024-11-02T10:20:19","modified_gmt":"2024-11-02T15:20:19","slug":"portrait-of-a-dark-eyed-junco-in-a-snow-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/24\/portrait-of-a-dark-eyed-junco-in-a-snow-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Portrait of a Dark-eyed Junco in a Snow Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve had two big snow storms in the past week and another one is heading our way as I type this but this afternoon’s storm isn’t supposed to dump a lot of snow on us like the last two have. Or so the weather forecasters say but who knows we might get another 14 inches because they are wrong more often than they are right.<\/p>\n

\"Dark-eyedDark-eyed Junco portrait in a snow storm – Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, under feeder<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday afternoon I was getting a bit of cabin fever so I took the screen out of my living room window, set up my tripod, mounted my camera and photographed the some of the birds that were coming to my bird feeder in the front yard. When I first started photographing the sparrows, juncos, finches and nuthatches I had my teleconverter on but that was too tight for the birds on the feeder and I clipped a lot of tail feathers.<\/p>\n

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. I had hoped to get the whole body of the bird on top of the snow but I kind of like the way this photo turned out. The dark area behind the bird at the top of the left side of the frame is actually the front tire of my Jeep parked at the curb. I like how there is frost on the junco’s face and snowflakes stuck to its pink bill.<\/p>\n

This Dark-eyed Junco is a male of the Oregon group, one of the four junco subspecies groups I see here in northern Utah and the subspecies I see most often.<\/p>\n

I don’t do much feeder photography at all but it was fun to watch and photograph the birds in the snow storm yesterday from the warmth of my living room for a change, in fact this might be only the fourth or fifth bird feeder photo in my galleries.<\/p>\n

I am glad we are finally getting a taste of winter and that there has been a lot of snow falling in the mountains because it has been so weirdly mild up until now.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136148,"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":[27,2749,709,26],"tags":[2750,6036,2751,6037,4062,2754,4046,4050,4509,4900,855,4195],"class_list":["post-51055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-dark-eyed-juncos","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-dark-eyed-junco","tag-junco","tag-junco-hyemalis","tag-juncos","tag-male","tag-oregon-group","tag-portrait","tag-snow","tag-snow-storm","tag-snowflakes","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-3644.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dht","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":167615,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/27\/snowy-dark-eyed-junco-close-ups\/","url_meta":{"origin":51055,"position":0},"title":"Snowy Dark-eyed Junco Close Ups","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago, during Winter Storm Fern, I was able to sit outside and photograph snowy Dark-eyed Junco close ups; sometimes they were even too close.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco male portrait, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-snowstorm-ok-mia-mcpherson-4948.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-snowstorm-ok-mia-mcpherson-4948.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-snowstorm-ok-mia-mcpherson-4948.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-snowstorm-ok-mia-mcpherson-4948.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16760,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/06\/snow-birds-dark-eyed-juncos\/","url_meta":{"origin":51055,"position":1},"title":"Snow Birds – Dark-eyed Juncos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When I lived in Virginia I could almost predict when the first snow would fall because the juncos showed at my feeders up a day or two before the first winter storm.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon race, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-oregon-mia-mcpherson-6530.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-oregon-mia-mcpherson-6530.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-oregon-mia-mcpherson-6530.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-oregon-mia-mcpherson-6530.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":51055,"position":2},"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, 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=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48989,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/16\/dark-eyed-junco-mullein-blooming-rabbitbrush\/","url_meta":{"origin":51055,"position":3},"title":"Dark-eyed Junco, Mullein & Blooming Rabbitbrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday while looking for birds to photograph a single Dark-eyed Junco popped up into my view and perched on a dried mullein stalk in front of blooming rabbitbrush.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dark-eyed Junco perched on Mullein in front of blooming Rabbitbrush, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-oregon-rabbitbrush-mullein-mia-mcpherson-6368.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-oregon-rabbitbrush-mullein-mia-mcpherson-6368.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-oregon-rabbitbrush-mullein-mia-mcpherson-6368.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-oregon-rabbitbrush-mullein-mia-mcpherson-6368.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138810,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/16\/snowy-slate-colored-dark-eyed-junco-photos-from-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":51055,"position":4},"title":"Snowy Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco Photos From Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The second day of the big snowstorm here in Arkansas last week had me out on the deck, taking snowy Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco photos along with other birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco in fog and snow, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-9000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-9000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-9000.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-9000.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54309,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/09\/26\/female-or-immature-dark-eyed-junco-oreganus-group\/","url_meta":{"origin":51055,"position":5},"title":"Female or Immature Dark-eyed Junco – Oreganus Group","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago I was able to photograph a female or immature Dark-eyed Junco of the Oreganus Group when it flew in and landed not too far away from me and I have to admit that seeing it excited me because I enjoy these birds so much.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female\/Immature Dark-eyed Junco - 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