{"id":52121,"date":"2018-05-16T04:15:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=52121"},"modified":"2026-05-22T07:34:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:34:37","slug":"yellow-warbler-perched-and-foraging-in-a-mystery-flowering-thorny-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/16\/yellow-warbler-perched-and-foraging-in-a-mystery-flowering-thorny-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Yellow Warbler Perched and Foraging in a Mystery Flowering, Thorny Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow Warbler foraging in a flowering, thorny tree – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I drove my mother up into some the the canyons in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> yesterday so she could see some of the canyons there where I photograph birds and other wildlife.<\/p>\n

The morning was bright, clear, and the temps were cool but not cold. We saw plenty of birds and some wildlife, listened to the creek gurgling next to the road in places, and listened to the bird songs coming from the sagebrush, willows, and those birds who were on the wing.<\/p>\n

When I had the opportunity to photograph a Northern Yellow Warbler foraging in a flowering tree I jumped at the chance. Right after I took this photo the warbler snatched a tiny insect from the flowers but I couldn’t make out what it was.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow Warbler with tilted head – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then the bird tilted its head towards my Jeep before it flew off to another branch to look for more insects.<\/p>\n

I didn’t notice the huge thorns on the tree until after I went back home and viewed my images on my monitor. Those are some big thorns! I don’t know what this tree is and if anyone does know please feel free to identify it here. I’m very curious as to what kind of tree it is.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> the thorny tree is a River Hawthorn, Crataegus rivularis<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow Warbler perched on a flowering, thorny tree – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Northern Yellow Warbler moved to another branch I had a bluer background which I liked tremendously because it contrasted so nicely from the bright yellow bird.<\/p>\n

My mother enjoyed her trip up into the canyons and perhaps we will go back up there again while she is here visiting me.<\/p>\n

Life is good. Sharing the birds I see and photograph in person with my Mom makes it even better.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

When I had the opportunity to photograph a Northern Yellow Warbler foraging in a flowering tree I jumped at the chance. Right after I took this photo the warbler snatched a tiny insect from the flowers but I couldn’t make out what it was. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161315,"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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,5921,4594,2281,26],"tags":[4004,7298,6496,4136,6566,4062,3887,4104,7297,2282,6498,5197,4427,3888,3889,6497],"class_list":["post-52121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-east-canyon","category-morgan-county","category-yellow-warblers","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-crataegus-rivularis","tag-flowering-tree","tag-foraging","tag-hawthorn","tag-male","tag-yellow-warbler","tag-perched","tag-river-hawthorn","tag-setophaga-aestiva","tag-thorns","tag-tilted-head","tag-tree","tag-warbler","tag-warblers","tag-white-flowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-flowering-tree-mia-mcpherson-0528.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dyF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52151,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/18\/male-yellow-warblers-in-the-wasatch-mountains-sunshine-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":52121,"position":0},"title":"Male Northern Yellow Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains – Sunshine On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning was spent up in the mountain canyons again photographing the birds I found at the higher elevations, the birds I saw the most of were Northern Yellow Warblers, birds who look like sunshine on the wing.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging male Northern Yellow Warbler, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-foraging-mia-mcpherson-0939.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-foraging-mia-mcpherson-0939.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-male-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-3063.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-male-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-3063.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-male-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-3063.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-male-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-3063.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":73343,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/01\/yellow-warbler-and-a-hawthorn\/","url_meta":{"origin":52121,"position":3},"title":"Northern Yellow Warbler And A Hawthorn","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These bright Northern Yellow Warblers are getting ready for their long, fall migrations and while I am happy to see that they seem to have had a successful breeding season it also felt a touch bittersweet to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Yellow Warbler perched in front of a hawthorn, Wasatch Mountains, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-warbler-river-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-7627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-warbler-river-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-7627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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