{"id":52400,"date":"2018-06-03T04:13:43","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T10:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=52400"},"modified":"2025-11-22T09:33:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T15:33:43","slug":"nesting-tree-swallows-in-the-high-uintas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/06\/03\/nesting-tree-swallows-in-the-high-uintas\/","title":{"rendered":"Nesting Tree Swallows in the High Uintas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nesting Tree Swallows<\/h2>\n

\"CloseClose up of a male Tree Swallow at a nesting cavity – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

While I photographed nesting House Wrens in the High Uintas<\/span><\/a> the last day of May I also photographed nesting Tree Swallows in the same Quaking Aspen tree in a cavity a bit lower on the trunk.<\/p>\n

The tree is right next to the shoulder of a dirt road and even with being parked on the shoulder on opposite side of the road I had too much lens for the swallows that went in and out of the nesting cavity. I decided to take a few close up photos before turning my camera to a vertical position.<\/p>\n

I could have used more depth of field for this photo to bring the aspen tree trunk into sharp focus but I could see that my shutter speed was low. I didn’t think I’d have time to change my settings before the swallow flew away so I went with the settings I had. I like the intimacy of close ups and this photo conveys that sense of intimacy well.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Tree Swallow at a nesting cavity in an Aspen – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I noticed when I turned my camera to a vertical position to get the bird’s whole body in the frame that the Tree Swallow was losing a primary feather on its right wing. I can only speculate as to why the swallow is losing that primary feather during this time of the year.<\/p>\n

My thoughts are that the feather could have been caught on something which loosened or damaged it where the feather joins the bird’s wing.\u00a0 I thought it made for an interesting shadow on the aspen trunk. Right after this photo was taken this Tree Swallow flew away.<\/p>\n

Finding and sharing a mated pair of nesting Red-naped Sapsuckers at this tree two years ago paid of for me over and over again.<\/p>\n

Tree Swallows are secondary cavity nesters<\/strong><\/h2>\n

They use old sapsucker, woodpecker, and flicker nesting cavities as well as man made nesting boxes.<\/p>\n

These Tree Swallows in the Uinta Mountains<\/span><\/a> sure kept me entertained and busy while I photographed them.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

To view more of my Tree Swallow photos plus facts and information about this species click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I photographed nesting House Wrens in the High Uintas the last day of May I also photographed nesting Tree Swallows in the same Aspen tree in a cavity a bit lower on the trunk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[27,1731,2171,5219,26],"tags":[1919,5370,4062,4075,473,2580,6576,7791,6527,4807,3470,4377,1523],"class_list":["post-52400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-summit-county-utah","category-tree-swallows","category-uinta-wasatch-cache-national-forest","category-utah","tag-aspen","tag-forest","tag-male","tag-nest","tag-nesting-behavior-2","tag-nesting-cavity","tag-populus-tremuloides","tag-quaking-aspen","tag-secondary-cavity-nester","tag-swallow","tag-swallows","tag-tachycineta-bicolor","tag-tree-swallow"],"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