{"id":54951,"date":"2018-11-10T04:48:22","date_gmt":"2018-11-10T11:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54951"},"modified":"2025-08-15T09:10:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T14:10:35","slug":"red-breasted-nuthatch-foraging-in-a-douglas-fir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-foraging-in-a-douglas-fir\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-breasted Nuthatch Foraging In A Douglas Fir"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch hanging upside down from a Douglas Fir cone – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 800, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

For a few seconds yesterday morning I was thrilled to have a Red-breasted Nuthatch foraging on a Douglas Fir cone in my viewfinder directly in front of me. The exposure was challenging because the nuthatch and the fir cone were in bright side light while the main part of the tree was in shadows.\u00a0 The nuthatch spent a surprising amount of time of the brief moments I had it in my viewfinder hanging upside down.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch feeding on Douglas Fir cones – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 800, -1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I like how the tiny nuthatch stands out in the photos I took of it because of that dark background.<\/p>\n

Several weeks ago I heard lots of Red-breasted Nuthatches in this area and I have gone back to this location several times but it wasn’t until yesterday that I finally had one of these small songbirds land close enough to me to photograph it.<\/p>\n

On a side note, yesterday morning I also took some blurry photos of a lifer bird for me when a Golden-crowned Kinglet made an all too brief appearance in this same tree. I only count birds as lifers when I can take photos of them and as crappy as the photos are that I took yesterday I’m counting this lifer. I used to see both kinglet species in my yard back east during the winter and I was delighted to see the one I photographed yesterday. I wish I had been able to get photos of it that matched the quality of these Red-breasted Nuthatch photos.\u00a0 Maybe another day.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch hanging onto a Douglas Fir cone – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 800, -1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I do wish this Red-breasted Nuthatch had hung around longer than it did because I haven’t had many opportunities to photograph this nuthatch species and I want more time with these little beauties.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

For a few seconds yesterday morning I was thrilled to have a Red-breasted Nuthatch foraging on a Douglas Fir cone in my viewfinder directly in front of me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[27,3700,1316,358,26],"tags":[6879,6877,4040,4927,4928,6878,3701,3702],"class_list":["post-54951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-red-breasted-nuthatches","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","tag-cones","tag-douglas-fir","tag-feeding","tag-nuthatch","tag-nuthatches","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii","tag-red-breasted-nuthatch","tag-sitta-canadensis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-6994.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-eij","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61364,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/14\/foraging-red-breasted-nuthatch-on-a-chilly-november-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":54951,"position":0},"title":"Foraging Red-breasted Nuthatch On A Chilly November Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"If I get a single image, like this foraging Red-breasted Nuthatch feeding on the seeds of a Douglas Fir tree, I am happy.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch on a chilly November morning, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9647.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9647.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74422,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/06\/photographing-red-breasted-nuthatches-isnt-easy\/","url_meta":{"origin":54951,"position":1},"title":"Photographing Red-breasted Nuthatches Isn’t Easy","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Red-breasted Nuthatches aren't easy to photograph because they are tiny, they move quickly and their flight patterns are fairly unpredictable. Finding the right habitat, their habitat, can make it fun.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch on a Douglas Fir bough, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4059.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4059.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4059.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Upside Down","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Red-breasted Nuthatches that I photographed foraging and hanging upside down yesterday weren't calling, they seem to be quiet during that activity but I could hear other nuthatches in the trees all around me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch in the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-breasted-nuthatch-upside-down-mia-mcpherson-7320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-breasted-nuthatch-upside-down-mia-mcpherson-7320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch high up in a fir, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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