{"id":55785,"date":"2019-01-23T05:46:46","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T12:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=55785"},"modified":"2025-10-16T15:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:53:13","slug":"adult-song-sparrow-foraging-in-the-snow-at-farmington-bay-wma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/23\/adult-song-sparrow-foraging-in-the-snow-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Song Sparrow Foraging In The Snow At Farmington Bay WMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Song Sparrow foraging in the snow – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I feel so lucky to be able to see and photograph Song Sparrows year round here in northern Utah and to be able to photograph the adults as well as their young. All of the sparrow species I see here have found a spot in my heart and I enjoy slowing down to take photographs of them.<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I headed to Farmington Bay WMA and discovered that there was no way I was going to sneak up any of the birds there because the crusty snow under my tires was loud and annoying.<\/p>\n

That meant that I decided the best way to photograph the sparrows I was seeing was to take what I call a “sit and wait” approach.<\/p>\n

I’ve found that with some of the sparrows and small passerines if I see that they are foraging from a distance but take off on approach that if I pull up and sit and wait quietly that eventually they will come back.<\/p>\n

It takes patience and time but the “sit and wait” approach can pay off, sometimes in big ways. If I hadn’t been using the “sit and wait” approach last August I would never have found or been able to report the 7th confirmed sighing of a Baltimore Oriole in Utah<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I was happy when the “sit and wait” approach allowed me to see this adult Song Sparrow pop up on top of a snow covered pile of vegetation where it proceeded to forage in front of me at a nice distance.<\/p>\n

The alert pose shown by the sparrow in this photo was because an American Kestrel had flown past and the sparrow kept an eye on it for a few seconds before it went back to foraging for seeds.<\/p>\n

It was wonderful to get out into the field yesterday morning because for a change the sun was shining brightly and we had beautifully clear bluebird skies in northern Utah. I didn’t find as many birds as I would have liked but this Song Sparrow<\/span><\/a> made my day.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was happy when the “sit and wait” approach allowed me to see this adult Song Sparrow pop up on top of a snow covered pile of vegetation where it proceeded to forage in front of me at a nice distance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160599,"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":[27,1022,697,204,26],"tags":[4004,6943,4136,4202,6942,4050,4023,855,4195,373],"class_list":["post-55785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-song-sparrows","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-approach","tag-foraging","tag-melospiza-melodia","tag-sit-and-wait","tag-snow","tag-song-sparrow","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-snow-mia-mcpherson-3976.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-evL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11738,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/10\/song-sparrow-on-a-bitter-cold-winter-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":55785,"position":0},"title":"Song Sparrow On A Bitter Cold Winter Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday the lowest temperature I saw at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area was -12F which reinforces the thought that \"bird photography isn't for everyone\" and that winters in Utah are hard on the birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Song Sparrow on a bitter cold winter day, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-food-mia-mia-mcpherson-6761.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-food-mia-mia-mcpherson-6761.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"February 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I went to Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning in icy cold temps where my favorite images that I took were of a puffy Song Sparrow in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Puffball Song Sparrow, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/song-sparrow-winter-puffball-mia-mcpherson-1576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/song-sparrow-winter-puffball-mia-mcpherson-1576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/song-sparrow-winter-puffball-mia-mcpherson-1576.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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So far 30 subspecies of Song Sparrows have been described.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Song Sparrow working at getting some seeds, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-winter-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-winter-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-winter-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-winter-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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