{"id":58375,"date":"2019-06-05T04:45:30","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T10:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=58375"},"modified":"2025-11-10T08:34:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:34:29","slug":"two-willow-flycatcher-photos-i-am-happy-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/06\/05\/two-willow-flycatcher-photos-i-am-happy-with\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Willow Flycatcher Photos I Am Happy With"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WillowWillow Flycatcher and a bright blue sky – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 31st I wrote about Willow Flycatchers and how I could ID them<\/span><\/a> because I heard their two part FITZ-bew calls, how one of them seemed to have a favorite perch and that I wanted to go back to see if I could get better photos of it.<\/p>\n

I did go back the next day and took some photos I was happier with but I still had one bright, out of focus branch behind the flycatcher’s head in those photos so I was reluctant to share them.<\/p>\n

My hope was that I could still get better photos of the bird if I went back to the same area and tried again.<\/p>\n

\"WillowWillow Flycatcher on a clear day – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I have seen the Willow Flycatcher on the same branch many times now I am not able to get a better angle on that “favorite” perch because of other branches that are in the way.<\/p>\n

By observing the flycatcher I can tell that the area surrounding that perch is the flycatcher’s territory and it shows up there quite often.<\/p>\n

I knew I just needed to be ready when the flycatcher perched out in the open to take the photos I could be happy with and yesterday I’m glad to say that happened.<\/p>\n

The Willow Flycatcher<\/span><\/a> perched out in the open high on a shrub with a clear blue sky in the background and I didn’t even mind the foliage and branches behind and above the bird.<\/p>\n

I guess I could say that I had to work at getting these images but truly it was more fun than work.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The Willow Flycatcher perched out in the open high on a shrub with a clear blue sky in the background and I didn’t even mind the foliage and branches behind and above the bird.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163307,"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":[27,1731,26,773,3805],"tags":[4004,2069,4897,3807,5241,6561,3808,4884,6583,4104,6188,6308,3806],"class_list":["post-58375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","category-willow-flycatchers","tag-adult","tag-blue-sky","tag-branch","tag-empidonax-traillii","tag-empids","tag-favorite-perch","tag-flycatcher","tag-flycatchers","tag-leaves","tag-perched","tag-shrub","tag-territory","tag-willow-flycatcher"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-blue-sky-mia-mcpherson-7933.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fbx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":103623,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/25\/creekside-willow-flycatcher\/","url_meta":{"origin":58375,"position":0},"title":"Creekside 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2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Obtaining decent photos of Willow Flycatchers in the Wasatch Mountains has been harder and more challenging for me this year than last and there are a few reasons for that.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willow Flycatcher perched in a serviceberry shrub, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-in-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-5625.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-in-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-5625.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Once I'm in Willow Flycatcher habitat the next thing I do is to listen for them. I often hear Willow Flycatchers before I see them because they can blend into their habitat well.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Willow Flycatcher perched on a hawthorn, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-habitat-mia-mcpherson-6673.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-habitat-mia-mcpherson-6673.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-habitat-mia-mcpherson-6673.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willow-flycatcher-habitat-mia-mcpherson-6673.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104711,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/03\/willow-flycatcher-up-close\/","url_meta":{"origin":58375,"position":5},"title":"Willow Flycatcher Up Close – What Are Rictal Bristles?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On Sunday I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph an adult Willow Flycatcher up close when it landed very near my vehicle high in the Wasatch Mountains.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Willow Flycatcher up close, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/willow-flycatcher-rictal-bristles-mia-mcpherson-9961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/willow-flycatcher-rictal-bristles-mia-mcpherson-9961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/willow-flycatcher-rictal-bristles-mia-mcpherson-9961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/willow-flycatcher-rictal-bristles-mia-mcpherson-9961.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}