{"id":59059,"date":"2019-07-17T05:07:12","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T11:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=59059"},"modified":"2024-06-30T17:02:12","modified_gmt":"2024-06-30T22:02:12","slug":"my-first-gray-catbird-juvenile-sighting-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/17\/my-first-gray-catbird-juvenile-sighting-of-the-season\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Gray Catbird Juvenile Sighting Of The Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GrayGray Catbird juvenile perched in a hawthorn – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was extremely pleased to find and photograph my first Gray Catbird juvenile of this breeding season yesterday morning high in the Wasatch Mountains as it came into view on a hawthorn tree. This sighting is the earliest I have seen young Gray Catbirds in the mountains and it could mean that the catbirds are having a successful breeding season.<\/p>\n

Before I saw the young catbird an adult had perched in the same hawthorn then I saw some movement to the right of the adult and the juvenile came out into the open. The young catbird wasn’t begging for food from the adult, it just perched quietly on the branch of the hawthorn tree. Although I photographed the adult I never got a full view of its body like I did the juvenile.<\/p>\n

Gray Catbirds may not be flashy or colorful but I always enjoy listening to them sing<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Gray Catbird up close – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Both the adult and juvenile Gray Catbird moved closer to where I sat using a vehicle as a “mobile blind” and while the adult was partially hidden by all of the willow leaves the juvenile was once again out in the open. I was only able to take five images of the young catbird on this perch and I wish I would have had a bit more time with it so that I could have changed my settings to allow for more depth of field than I had at f7.1 because the tail of the bird is not sharply in focus in this image. I still love this image though.<\/p>\n

I hope to have many more opportunities with Gray Catbirds before they migrate this fall.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was extremely pleased to find and photograph my first Gray Catbird juvenile of this breeding season yesterday morning high in the Wasatch Mountains as it came into view on a hawthorn tree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129996,"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":[27,3605,1731,26,773],"tags":[4897,6559,6558,3607,3606,6566,4067,4071,4104,6707,4193],"class_list":["post-59059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-gray-catbirds","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-branch","tag-catbird","tag-catbirds","tag-dumetella-carolinensis","tag-gray-catbird","tag-hawthorn","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-perched","tag-up-close","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/gray-catbird-juvenile-up-close-mia-mcpherson-0023.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fmz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104614,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/30\/fledgling-gray-catbird-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":59059,"position":0},"title":"Fledgling Gray Catbird Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning while photographing a male Yellow Warbler I caught some movement with my peripheral vison and saw a young Gray Catbird very close to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Gray Catbird portrait, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/gray-catbird-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8991.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/gray-catbird-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8991.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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years ago I was able to find and photograph quiet a few young Gray Catbirds high in the Wasatch Mountain canyons including this one who seemed to be keeping an eye on me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Gray Catbird perched on a branch, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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