{"id":60579,"date":"2019-09-30T05:06:23","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T11:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=60579"},"modified":"2025-10-21T18:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T23:14:08","slug":"photographing-white-crowned-sparrows-at-farmington-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/30\/photographing-white-crowned-sparrows-at-farmington-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing White-crowned Sparrows At Farmington Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-161209 size-full\" title=\"Adult White-crowned Sparrow in early morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-phrags-mia-mcpherson-9289.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-phrags-mia-mcpherson-9289.jpg\" alt=\"Adult White-crowned Sparrow in early morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-phrags-mia-mcpherson-9289-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-phrags-mia-mcpherson-9289-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-phrags-mia-mcpherson-9289-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-phrags-mia-mcpherson-9289-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-phrags-mia-mcpherson-9289-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-phrags-mia-mcpherson-9289.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Adult White-crowned Sparrow in early morning light &#8211; Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>When autumn arrives White-crowned Sparrows are one of the sparrow species that I look forward to photographing at Farmington Bay WMA each year as they move down to lower elevations.<\/p>\n<p>White-crowned Sparrows are year round residents in northern Utah but during their breeding season I don&#8217;t see them as often as I do the rest of the year so by the time fall makes an appearance I find myself anxious to have them in my viewfinder again.<\/p>\n<p>At Farmington Bay WMA I find White-crowned Sparrows perched on phrags, cattails, rabbitbrush, fences, sunflowers, trees, roses, greasewood and sage in the marshes, near Glover Pond and next to the roads.<\/p>\n<p>This adult <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/White-crowned_Sparrow\/lifehistory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">White-crowned Sparrow<\/span><\/a> had been feeding on the seeds of phrags four days ago at Farmington Bay and still had a bit of fluff stuck to its bill. I like the out of focus insect flying over its head, the light and the head turn of the bird.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m very much looking forward to photographing all of the sparrow species I find in the valley at this time of the year. They might be just little brown birds but I find them enchanting.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/white-crowned-sparrow-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my White-crowned Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When autumn arrives White-crowned Sparrows are one of the sparrow species that I look forward to photographing at Farmington Bay WMA each year as they move down to lower elevations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161209,"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":[27,1022,697,26,356],"tags":[4004,970,4620,7801,4094,4365,4099,4104,8301,8300,4059,6428,855,4195,4095,4327,4256],"class_list":["post-60579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-fall","tag-insect","tag-marsh","tag-midge","tag-morning-light","tag-perched","tag-photograph","tag-photographing","tag-phragmites","tag-phrags","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-wetlands","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-phrags-mia-mcpherson-9289.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fL5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54854,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/03\/adult-white-crowned-sparrows-feeding-on-greasewood-seeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":60579,"position":0},"title":"Adult White-crowned Sparrows Feeding On Greasewood Seeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I photographed American Goldfinches, House Finches and White-crowned Sparrows that were busy feeding on greasewood seeds.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow lifting off from a greasewood, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-5647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-5647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-5647.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-5647.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17266,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/04\/juvenile-white-crowned-sparrow-on-a-december-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":60579,"position":1},"title":"Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow on a December day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A little brown bird (LBB) popped into my view today that I couldn't resist photographing and it was this juvenile White-crowned Sparrow.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow on a December day at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah. Perched on Pigweed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2147.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2147.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2147.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2147.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":121898,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/26\/winter-white-crowned-sparrow-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":60579,"position":2},"title":"Winter White-crowned Sparrow Portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't seen as many sparrows this winter as I typically do, so I was tickled to take a few White-crowned Sparrow portraits at Farmington Bay WMA on Friday.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter White-crowned Sparrow adult portrait, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35153,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/29\/juvenile-and-adult-white-crowned-sparrows-on-a-tree-branch\/","url_meta":{"origin":60579,"position":3},"title":"Juvenile And Adult White-crowned Sparrows On A Tree Branch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was able to photograph juvenile and adult White-crowned Sparrows on the same branch a few minutes apart at a gate at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An adult White-crowned Sparrow on a branch of an apple tree, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-9736.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-9736.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-9736.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-9736.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96961,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/05\/my-first-white-throated-sparrow-sighting-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":60579,"position":4},"title":"My First White-throated Sparrow Sighting In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I found my first White-throated Sparrow in Utah, photographed it, and when I pointed it out to a friend this sparrow became a lifer for them.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-throated Sparrow perched on a greasewood, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-adult-farmington-bay-wma-mia-mcpherson-2496.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-adult-farmington-bay-wma-mia-mcpherson-2496.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-adult-farmington-bay-wma-mia-mcpherson-2496.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-adult-farmington-bay-wma-mia-mcpherson-2496.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33213,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/24\/wild-rose-hips-and-an-immature-white-crowned-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":60579,"position":5},"title":"Wild Rose Hips And An Immature White-crowned Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I was happy yesterday to take this image of an immature White-crowned Sparrow perched with wild rose hips in the frame too.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An immature White-crowned Sparrow and Wild Rose hips, Farmington Bay WMA, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/white-crowned-sparrow-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-2393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/white-crowned-sparrow-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-2393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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