{"id":60958,"date":"2019-10-21T06:30:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T12:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=60958"},"modified":"2024-11-13T11:15:15","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T17:15:15","slug":"red-breasted-nuthatch-contrasting-light-and-shadows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/21\/red-breasted-nuthatch-contrasting-light-and-shadows\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-breasted Nuthatch – Contrasting Light and Shadows"},"content":{"rendered":"

I find listening to Red-breasted Nuthatch calls<\/span><\/a> and songs<\/span><\/a> very relaxing, even soothing. It always makes me smile when I hear them.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-breasted Nuthatch in a Douglas Fir \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 800, -2.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After spending a couple days at home I am itching to get out into the field and back into the quiet sounds of nature with views of birds, trees, mountains and sky. I know of a couple of places that I wouldn’t mind getting to before the sun comes up and then just sitting there all day long to see what great birds come into my sight.<\/p>\n

I think that is why I loved my wooded, country garden in Virginia so deeply because I actually could sit there all day long on my porch, deck, benches or on the ground under the trees while dozens of birds came into my view.\u00a0 It actually seems ironic to me that I don’t miss that house at all but I do miss the garden and the birds so much more but then people say that home is where the heart is and I sure put my heart into that garden.<\/p>\n

I photographed this male Red-breasted Nuthatch in one of the places here in Utah where I’d love to sit quietly all day long and watch to see what birds come in. It is a very beautiful and peaceful location with a great mix of deciduous and evergreen trees, views of mountain peaks, low shrubs, grasses and bird activity too.<\/p>\n

What I like about this male Red-breasted Nuthatch photo is the contrast of light and shadows. While I can’t see all the fine feather details in the shaded part of the nuthatch what I can see is simply enough. I took my time and changed my exposure settings as I photographed this bird in challenging light in an effort to accentuate and deepen the shadows and I like how this photo turned out.<\/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":"

What I like about this male Red-breasted Nuthatch photo is the contrast of light and shadows. While I can’t see all the fine feather details in the shaded part of the nuthatch what I can see is simply enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136790,"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":[27,3700,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[6879,5725,6877,4040,4204,4927,4928,6878,3701,4677,3702],"class_list":["post-60958","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","category-west-desert-utah","tag-cones","tag-contrast","tag-douglas-fir","tag-feeding","tag-light","tag-nuthatch","tag-nuthatches","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii","tag-red-breasted-nuthatch","tag-shadows","tag-sitta-canadensis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-7060.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fRc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54951,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-foraging-in-a-douglas-fir\/","url_meta":{"origin":60958,"position":0},"title":"Red-breasted Nuthatch Foraging In A Douglas Fir","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch hanging onto a Douglas Fir cone, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-6994.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-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-6994.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-6994.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-6994.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":60958,"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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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 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61364,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/14\/foraging-red-breasted-nuthatch-on-a-chilly-november-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":60958,"position":3},"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, 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County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54963,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatches-hanging-upside-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":60958,"position":5},"title":"Red-breasted Nuthatches Hanging 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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