{"id":61021,"date":"2019-10-26T06:15:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T12:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=61021"},"modified":"2022-10-02T05:31:22","modified_gmt":"2022-10-02T11:31:22","slug":"brown-creeper-one-of-my-nemesis-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/26\/brown-creeper-one-of-my-nemesis-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Brown Creeper – One Of My Nemesis Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BrownBrown Creeper blur \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a few nemesis bird species where I have taken images of them but the photos are flat out awful or just long distance documentary images that I wouldn’t post in my photo galleries or on my blog. They are the birds I dream about, sit and think about and work hard at getting better photos of them. I study their behaviors, take note of their habitat and try to learn as much about them as I can in an effort to finally get the photos of them that I want.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I tried to take photos of a Brown Creeper I spotted in a mountain mahogany which are of one my my nemesis species and once again I failed. The Brown Creeper flew in and landed on the mahogany and oddly enough was chased up the small tree by a chipmunk which seemed to make this already speedy little bird even speedier. Trying to track the creeper moving that fast was a huge challenge made even more difficult because the creeper and the chipmunk were on the shady side of the tree. Adding to the challenge is the fact that Brown Creepers blend in so well with textures and colors of tree bark that even when they are right in front of you they can sometimes seem to disappear.<\/p>\n

When the creeper reached the top of the small mahogany it left the ridiculously friendly chipmunk behind and flew to the base of another mahogany that was nearby. I thought that the speed demon creeper might slow down because it wasn’t being chased up the tree by a cute little rodent. I was wrong, if anything the creeper seemed to move up the second tree trunk even faster than the first.<\/p>\n

I locked on, got a few horrible images of the Brown Creeper in the deep shadows of the tree and then it moved into better light. I held my breath and thought I was finally going to get a decent image of one of my nemesis birds.<\/p>\n

What I got was a horrible blur because the creeper lifted off, my camera focused on the tree not the creeper and my shutter speed couldn’t match the speed of the incredibly fast little bird. This might be one of the worst photos I have ever shared here in the nine years I have been publishing my blog.<\/p>\n

But…<\/p>\n

Crappy images like this blurry Brown Creeper<\/span><\/a> make me more determined to get the photos I want, that I salivate over and dream about. I am now more committed to getting quality images of Brown Creepers and if it takes me sitting with my camera at this spot from sunrise to sunset for days at a time… so be it. I’ve got this.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crappy images like this blurry Brown Creeper make me more determined to get the photos I want, that I salivate over and dream about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61015,"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":[27,7877,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[4042,7879,7883,7878,7880,7881,7882,5536],"class_list":["post-61021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-brown-creepers","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-blur","tag-brown-creeper","tag-cercocarpus","tag-certhia-americana","tag-creeper","tag-creepers","tag-mountain-mahogany","tag-nemesis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brown-creeper-blur-mia-mcpherson-4738.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fSd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61178,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/03\/focusing-on-a-hermit-thrush-in-sunshine-and-shadows\/","url_meta":{"origin":61021,"position":0},"title":"Focusing On A Hermit Thrush In Sunshine And Shadows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"While hoping to photograph Brown Creepers two days ago I spotted a Hermit Thrush at a distance on the ground in the deep shadows of a stand of trees.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hermit Thrush standing on one leg, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9647.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61115,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/01\/focusing-on-mountain-chickadees-feeding-on-douglas-fir-seeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":61021,"position":3},"title":"Focusing On Mountain Chickadees Feeding On Douglas Fir Seeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I wanted to share two photos of the Mountain Chickadees I photographed yesterday morning that flew in and fed on Douglas Fir seeds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mountain Chickadee flying away with a Douglas Fir seed, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/mountain-chickadee-food-mia-mcpherson-6428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/mountain-chickadee-food-mia-mcpherson-6428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/mountain-chickadee-food-mia-mcpherson-6428.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/mountain-chickadee-food-mia-mcpherson-6428.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61145,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/02\/early-morning-immature-ferruginous-hawk-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":61021,"position":4},"title":"Early Morning Immature Ferruginous Hawk In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't get the Brown Creeper photos I have been dreaming of yesterday but I did take lovely images of an immature Ferruginous Hawk in early morning, golden light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Ferruginous Hawk with its bill wide open, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-with-attitude-mia-mcpherson-7438.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-with-attitude-mia-mcpherson-7438.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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