{"id":61115,"date":"2019-11-01T06:02:24","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T12:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=61115"},"modified":"2024-07-11T17:30:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T22:30:12","slug":"focusing-on-mountain-chickadees-feeding-on-douglas-fir-seeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/01\/focusing-on-mountain-chickadees-feeding-on-douglas-fir-seeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Focusing On Mountain Chickadees Feeding On Douglas Fir Seeds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MountainMountain Chickadee in a Douglas Fir – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I went up into the mountains yesterday hoping to take photos of one of my nemesis bird species I see there. While I did see and photograph some Brown Creepers I messed those photos up because I had taken off my teleconverter while I was photographing a small flock of Wild Turkeys so when the creepers flew in they were very small in the frame in the photos I took. By the time I got my teleconverter reattached the Brown Creepers had moved up the tree trunk out of my sight. But I did get lovely photos of the turkeys, some Red-breasted Nuthatches and a few Mountain Chickadees so I was happy.<\/p>\n

I’d been up into the same mountains the day before when the temps were probably in the single digits (I had reset my trip indicator after filling up with gas and had it set on mileage not temps at first) and scouted out some great locations to photograph creepers, nuthatches, woodpeckers, juncos and solitaires.<\/p>\n

I knew that I was the first one up the mountain that morning after a snow storm had moved through since there were no tire tracks in front of my Jeep. As usual I focused on what was in front of me while enjoying the peace I find in nature. On my way down I found some fresh bobcat prints in the snow that hadn’t been there when I went up the mountain and also found a small flock of Juniper Titmice moving through the junipers.<\/p>\n

\"MountainMountain Chickadee flying away with a Douglas Fir seed – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to share two photos of the Mountain Chickadees I photographed yesterday morning that flew in and fed on Douglas Fir seeds. I heard the chickadees before I saw them and could tell they were moving towards the trees in front of me so I was ready when they appeared near the fir cones. The chickadees often hang on the cones to pluck the seeds out much like the nuthatches here do.<\/p>\n

The Mountain Chickadees were eating some of the Douglas Fir seeds plus they also may have been gathering some to cache them because at times they would grasp a seed in their bills, fly away with it and then fly back in to get another seed. I was ready when this chickadee grabbed a seed, dropped towards the ground and flew off to hide its treasure someplace nearby. Once the chickadees left the area I focused on the nuthatches who were also busy in the fir.<\/p>\n

I’m determined to get the photos I want of the Brown Creepers so I am heading back to the mountains again this morning.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I wanted to share two photos of the Mountain Chickadees I photographed yesterday morning that flew in and fed on Douglas Fir seeds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130479,"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":[27,2782,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[4004,6273,6274,7903,6877,4122,8302,2780,4069,4104,2779,6878,7554],"class_list":["post-61115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-mountain-chickadees","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-chickadee","tag-chickadees","tag-conifer-seeds","tag-douglas-fir","tag-flying","tag-focusing","tag-mountain-chickadee","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-poecile-gambeli","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii","tag-seed"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/mountain-chickadee-food-mia-mcpherson-6428.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fTJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61515,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/19\/focusing-on-photographing-foraging-mountain-chickadees\/","url_meta":{"origin":61115,"position":0},"title":"Focusing On Photographing Foraging Mountain Chickadees","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Two mornings ago a small flock of Mountain Chickadees came in to forage on the seeds in some Douglas Fir trees and I had fun trying to keep up with the small dynamos.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging Mountain Chickadee hanging on a fir cone, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2929.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2929.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2929.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2929.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":73773,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/16\/mountain-chickadee-and-changing-seasons\/","url_meta":{"origin":61115,"position":1},"title":"Mountain Chickadee And Changing Seasons","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When this Mountain Chickadee came into view it was hanging from a juniper bough with two Douglas Fir seeds in its bill it appeared to be looking around for a place to cache its food.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mountain Chickadee with a Douglas Fir seed in its bill, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-adult-juniper-mia-mcpherson-9107.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-adult-juniper-mia-mcpherson-9107.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-adult-juniper-mia-mcpherson-9107.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-adult-juniper-mia-mcpherson-9107.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96636,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/24\/my-growing-concerns-over-this-years-crop-of-douglas-fir-seeds-because-of-our-drought\/","url_meta":{"origin":61115,"position":2},"title":"My Growing Concerns Over This Years Crop Of Douglas Fir Seeds Because Of Our Drought","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"My trip out into the sky island mountains of the West Desert last week caused my concerns about this years crop of Douglas Fir seeds to grow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch checking out a Douglas Fir cone in autumn, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-cone-mia-mpherson-9635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-cone-mia-mpherson-9635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-cone-mia-mpherson-9635.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-cone-mia-mpherson-9635.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61289,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/08\/mountain-chickadees-are-fun-but-challenging-to-photograph\/","url_meta":{"origin":61115,"position":3},"title":"Mountain Chickadees Are Fun But Challenging To Photograph","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I spent a few minutes photographing Mountain Chickadees foraging in Douglas Fir trees which was a lot of fun but challenging too.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mountain Chickadee with a seed in its bill, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-with-seed-mia-mcpherson-9470.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-with-seed-mia-mcpherson-9470.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-with-seed-mia-mcpherson-9470.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-with-seed-mia-mcpherson-9470.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74940,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/27\/mountain-chickadees-listening-for-their-songs-and-calls\/","url_meta":{"origin":61115,"position":4},"title":"Mountain Chickadees – Listening For Their Songs And Calls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I listen for birds everywhere I go. Their calls and songs help me to locate them so I can photograph and observe them as they go about their lives.","rel":"","context":"In "Mountain Chickadees"","block_context":{"text":"Mountain Chickadees","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/chickadees-and-allies\/mountain-chickadees\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mountain Chickadee resting for a moment, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-in-fir-mia-mcpherson-7669.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-in-fir-mia-mcpherson-7669.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-in-fir-mia-mcpherson-7669.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-in-fir-mia-mcpherson-7669.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61857,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/03\/when-snow-cover-the-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":61115,"position":5},"title":"When Snow Covers The Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When winter snow closes off my access to the mountains that I love to visit to find birds I find that it makes me feel wistful because I will miss the birds and the calmness I find up there.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Curious adult Mountain Chickadee, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-hanging-on-cone-mia-mcpherson-3350.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-hanging-on-cone-mia-mcpherson-3350.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-hanging-on-cone-mia-mcpherson-3350.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/mountain-chickadee-hanging-on-cone-mia-mcpherson-3350.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\/61115","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=61115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}