{"id":61178,"date":"2019-11-03T05:08:06","date_gmt":"2019-11-03T12:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=61178"},"modified":"2024-08-07T04:13:21","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T09:13:21","slug":"focusing-on-a-hermit-thrush-in-sunshine-and-shadows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/03\/focusing-on-a-hermit-thrush-in-sunshine-and-shadows\/","title":{"rendered":"Focusing On A Hermit Thrush In Sunshine And Shadows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-132024 size-full\" title=\"Hermit Thrush with a Brown Creeper in the background\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803.jpg\" alt=\"Hermit Thrush with a Brown Creeper in the background, West Desert, Tooele 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\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-brown-creeper-shadows-mia-mcpherson-7803.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Hermit Thrush with a Brown Creeper in the background &#8211; Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>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. I was able to take a few crappy documentary shots of the bird that showed its lovely rufous tail and then watched as it moved towards the sunlight in a patch of grasses. I took a few more documentary images of the thrush and figured at that point the thrush wouldn&#8217;t move any closer to where I sat in a &#8220;mobile blind&#8221; but to my surprise it flew up to a branch where I was able to take a few nice images of it. Because the Hermit Thrush was in the shadows with bright, dappled light behind it I wasn&#8217;t sure that I would like any of the images but I took them any way.<\/p>\n<p>Hermit Thrushes were another nemesis bird for me, the other photos I have taken of this species have all had most of the bird hidden from sight and these are the first full body images I have been able to obtain of this species.<\/p>\n<p>I was glad that I took the photos because I quite like how they turned out and to my surprise I was also able to photograph a Brown Creeper moving up the trunk of the tree the Hermit Thrush was perched on. It isn&#8217;t the Brown Creeper photo I have been hoping for but, hey, I have two nemesis birds in the same frame!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-132025 size-full\" title=\"Hermit Thrush standing on one leg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821.jpg\" alt=\"Hermit Thrush standing on one leg, West Desert, Tooele 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\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Hermit Thrush standing on one leg &#8211; Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Once the Brown Creeper moved up the tree trunk I put of of my focus back on photographing the Hermit Thrush.\u00a0 I wish that the thrush had sang because they have such a lovely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xeno-canto.org\/416322\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">song<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This Hermit Thrush sighting seems a little late in the year to me but I was sure glad to find it.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/hermit-thrush-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see my Hermit Thrush photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,7920,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[4897,7925,5370,7924,7926,530,5536,7927,4104,4677,619,3844,4881],"class_list":["post-61178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-hermit-thrushes","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-branch","tag-catharus-guttatus","tag-forest","tag-hermit-thrush","tag-late","tag-migration","tag-nemesis","tag-nemesis-bird","tag-perched","tag-shadows","tag-sunshine","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/hermit-thrush-in-shadow-mia-mcpherson-7821.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fUK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":71503,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/03\/cedar-waxwings-plus-a-singing-mystery-bird-revealed\/","url_meta":{"origin":61178,"position":0},"title":"Cedar Waxwings Plus A Singing Mystery Bird Revealed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"As soon as I stopped my Jeep two Cedar Waxwings popped into view. The waxwings were close so I took portraits of them perched among the honeysuckles.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Cedar Waxwing close up, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-close-up-adult-mia-mcpherson-4792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-close-up-adult-mia-mcpherson-4792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-close-up-adult-mia-mcpherson-4792.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-close-up-adult-mia-mcpherson-4792.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48667,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/27\/sagebrush-sparrow-my-tiny-nemesis\/","url_meta":{"origin":61178,"position":1},"title":"Sagebrush Sparrow &#8211; My Tiny Nemesis","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I think the Sagebrush Sparrows are beautiful, elegant birds and I want more photos of them than I have!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sagebrush Sparrow perched on a dead greasewood branch, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sagebrush-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-7283.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sagebrush-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-7283.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sagebrush-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-7283.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sagebrush-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-7283.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101627,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/19\/male-mountain-bluebird-shadows-and-a-big-stick\/","url_meta":{"origin":61178,"position":2},"title":"Male Mountain Bluebird, Shadows And A Big Stick","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent some time wandering in the West Desert yesterday morning and the only decent bird photos that I took were of this male Mountain Bluebird.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mountain Bluebird on a old fence post, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mountain-bluebird-shadow-stick-mia-mcpherson-7622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mountain-bluebird-shadow-stick-mia-mcpherson-7622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mountain-bluebird-shadow-stick-mia-mcpherson-7622.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mountain-bluebird-shadow-stick-mia-mcpherson-7622.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74484,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/08\/male-mountain-bluebird-glowing-in-early-morning-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":61178,"position":3},"title":"Male Mountain Bluebird Glowing In Early Morning Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This male Mountain Bluebird seemed to glow in the early morning light which was in sharp contrast with the shadows on the mountains in the background.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Mountain Bluebird in the foothills of West Desert mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25910,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/06\/27\/an-american-robin-near-modoc-creek-idaho\/","url_meta":{"origin":61178,"position":4},"title":"American Robin near Modoc Creek, Idaho","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In early May I found this American Robin perched near Modoc Creek, Idaho and I liked the simplicity of of the background and the robin's pose.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An American Robin near Modoc Creek, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-idaho-mia-mcpherson-8798.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-idaho-mia-mcpherson-8798.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-idaho-mia-mcpherson-8798.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-idaho-mia-mcpherson-8798.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":73381,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/02\/rare-veery-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":61178,"position":5},"title":"Rare Veery In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I might just start believing that September 1st is my lucky day after seeing, photographing and identifying a rare Veery in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Veery in the Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/veery-mia-mcpherson-9495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/veery-mia-mcpherson-9495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/veery-mia-mcpherson-9495.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/veery-mia-mcpherson-9495.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\/61178","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=61178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}