{"id":6435,"date":"2012-10-26T13:37:02","date_gmt":"2012-10-26T19:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6435"},"modified":"2025-05-21T14:50:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T19:50:33","slug":"pumpkin-patch-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/26\/pumpkin-patch-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Pumpkin Patch Birds – Red-winged Blackbirds and White-crowned Sparrows"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult White-crowned Sparrow with a Pumpkin Patch background – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited, called in or set up<\/span><\/p>\n

This is my fourth fall in Utah and I love the autumn colors I see here especially compared to the relatively bland fall colors of Florida where I lived for five years.<\/p>\n

There is a rather large Pumpkin Patch near the road going to the Nature Center at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area where I like to photograph birds. They have a straw maze and all kinds of activities for children too. Along the road they grow tall sunflowers and corn and that usually keeps the pumpkins hidden from view but there is a narrow window of time after the frost nips the leaves of the sunflowers when they dry up and fall off when the bright oranges of the pumpkins can be seen through them. I’ve waited four autumns to get photos like these with birds and the oranges of the pumpkins in the background.<\/p>\n

\"MaleRed-winged Blackbird with a Pumpkin Patch background – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited, called in or set up<\/span><\/p>\n

Today there were White-crowned Sparrows (first image) and flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds (above) feeding on the seeds of the sunflowers with the pumpkin patch in the background!<\/p>\n

I’m very excited to have finally gotten images that I had hoped to take for 4 years. I just had to share these.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my White-crowned Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-winged Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a rather large Pumpkin Patch near the road going to the Nature Center at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area where I like to photograph birds. They have a straw maze and all kinds of activities for children too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1022,697,419,26,356],"tags":[4004,4151,3813,3483,4062,4497,4496,4498,4324,4737,4195,4327,4256],"class_list":["post-6435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-utah","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-male","tag-pumpkin-patch","tag-pumpkins","tag-punkin-patch","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-sparow","tag-sparrows","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-pumpkin-patch-mia-mcpherson-3070.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1FN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3409,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/10\/28\/taking-a-look-back-on-a-few-previous-autumn-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":6435,"position":0},"title":"Taking A Look Back On A Few Previous Autumn Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Photographing birds during Autumn is a wonderful time for me in Utah, the beautiful fall colors delight and enthrall me, the air gets nippy and I find myself feeling a surge of energy whenever I am outdoors.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-necked Pheasant male in autumn grasses and pickleweed, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ring-necked-pheasant-male-pickleweed-mia-mcpherson-2332.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ring-necked-pheasant-male-pickleweed-mia-mcpherson-2332.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ring-necked-pheasant-male-pickleweed-mia-mcpherson-2332.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ring-necked-pheasant-male-pickleweed-mia-mcpherson-2332.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60640,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/02\/male-red-winged-blackbird-on-a-sunflower-perch\/","url_meta":{"origin":6435,"position":1},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird On A Sunflower Perch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Autumn is a time when the seeds of many plants that the Red-winged Blackbirds feed upon have ripened and the birds are taking full advantage of the season's bounty and spend a large part of their days foraging.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a sunflower, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.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-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6466,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/30\/juvenile-white-crowned-sparrow-shades-of-october\/","url_meta":{"origin":6435,"position":2},"title":"Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow – Shades of October","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a simple image today of a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow with a pumpkin patch in the background as the month of October comes to an end.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow near a pumpkin patch in Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3040.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-3040.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-3040.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-3040.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14662,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/01\/springtime-male-red-winged-blackbird-at-farmington-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":6435,"position":3},"title":"Springtime Male Red-winged Blackbird At Farmington Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning's sunny weather felt lovely compared to Sunday which was gray, windy, rainy and snowy and maybe this male Red-winged Blackbird was feeling the difference in weather too.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-winged Blackbird male on a spring day, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-0977.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-winged-blackbird-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-0977.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-0977.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-0977.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/22\/immature-male-red-winged-blackbird\/","url_meta":{"origin":6435,"position":4},"title":"Immature Male Red-winged Blackbird","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this young male Red-winged Blackbird singing at the top of a Russian olive tree at Farmington Bay WMA nine days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature male Red-winged Blackbird singing from the top of a tree, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-8876.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-8876.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-8876.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-8876.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13726,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/21\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-on-a-frosty-shrub\/","url_meta":{"origin":6435,"position":5},"title":"White-crowned Sparrow perched on a frosty shrub","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I like the setting contained in this image with a frost covered branches of a shrub with reddish bark that the White-crowned Sparrow perched on close to the entrance to Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female White-crowned Sparrow perched on a frosty shrub, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-farmington-mia-mcpherson-5541.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-farmington-mia-mcpherson-5541.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-farmington-mia-mcpherson-5541.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-farmington-mia-mcpherson-5541.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\/6435","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=6435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}