{"id":66161,"date":"2020-03-04T12:38:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T19:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=66161"},"modified":"2025-10-31T05:53:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T10:53:20","slug":"adult-male-red-winged-blackbird-take-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/04\/adult-male-red-winged-blackbird-take-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Male Red-winged Blackbird Take Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MarchMarch morning at the marsh of Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f11, 1\/2500, ISO 800, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 48mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Sorry for the late post today, my server was having major issues this morning and I decided since I couldn’t fix it myself like I used to do I may as well pack up my Jeep and head out into the field this morning. I saw no sense in missing the best light of the day or the birds I wanted to see.<\/p>\n

I was able to notify my Facebook friends that my post was going to be late but I couldn’t notify anyone else.<\/p>\n

It was quiet on the marsh except for the calls of hundreds of birds and my tires crunching on the road. I could hear the Tundra Swans calling but they were too far away to photograph. I heard and saw loads of other birds calling too.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-winged Blackbird taking off – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m going to try to keep this post short so I can get it published. I could write a book about how lovely it felt to be out on the marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> with the birds this morning and how I thought to myself that I could easily live out there with them. It was so peaceful.<\/p>\n

I took this photo of an adult male Red-winged Blackbird taking off this morning with the distant snow covered Promontory Mountains in the background.<\/p>\n

He had been singing and displaying prior to lifting off and I think I have some nice photos of him doing that. I haven’t even looked yet! The morning light still had a touch of gold to it when I photographed him and that shows in his raised wing.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good even when it throws you a curve ball first thing in the morning.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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":"

I took this photo of an adult male Red-winged Blackbird taking off this morning with the distant snow covered Promontory Mountains in the background.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145852,"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":[124,27,1148,419,26],"tags":[4004,4151,3813,3483,4282,4062,4094,4069,6428,4528,4324,4093,4328,3792,5428],"class_list":["post-66161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-lift-off","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-mountains","tag-phrags","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-snow-covered","tag-snowy","tag-take-off","tag-taking-off"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-take-off-mia-mcpherson-6216.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-hd7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":117825,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/05\/male-red-winged-blackbird-and-a-saltcedar\/","url_meta":{"origin":66161,"position":0},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird And A Saltcedar","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw this male Red-winged Blackbird perched in a Saltcedar on my last trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and felt I had to stop to photograph him.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird perched in a Saltcedar, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111843,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/31\/snow-weary-and-needing-a-bird-fix\/","url_meta":{"origin":66161,"position":1},"title":"Snow Weary And Needing A Bird Fix","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"More fresh snow on the ground this morning. I am snow weary. What I need is a bird, nature, gone exploring in the wild fix with no real or clear return time.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring male Red-winged Blackbird singing, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1613.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1613.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1613.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\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-3655.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-adult-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-3655.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-3655.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-3655.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113482,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/19\/adult-male-red-winged-blackbird-crooner\/","url_meta":{"origin":66161,"position":3},"title":"Adult Male Red-winged Blackbird Crooner","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I went up to Bear River MBR, I photographed this male Red-winged Blackbird crooner singing loud and strong.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird crooner, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Red-winged Blackbird at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I photographed this male Red-winged Blackbird on the top of a cattail from the side of the road. I was only able to get a few images before this blackbird flew away.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Autumn Red-winged Blackbird, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-5922.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-mia-mcpherson-5922.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-5922.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66161","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=66161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}