{"id":71815,"date":"2020-07-11T06:27:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-11T12:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=71815"},"modified":"2025-04-18T07:41:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T12:41:42","slug":"begging-fledgling-gray-catbird-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/11\/begging-fledgling-gray-catbird-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Begging Fledgling Gray Catbird High In The Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BeggingBegging Gray Catbird chick \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In my Yellow Warbler fledgling post yesterday<\/span><\/a> I mentioned that I had seen a lot of young birds in the Wasatch Mountains two days ago. It is the time of the year when eggs from first broods have hatched, when the chicks have fledged and when for a period of time when the adults are still feeding their young while the chicks learn how to forage on their own. For me this is a fantastic time of the year to be a bird photographer because it can be very exciting to observe and photograph the young birds mastering how to be on their own.<\/p>\n

It can also be disappointing when the images I hope for don’t turn out.<\/p>\n

When I saw a Gray Catbird fledgling inch its way up a stick two days ago and then exhibit begging behavior by raising its wings and opening its bill I locked on to it. My hope was that the adult catbird would bring in food and that I’d get clear, sharp, action photos of both the chick and the adult.<\/p>\n

\"FledglingFledgling Gray Catbird begging in the Wasatch Mountains \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Gray Catbird chick fluttered its wings rapidly I could tell that one of its parents was getting close so I began taking a long burst of photos. I wanted photos of the adult feeding the young bird. I was locked on to the chick when I could see the adult catbird flying in at the lower right hand side of my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Gray Catbird bringing in food for a fledgling \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

But the adult didn’t land on the stick that the chick was perched on or even the other stick that was closest to its young instead it landed on a branch that was at least 6 inches away from the begging chick and I didn’t have enough depth of field to get them both sharply in focus. I adore the pose of the catbird chick in this image but I was very disappointed that the adult was out of focus.<\/p>\n

When the adult turned towards the fledgling catbird it had its back to me and when it fed the food to the chick I couldn’t see the action.<\/p>\n

If the adult catbird had landed on the top of the stick above its chick I might have had some marvelous images of the young bird being fed.<\/p>\n

The first two images are now included in my photo galleries, the one above with the out of focus adult didn’t make the cut.<\/p>\n

Being a bird photographer can be frustrating when things don’t go the way we hoped they would. Those frustrations actually aren’t all bad though, they do motivate me to head right back out into the field to get the images that I want and often dream about.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Gray Catbird perched on a rusty metal post \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This adult Gray Catbird photo did make it into my photo galleries. This may or may not be one of the adults tending to the chick in the images above. There were at least a half a dozen adults in the area flying around taking care of young Gray Catbirds and there is no way for me to be sure that it is the same out of focus adult in the frame above.<\/p>\n

I liked the pose of the adult catbird though and the greenery in the background.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Gray Catbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

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

When I saw a Gray Catbird fledgling inch its way up a stick two days ago and then exhibit begging behavior by raising its wings and opening its bill I locked on to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142973,"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":[27,510,3605,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,740,10224,10225,5552,3940,6559,6558,4134,3606,4067,4071,6613,821,4069,6733,4104,10223,5668,7566,2315,5498,4193],"class_list":["post-71815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-frustrations-in-bird-photography","category-gray-catbirds","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-begging","tag-begging-behavior","tag-begging-posture","tag-bill","tag-canyon","tag-catbird","tag-catbirds","tag-chick","tag-gray-catbird","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-metal-post","tag-mimids-2","tag-mountains","tag-open","tag-perched","tag-raised","tag-rusty","tag-stick","tag-summer-3","tag-wings","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/gray-catbird-fledgling-begging-mia-mcpherson-8107.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-iGj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53587,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/08\/14\/focusing-on-juvenile-gray-catbirds-learning-to-be-on-their-own\/","url_meta":{"origin":71815,"position":0},"title":"Focusing On Juvenile Gray Catbirds Learning To Be On Their Own","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"It was a lot of fun photographing adult Gray Catbirds earlier this year and photographing the juveniles learning to be on their own has been equally fun and entertaining.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Gray Catbird peeking out of a thicket, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Gray Catbird up close, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/gray-catbird-juvenile-up-close-mia-mcpherson-0023.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/gray-catbird-juvenile-up-close-mia-mcpherson-0023.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/gray-catbird-juvenile-up-close-mia-mcpherson-0023.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/gray-catbird-juvenile-up-close-mia-mcpherson-0023.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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was able to find and photograph quiet a few young Gray Catbirds high in the Wasatch Mountain canyons including this one who seemed to be keeping an eye on me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Gray Catbird perched on a branch, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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