{"id":72033,"date":"2020-07-20T05:11:47","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T11:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=72033"},"modified":"2025-07-22T07:46:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T12:46:39","slug":"fledgling-mountain-bluebird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/20\/fledgling-mountain-bluebird\/","title":{"rendered":"Fledgling Mountain Bluebird"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MountainMountain Bluebird fledgling on a metal post \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I mentioned that I am not done sharing photos of fledgling birds when I wrote about the young Song Sparrow<\/span><\/a> I photographed next to an alpine creek in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n

Today I am sharing one photo of a fledgling Mountain Bluebird that I spotted a little more than a quarter of a mile away from where I photographed the young Song Sparrow. I heard the family of Mountain Bluebirds before I saw them, the soft calls<\/span><\/a> of the adults always cause me to look around for these thrushes.<\/p>\n

Typically in this Wasatch Mountain location I see the Mountain Bluebirds briefly in early spring then there is a long gap while they are nesting where I rarely see them, part of the reason for that gap is that there aren’t any suitable nesting locations for the bluebirds close to the road. Once the chicks have fledged I see the bluebirds more often.<\/p>\n

Last week the bluebird fledglings were flying around following the adults and begging for food. The Mountain Bluebird families I saw didn’t stay close to the road and my best images were taken of this fledgling as it perched on an old metal post. This youngster was watching a nearby adult carefully, with interest, when I photographed it.<\/p>\n

I hope that I see the bluebird families again soon.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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

The Mountain Bluebird families I saw didn’t stay close to the road and my best images were taken of this fledgling as it perched on an old metal post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145300,"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":[27,1369,1731,26,773],"tags":[5933,4880,3940,4141,4067,228,4069,4104,4339,2315,3844,4881,4193],"class_list":["post-72033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-mountain-bluebirds","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-bluebird","tag-bluebirds","tag-canyon","tag-fledgling","tag-immature","tag-mountain-bluebird","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-sialia-currucoides","tag-summer-3","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-fledgling-metal-post-mia-mcpherson-4625.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-iJP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57196,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/12\/fledgling-mountain-bluebird-in-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":72033,"position":0},"title":"Fledgling Mountain Bluebird In Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I dug through my older files and found this photo of a fledgling Mountain Bluebird perched on a wire fence that I photographed in July of 2017 up in Montana's Centennial Valley.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Mountain Bluebird perched on a wire fence, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, 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Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I wanted to keep my post short and sweet and sharing juvenile Mountain Bluebird images is pretty sweet I think.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Mountain Bluebird begging to be fed, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5268.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-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5268.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5268.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\/05\/mountain-bluebird-juvenile-perched-on-sage-stump-mia-mcpherson-5189.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-juvenile-perched-on-sage-stump-mia-mcpherson-5189.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-juvenile-perched-on-sage-stump-mia-mcpherson-5189.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-juvenile-perched-on-sage-stump-mia-mcpherson-5189.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9060,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/31\/juvenile-mountain-bluebird-in-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":72033,"position":3},"title":"Juvenile Mountain Bluebird in Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month and this month I wrote about Mountain Bluebirds in several posts that included images of adult males and females, today I am posting one image of the many fledglings I saw last week.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mountain Bluebird juvenile in Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead 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2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't had many bluebirds in my viewfinder this spring so when this adult male Mountain Bluebird perched on mullein showed up last week I was happy to photograph it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mountain Bluebird perched on mullein, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-on-mullein-mia-mcpherson-5870.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-on-mullein-mia-mcpherson-5870.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-on-mullein-mia-mcpherson-5870.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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