{"id":73885,"date":"2020-09-19T06:53:08","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T12:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=73885"},"modified":"2021-05-10T07:07:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T13:07:38","slug":"male-brewers-blackbird-and-thoughts-on-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/19\/male-brewers-blackbird-and-thoughts-on-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird And Thoughts On Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-73883 size-full\" title=\"Autumn Brewer's Blackbird male\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405.jpg\" alt=\"Autumn Brewer's Blackbird male, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Davis 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\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Autumn Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird male \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>We are just a few days away from the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/September_equinox\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">autumnal equinox<\/span><\/a> and I&#8217;m already seeing the change of season. On my last trip into the Wasatch Mountains I could see that the oak, aspen, serviceberry, maple, willow and cottonwood leaves have begun to change colors and that some were already gloriously in full fall color. I had already seen changes in the behaviors of the birds I photograph in the high country and noticed that some of the birds had already spread their wings and headed towards warmer climes.<\/p>\n<p>Soon enough I will also be making changes by spending less time in the mountains and more time in the valleys looking for the birds I know will be migrating out of Utah and for the ones I know that will be migrating through and into the state. Some birds will simply move down from the high country to lower elevations for the fall and winter.<\/p>\n<p>Recently I spent some time looking through my September and October image files from previous years and started to think about how some of my avian subjects change with the seasons. I start to look forward to seeing the birds that I photograph here in the fall and winter while at the same time I begin to miss the birds I spend so much time with during the spring and summer.<\/p>\n<p>I tend to think about the shots I missed this year of the birds that will move on and hope for better opportunities with them next season and ponder what changes I should apply to get the photos of them that I desire. By looking at the photos of birds I took last September and October I can figure out some of the changes I need to make <em>now<\/em> to obtain the photos of them that I want.<\/p>\n<p>Last year right around the time of the autumnal equinox I started spending more time at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area because the gate south of Goose Egg Island was opened and that allows access to more of the marshy areas there. I&#8217;m looking forward to visiting the marshes there soon to see what changes the WMA has undergone and to photograph the birds that are there during this time of the year.<\/p>\n<p>This male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird was photographed on September 24th of last year at Farmington Bay WMA the day after the autumnal equinox. Just looking at this photo makes me think of fall. Cooler mornings. The first frost. The sounds of Tundra Swans and ducks flying overhead. Starling and blackbird murmurations.<\/p>\n<p>I look at this seasonal change as a personal challenge to grow, to adapt and to meet my bird photography goals. I&#8217;m looking forward to the challenges and changes ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/brewers-blackbird-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Brewer\u2019s Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I look at this seasonal change as a personal challenge to grow, to adapt and to meet my bird photography goals. I&#8217;m looking forward to the challenges and changes ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73883,"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":[27,420,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,970,10437,4430,3813,3483,4338,4263,4620,3830,4062,4104],"class_list":["post-73885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-brewers-blackbirds","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-autumnal-equinox","tag-barbed-wire","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-brewers-blackbird","tag-euphagus-cyanocephalus","tag-fall","tag-fence","tag-male","tag-perched"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brewers-blackbird-autumn-mia-adult-male-mcpherson-8405.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jdH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42798,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/23\/male-brewers-blackbird-on-an-autumn-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":73885,"position":0},"title":"Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird on an Autumn Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Brewer's Blackbirds are year round residents in northern Utah and in the autumn they form large flocks that move through open field looking for seeds and fallen grain.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird calling from a fence post","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brewers-blackbird-calling-mia-mcpherson-8782.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brewers-blackbird-calling-mia-mcpherson-8782.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brewers-blackbird-calling-mia-mcpherson-8782.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brewers-blackbird-calling-mia-mcpherson-8782.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106643,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/01\/male-brewers-blackbird-on-a-sign\/","url_meta":{"origin":73885,"position":1},"title":"Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird On A Sign","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While traveling the auto tour loop at Bear River MBR yesterday morning, I was thrilled to see an adult male Brewer's Blackbird on an interpretive sign.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Adult male Brewer's Blackbird looking at his feet, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/brewers-blackbird-male-autumn-mia-mcpherson-7684.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/brewers-blackbird-male-autumn-mia-mcpherson-7684.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/brewers-blackbird-male-autumn-mia-mcpherson-7684.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/brewers-blackbird-male-autumn-mia-mcpherson-7684.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49111,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/23\/autumn-brewers-blackbirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":73885,"position":2},"title":"Autumn Brewer&#8217;s Blackbirds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I always have fun photographing Brewer's Blackbirds even though they are a challenge to expose properly, it is precisely that challenge that keeps me on my toes.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird catching a midge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111281,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/17\/male-brewers-blackbird-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":73885,"position":3},"title":"Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I took these two male Brewer's Blackbird portraits yesterday at my local pond. In one the blackbird was displaying, in the other he just looked funny to me.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird displaying portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5771.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5771.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5771.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5771.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54656,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/18\/autumn-male-brewers-blackbird-shaking-after-preening\/","url_meta":{"origin":73885,"position":4},"title":"Autumn Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird shaking after preening","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A male Brewer's Blackbird had been preening on a fence post when he started to shake his feathers and that action sure showed his iridescent plumage off nicely.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird shaking after preening, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-shaking-mia-mcpherson-2192.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-shaking-mia-mcpherson-2192.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-shaking-mia-mcpherson-2192.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-shaking-mia-mcpherson-2192.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54829,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/01\/male-brewers-blackbird-on-a-fence-post-with-fall-colors\/","url_meta":{"origin":73885,"position":5},"title":"Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird On A Fence Post With Fall Colors","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I had a male Brewer's Blackbird in my viewfinder near Glover Pond in Davis County, I photographed him as he perched on a fence post with fall colors in the background.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brewer's Blackbird checking out a fence post, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-fence-post-fall-mia-mcpherson-4378.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-fence-post-fall-mia-mcpherson-4378.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73885","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=73885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}