{"id":85509,"date":"2021-04-24T06:05:54","date_gmt":"2021-04-24T12:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=85509"},"modified":"2025-05-19T14:49:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T19:49:16","slug":"dreaming-of-mountain-bluebirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/24\/dreaming-of-mountain-bluebirds\/","title":{"rendered":"Dreaming Of Mountain Bluebirds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-145325 size-full\" title=\"Male Mountain Bluebird high in a tree, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143.jpg\" alt=\"Male Mountain Bluebird high in a tree, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20600%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Male Mountain Bluebird high in a tree \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I woke up this morning dreaming of Mountain Bluebirds so I thought I would share two images of them from previous springs. I am always thinking about birds and I dream about them often. Both photos were taken in sky island mountain ranges in the West Desert of Utah.<\/p>\n<p>This photo of an adult male Mountain Bluebird was taken in the spring of 2019. He was perched high in a tree with bleached out tree trunks in the background. The angle is a little steep but I had wonderful eye contact with him and his bright blue feathers stood out well. There was a female nearby and the two of them <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xeno-canto.org\/14083\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">called<\/span><\/a> back and forth to each other frequently.<\/p>\n<p>If I hadn&#8217;t decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/04\/how-being-an-army-brat-netted-me-these-red-breasted-nuthatch-photos\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">get out of a rut<\/span><\/a> a few years ago I wouldn&#8217;t have even known that the bluebirds were nesting high in these mountains or any of the other birds that I have found, observed and photographed there.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-wp-editing=\"1\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-145328 size-full\" title=\"Female Mountain Bluebird nesting in a sky island mountain range, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-8608.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-8608.jpg\" alt=\"Female Mountain Bluebird nesting in a sky island mountain range, West Desert, Tooele 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\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-8608-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-8608-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-8608-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-8608-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-8608-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-female-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-8608.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Female Mountain Bluebird nesting in a sky island mountain range \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Last spring I went up into the mountains and found this <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/30\/nesting-mountain-bluebirds-and-other-woodland-birds\/\">female Mountain Bluebird and her mate busy finding nesting materials<\/a><\/span>. I took tons of photos of both of them and the other birds that were nearby. These Mountain Bluebirds may be nesting in the same area again this spring.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve seen Mountain Bluebirds this spring but I haven&#8217;t gotten any high quality photos of them yet. I am planning on changing that as soon as the dreary weather we are currently having clears up. I need a Mountain Bluebird fix.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/mountain-bluebird-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Mountain Bluebird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I woke up this morning dreaming of Mountain Bluebirds so I thought I would share two images of them from previous springs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145325,"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":[27,1369,358,26,1314],"tags":[5933,4880,3940,4070,4062,228,4069,4339,4018,10452,3844,4881,4427,30],"class_list":["post-85509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-mountain-bluebirds","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-bluebird","tag-bluebirds","tag-canyon","tag-female","tag-male","tag-mountain-bluebird","tag-mountains","tag-sialia-currucoides","tag-sky","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-tree","tag-utah-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-adult-male-sky-trees-mia-mcpherson-7143.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-mfb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":74484,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/08\/male-mountain-bluebird-glowing-in-early-morning-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":85509,"position":0},"title":"Male Mountain Bluebird Glowing In Early Morning Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This male Mountain Bluebird seemed to glow in the early morning light which was in sharp contrast with the shadows on the mountains in the background.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Mountain Bluebird in the foothills of West Desert mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.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-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-west-desert-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0499.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102335,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/13\/west-desert-mountain-bluebird\/","url_meta":{"origin":85509,"position":1},"title":"West Desert Mountain Bluebird","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It is always lovely to have a male Mountain Bluebird like this one I found in the West Desert in my viewfinder because they rival the color of the sky overhead.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"West Desert male Mountain Bluebird, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-2046.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-2046.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-2046.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-2046.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69228,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/30\/nesting-mountain-bluebirds-and-other-woodland-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":85509,"position":2},"title":"Nesting Mountain Bluebirds And Other Woodland Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I had a blast photographing a pair of Mountain Bluebirds at a natural nesting cavity at the edge of a forest along with some other woodland birds.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mountain Bluebird inside a nesting cavity, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8703-1.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-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8703-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8703-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-8703-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63642,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/31\/juvenile-mountain-bluebird-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":85509,"position":3},"title":"Juvenile Mountain Bluebird In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't imagine not seeing these beautiful Mountain Bluebirds feeding, breeding and raising their young in the mountains that are close to where I live.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Mountain Bluebird perched in a Chokecherry tree, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountian-bluebird-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-5679-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountian-bluebird-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-5679-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountian-bluebird-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-5679-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountian-bluebird-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-5679-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101627,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/19\/male-mountain-bluebird-shadows-and-a-big-stick\/","url_meta":{"origin":85509,"position":4},"title":"Male Mountain Bluebird, Shadows And A Big Stick","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent some time wandering in the West Desert yesterday morning and the only decent bird photos that I took were of this male Mountain Bluebird.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mountain Bluebird on a old fence post, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mountain-bluebird-shadow-stick-mia-mcpherson-7622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mountain-bluebird-shadow-stick-mia-mcpherson-7622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mountain-bluebird-shadow-stick-mia-mcpherson-7622.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mountain-bluebird-shadow-stick-mia-mcpherson-7622.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47472,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/06\/28\/mountain-bluebirds-with-juveniles-in-summit-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":85509,"position":5},"title":"Mountain Bluebirds with Juveniles in Summit County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The young Mountain Bluebird turned and snatched the cricket from the male quickly before any of its siblings could reach the branches.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mountain Bluebird feeding a cricket to a juvenile, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-4314.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-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-4314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-4314.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-4314.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\/85509","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=85509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}