{"id":90579,"date":"2021-06-19T06:12:19","date_gmt":"2021-06-19T12:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=90579"},"modified":"2026-03-24T13:42:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:42:45","slug":"what-do-these-grasses-going-to-seed-have-to-do-with-a-lazuli-bunting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/19\/what-do-these-grasses-going-to-seed-have-to-do-with-a-lazuli-bunting\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do These Grasses Going To Seed Have To Do With A Lazuli Bunting?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CreeksideCreekside grasses going to seed \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/160, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> looking for birds I also noticed some grasses going to seed and took photos of them.<\/p>\n

Some of the grasses I saw that were setting seeds have a lovely pinkish hue to them and they are quite lacy looking. Against the dark background of the creek side vegetation the grasses seemed to glow.<\/p>\n

As I photographed the grasses I remembered that last year I photographed Lazuli Buntings feeding on the seeds of some creekside grasses and I felt a tingle of excitement.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Lazuli Bunting eating grass seeds \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I notice little things such as berries on trees forming, the insects that are hatching, and grasses going to seed because they help me locate the birds that feed on them. Being aware of everything in nature that surrounds me is extremely helpful when it comes to finding my subjects.<\/p>\n

There are something like 180 native and nonnative grasses in Morgan County where I photographed the grasses going to seed and I don’t know what species of grass I photographed or whether they are native or not but I do know that paying attention to the “little things” benefits me and that Lazuli Buntings feed on grass seeds.<\/p>\n

I also know that the grasses the Lazuli Buntings fed on last year were a different species of grass because the seeds heads were different and the shape and form of those grasses wasn’t lacy at all.<\/p>\n

\"GrassGrass going to seed in Morgan County, Utah \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/125, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Just seeing these grasses starting to set seed yesterday reminded me that it is time to start looking for Lazuli Buntings foraging for grass seeds. And that is the answer to my question.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Lazuli Bunting photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my flora photos along with grasses, shrubs and trees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains looking for birds I also noticed some grasses going to seed and took photos of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155020,"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":[27,380,4594,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,6530,5817,3940,4142,3843,7147,11624,4286,11902,3747,11903,4109,1828,4062,4069,4270,9626,7554],"class_list":["post-90579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-lazuli-buntings","category-morgan-county","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-bunting","tag-buntings","tag-canyon","tag-close-up","tag-creek","tag-creek-side","tag-creekside","tag-eating","tag-going-to-seed","tag-grass","tag-grass-seed","tag-grasses","tag-lazuli-bunting","tag-male","tag-mountains","tag-passerina-amoena","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-seed"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-adult-eating-grass-seed-mia-mcpherson-5074.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-nyX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":71957,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/15\/male-lazuli-buntings-photographed-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":90579,"position":0},"title":"Male Lazuli Buntings Photographed In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past week I have had the pleasure of photographing male Lazuli Buntings high in the Wasatch Mountains in several different settings.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lazuli Bunting male perched in tall grasses, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-4973.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-4973.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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headed up into the Wasatch Mountains to look for birds in cooler temps and had a great time photographing two bunting species before 8 am.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Inquisitive adult male Lazuli Bunting, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3912.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3912.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3912.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago today I was up in the Wasatch Mountains photographing pre-migration Lazuli Buntings fattening on the fruits of serviceberries and most of them were either immature or female buntings.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Lazuli Bunting foraging in a serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-female-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-6291.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-female-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-6291.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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