{"id":91816,"date":"2021-07-08T05:46:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T11:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=91816"},"modified":"2026-03-18T13:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:16:11","slug":"surprise-pine-siskin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/08\/surprise-pine-siskin\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise Pine Siskin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MuskMusk Thistle with two bee species on it \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I was high in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> photographing bees on a Musk Thistle when a Pine Siskin landed on the flower. I am not certain of the identification of the bees but I believe they are two of the more than 900 native bees that we have in Utah.<\/p>\n

The Musk Thistle isn’t native, it is introduced and considered to be a pest. I don’t think the bees or the siskins mind the fact that the thistle is introduced. The bees may feed on nectar and the pollen of the flowers and I know that the siskins eat the seeds.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I was completely focused on taking photos of the thistle and the bees. Through my viewfinder I have a very limited field of vision and if I am not paying attention outside of the viewfinder sometimes things pop into my field of view that I don’t expect.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Pine Siskin on a Musk Thistle close up \u2013 Nikon D810, f9, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday the unexpected “thing” was a surprise adult Pine Siskin that landed on the Musk Thistle that scared away the bees I was photographing. I knew that the siskins were in the area because I could see and hear them. I just didn’t expect this siskin to land on the flower that I was focused on. It was an unexpected gift.<\/p>\n

I was able to take six images of the siskin before it flew off.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday morning I was high in the Wasatch Mountains photographing bees on a Musk Thistle when a Pine Siskin landed on the flower.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134225,"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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,4594,1210,26,773,5347],"tags":[4004,2464,6513,6098,3940,4299,6623,3504,3495,6518,4069,6622,6853,3493,5064,5070,6103,6104,6626,6624,4307],"class_list":["post-91816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-morgan-county","category-pine-siskins","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","category-wildflowers","tag-adult","tag-bee","tag-bees","tag-blooming","tag-canyon","tag-carduelis-pinus","tag-carduus-nutans","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-flowering","tag-mountains","tag-musk-thistle","tag-nonnative","tag-pine-siskin","tag-pink-wildflowers","tag-purple-wildflowers","tag-siskin","tag-siskins","tag-thistle","tag-thistles","tag-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t