{"id":92673,"date":"2021-07-27T05:41:09","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T11:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=92673"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:11:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:11:26","slug":"yellow-warbler-photographed-in-a-smoky-haze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/27\/yellow-warbler-photographed-in-a-smoky-haze\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Yellow Warbler Photographed In A Smoky Haze"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow Warbler on an old dead branch – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning the second bird I photographed was a Northern Yellow Warbler on an old branch in a smoky haze high in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a>. The smoke did create a color cast in my images of the warbler and I am still not sure if I like it or dislike it. There is also a “softness” to these images even though the warbler is in focus.<\/p>\n

The Northern Yellow Warbler was near the base of an old, lichen encrusted branch when I first spotted it and it was farther away than I would have liked. But the warbler was out in the open, giving me great looks at it, and I was<\/em> up in the mountains to photograph birds.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow Warbler in a smoky haze – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Northern Yellow Warbler did seem to be looking in my direction when I photographed it but it may have been looking at something else entirely. I’m simply happy that I got great views of the warbler’s eye and a catch light too.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow Warbler moving up an old dead branch – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When the small warbler started to move it hopped the old branch and I was able to photograph it as it caught some air beneath its feet.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow Warbler on a smoky July morning – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After the hop the small yellow bird shook it feathers and fluffed them up for a few seconds before it moved up the lichen covered branch.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow Warbler tilting its head – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Northern Yellow Warbler also walked up the branch and gave me this nice head tilt at one point. The slightly spread tail might indicate that the warbler was excited about something that it was seeing.<\/p>\n

Side note: I have photographed other birds perched on this particular branch over the past couple of years. You might notice the tip of the branch looks like it has been cut off. That was done by the beavers that made a dam in this location. Just a bit of interesting info I wanted to share today.<\/p>\n

\"YellowNorthern Yellow Warbler near the top of an old branch – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Northern Yellow Warbler didn’t move all the way up to the very top of the branch instead it flew off from the location that it is in in this last photo.<\/p>\n

At this time of the year it can be challenging to tell immature Northern Yellow Warblers from the adult females and there are times I label them as female\/immature because of that. After closely reviewing the images I took of this Yellow Warbler yesterday and seeing an obvious gape I believe it is most likely an immature bird that hatched this year.\u00a0 Whatever it is, I had fun photographing this Northern Yellow Warbler.<\/p>\n

Oh, I almost forgot… in my post yesterday I mentioned that I hadn’t seen any Spotted Sandpiper chicks<\/span><\/a> so far this year. Well the first bird I photographed yesterday morning in poor light was a Spotted Sandpiper chick! It was older than the chick was in the photos I shared yesterday and it may have hatched somewhere else but I was delighted to see it and several adults yesterday morning.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Northern Yellow Warbler photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning the second bird I photographed was a Northern Yellow Warbler on an old branch in a smoky haze high in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161584,"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":[27,2281,1731,26,773],"tags":[4897,3940,12043,10716,12045,12046,3291,10227,4069,12044,3887,9626,2282,10404,2315,1732,5197,30,3888,3889,4176],"class_list":["post-92673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-yellow-warblers","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-branch","tag-canyon","tag-female-immature","tag-hazy","tag-hop","tag-hopped","tag-lichen","tag-lichen-encrusted","tag-mountains","tag-moving","tag-yellow-warbler","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-setophaga-aestiva","tag-smoky","tag-summer-3","tag-summit-county-2","tag-tilted-head","tag-utah-2","tag-warbler","tag-warblers","tag-wasatch-mountains"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-branch-mia-mcpherson-0592.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-o6J","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":103990,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/09\/irresistible-young-yellow-warbler\/","url_meta":{"origin":92673,"position":0},"title":"Irresistible Young Northern Yellow Warbler","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I photographed a juvenile Northern Yellow Warbler in the patchy mix of yellow and gray feathers that they only sport for a short time after fledging.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Yellow Warbler chick in patchy juvenal plumage, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/yellow-warbler-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-4396.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/yellow-warbler-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-4396.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Warbler And A Hawthorn","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These bright Northern Yellow Warblers are getting ready for their long, fall migrations and while I am happy to see that they seem to have had a successful breeding season it also felt a touch bittersweet to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Yellow Warbler perched in front of a hawthorn, Wasatch Mountains, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-warbler-river-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-7627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-warbler-river-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-7627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Yellow Warbler And Great Company","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this male Northern Yellow Warbler yesterday morning in the high Wasatch Mountains, I was in the great company of my dear friend, April Olson.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Northern Yellow Warbler peering out from a willow, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/yellow-warbler-male-willows-mia-mcpherson-7575.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/yellow-warbler-male-willows-mia-mcpherson-7575.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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