{"id":93236,"date":"2021-08-13T05:12:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T11:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=93236"},"modified":"2024-07-18T03:25:10","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T08:25:10","slug":"blooming-common-sunflower-with-an-ant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/08\/13\/blooming-common-sunflower-with-an-ant\/","title":{"rendered":"Blooming Common Sunflower With An Ant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BloomingBlooming Common Sunflower and an ant \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed some birds yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> but it was the blooming Common Sunflower with an ant that made me smile the most when I saw it on my screen. I only took six photos of this wild sunflower and the ant only showed in two of the photos. What I liked about this one was that it appeared that the ant was peeking at me from the base of the sunflower.<\/p>\n

This time of the year I see Common Sunflowers blooming in deserts, on desert islands, marshes, wetlands, roadsides, in urban areas, and high in the mountains. This sunflower was blooming at more than 6,000 feet in elevation.<\/p>\n

Common Sunflowers are a plant that I pay attention to in the field and not just because their sunny flowers are attractive and appealing to me. I pay attention to them because they attract butterflies, beetles, bees, spiders, and most of all, birds. Some birds are attracted to the insects they find on the flowers and later in the season other birds feast on their seeds.<\/p>\n

The ant may have climbed this sunflower stalk to look for aphids. I really can’t say for sure but I was delighted to see the ant peeking out from it. The ant also reminded me to take joy in the little things. I am grateful for that small reminder.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I photographed some birds yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains but it was the blooming Common Sunflower with an ant that made me smile the most when I saw it on my screen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130759,"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":[4594,26,773,5347],"tags":[4515,6627,6098,3940,4142,2649,6518,6259,6028,4069,4302,5300,2315,5052,105,1028,5063],"class_list":["post-93236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","category-wildflowers","tag-ant","tag-bloom","tag-blooming","tag-canyon","tag-close-up","tag-common-sunflower","tag-flowering","tag-forest-edge","tag-helianthus-annuus","tag-mountains","tag-native","tag-roadside","tag-summer-3","tag-sunflower","tag-sunflowers","tag-wild-sunflowers","tag-yellow-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/common-sunflower-and-ant-mia-mcpherson-4653.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ofO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":105859,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/09\/06\/some-recent-butterfly-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":93236,"position":0},"title":"Some Recent Butterfly Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I wanted to share a few of my recent butterfly images taken in the marsh at Bear River MBR and high up in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Woodland Skipper butterfly resting on a leaf, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/woodland-skipper-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1122.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/woodland-skipper-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1122.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/woodland-skipper-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1122.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/woodland-skipper-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1122.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":94643,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/09\/other-things-with-wings-broad-headed-marsh-fly-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":93236,"position":1},"title":"Other Things With Wings – Broad-headed Marsh Fly Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"These Broad-headed Marsh Fly photos are twofers. 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McPherson","date":"June 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I appreciated how this volunteer sunflower glowed against the darkly shadowed background yesterday morning after the sun rose above the trees.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunflower, shadows and bugs, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sunflower-shadows-and-bugs-mia-mcpherson-0238.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sunflower-shadows-and-bugs-mia-mcpherson-0238.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sunflower-shadows-and-bugs-mia-mcpherson-0238.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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