{"id":94612,"date":"2021-09-08T05:29:40","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T11:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=94612"},"modified":"2025-10-17T06:52:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T11:52:37","slug":"young-song-sparrow-on-a-bright-summer-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/08\/young-song-sparrow-on-a-bright-summer-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Song Sparrow On A Bright Summer Morning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"YoungYoung Song Sparrow on a bright summer morning \u2013 Nikon D810, f9, 1\/400, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Last month I had a brief photo session with a young Song Sparrow near a creek in bright morning light high in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I haven’t seen nearly as many young Song Sparrows as I normally have by this time of the year. That may mean they nested in different areas this year because of the exceptional drought conditions we have been having.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure what is going on with them or why I have seen so few young of this species but I do hope they have had a successful breeding season.<\/p>\n

This immature Song Sparrow was by itself and had been foraging in the willow thicket when it popped out into view on a clear, relatively smokeless morning.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Song Sparrow perched on an old willow branch \u2013 Nikon D810, f9, 1\/320, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I enjoyed having this young sparrow in my viewfinder even though it was for less than a minute.<\/p>\n

I had been photographing a Belted Kingfisher that had flown in close to where I sat in my Jeep when a Northern Waterthrush<\/span><\/a> appeared below it.<\/p>\n

After seeing that rare bird I paid close attention to the smaller birds moving around in the willows because I wanted to be prepared if another uncommon bird showed up.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t disappointed at all when this beautiful, young Song Sparrow made an appearance because I adore these little brown birds.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Last month I had a brief photo session with a young Song Sparrow near a creek in bright morning light high in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160673,"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":[27,204,1731,26,773],"tags":[4897,5007,4067,4071,4202,4378,4099,9626,4023,855,4195,2315,902,4193],"class_list":["post-94612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-song-sparrows","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-branch","tag-bright","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-melospiza-melodia","tag-morning","tag-morning-light","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-song-sparrow","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-summer-3","tag-willows","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-young-mia-mcpherson-5371.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-oC0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59308,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/01\/focusing-on-young-song-sparrows-near-a-creek\/","url_meta":{"origin":94612,"position":0},"title":"Focusing On Young Song Sparrows Near A Creek","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I was glad to have so many immature Song Sparrows in my viewfinder that were out in the open on the ground and perched up higher.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Song Sparrow on a stump, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-juvenile-willow-stump-mia-mcpherson-2695.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-juvenile-willow-stump-mia-mcpherson-2695.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"July 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Any day now I should spot my first of season fledgling Song Sparrow exploring their world and learning how to find food on their own.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Song Sparrow eating at the edge of a creek, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-juvenile-creek-mia-mcpherson-5973.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-juvenile-creek-mia-mcpherson-5973.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-juvenile-creek-mia-mcpherson-5973.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Photographing a Song Sparrow eating a snail yesterday morning as it foraged in a creek in the Wasatch Mountains was a unique experience for me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Song Sparrow with a snail in its bill, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/song-sparrow-adult-creek-snail-mia-mcpherson-6111.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/song-sparrow-adult-creek-snail-mia-mcpherson-6111.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/song-sparrow-adult-creek-snail-mia-mcpherson-6111.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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