{"id":97235,"date":"2021-11-13T05:14:59","date_gmt":"2021-11-13T12:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=97235"},"modified":"2021-11-13T05:37:09","modified_gmt":"2021-11-13T12:37:09","slug":"singing-townsends-solitaire-surrounded-by-tiny-bugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/13\/singing-townsends-solitaire-surrounded-by-tiny-bugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Singing Townsend’s Solitaire Surrounded By Tiny Bugs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SingingSinging Townsend’s Solitaire and tiny flying bugs \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 800, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I was thrilled to listen to and photograph a singing Townsend’s Solitaire as it perched on a juniper surrounded by tiny flying bugs. Townsend’s Solitaires sing<\/span><\/a> year round and this one was certainly busting out in song. The notes of the song rang out in the mountain canyon where I heard this soft gray, perching bird before I saw it.<\/p>\n

Townsend’s Solitaires belong to the thrush family along with American Robins, Eastern, Western, and Mountain Bluebirds. One study has shown that they eat between 42,000 and 84,000 juniper berries to survive a single winter.\u00a0 That is a lot of berries!<\/p>\n

I have noticed that there are fewer than normal juniper berries on the junipers I pay attention to this year. Whether that was caused by the exceptional drought conditions we had during the growing season this year is a mystery to me.<\/p>\n

\"AutumnAutumn Townsend’s Solitaire perched in a juniper \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 800, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I heard and saw at least a dozen Townsend’s Solitaires yesterday, this solitaire was the closest of them all and I still wish I had been able to get closer.<\/p>\n

I have no idea what the tiny, flying insects were but I was amazed to see them, hoverflies, grasshoppers, and other insects on the wing since it is nearly the middle of November. It has been warmer than normal in northern Utah for this time of the year though. I have a feeling I will be using the phrase “warmer than normal” in my posts here on my blog and for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

This Townsend’s Solitaire sang and looked around for five minutes then it took off and flew into a low shrub. I wondered at the time if it saw a predator that I could not see.<\/p>\n

One day I hope to photograph a Townsend’s Solitaire on a snowy fir or juniper branch during the winter. Those would be my dream photos of this mountain species.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Townsend\u2019s Solitaire photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I was thrilled to listen to and photograph a singing Townsend’s Solitaire as it perched on a juniper surrounded by tiny flying bugs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97229,"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":[27,358,7832,26,1314],"tags":[4004,970,6605,11737,3940,4620,4122,1799,3914,4069,7834,4104,4179,10452,7835,7836,3844,4881,7833],"class_list":["post-97235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-tooele-county","category-townsends-solitaires","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-berries","tag-bugs","tag-canyon","tag-fall","tag-flying","tag-insects","tag-juniper","tag-mountains","tag-myadestes-townsendi","tag-perched","tag-singing-2","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-solitaire","tag-solitaires","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-townsends-solitaire"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-bugs-juniper-mia-mcpherson-3525.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pij","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118391,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/20\/my-solitaire-common-name-change-recommendation\/","url_meta":{"origin":97235,"position":0},"title":"My Solitaire Common Name Change Recommendation","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2024, the common name for Townsend's Solitaire might change, along with many other bird names. My recommendation would be to rename it the Juniper Solitaire.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Townsend's Solitaire perched on a snowy juniper, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/townsends-solitaire-snow-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8383.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/townsends-solitaire-snow-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8383.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/townsends-solitaire-snow-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8383.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thrilled to find and take pictures of a Townsend's Solitaire perched on the bare branches of a sumac on my journey yesterday morning to far northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Autumn Townsend's Solitaire in a desert, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/townsends-solitaire-autumn-mia-mcpherson-1554-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/townsends-solitaire-autumn-mia-mcpherson-1554-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/townsends-solitaire-autumn-mia-mcpherson-1554-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I didn't miss photographing this gorgeous juvenile Townsend's Solitaire because I remembered to pay attention to what was going on beyond my viewfinder.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Townsend's Solitaire perched on an old branch, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0448.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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