Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow on a wild roseJuvenile White-crowned Sparrow on a wild rose – Nikon D810, f8, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

It was nice to get out yesterday morning and photograph a few birds including this juvenile White-crowned Sparrow perched on a wild rose. I photographed a few harriers, ibis and juncos but none of the were as cooperative or in such a pretty setting. The White-crowned Sparrows are all over the place and I love hearing their soft calls. Different subspecies across the country have clearly different songs but to me they all sound delightful to my ears.

An over the shoulder look from a juvenile White-crowned SparrowAn over the shoulder look from a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

White-crowned Sparrows are year round residents in Utah but I do see more of them in the Salt Lake Valley in the winter than I do in the warmer months. At Farmington Bay WMA there are many locations where White-crowned Sparrows can be found foraging, singing and preening as long as they have a safe place to hide if a predator comes in close.

They might be just little brown birds (LBB) but I think they are delightful.

Life is good.

Mia