Focusing on Ruby-crowned Kinglets in the Wasatch Mountains

Yesterday morning I spent time focused on photographing Ruby-crowned Kinglets in a Wasatch Mountain canyon in a thicket of hawthorn and chokecherry trees. The intermittent winds made it hard to follow these tiny dynamos as they foraged in the branches and leaves.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet perched in a Hawthorn – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are year round residents in northern Utah though normally I see them most often in the fall when they begin to move down from the high mountains for the upcoming winter.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet on a windy September morning – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I saw more than a dozen individual kinglets yesterday morning in the hawthorn tree and I was probably only able to photograph half of them because the others remained hidden by the branches and leaves. It is always nice when they show up without leaves in front of them like this kinglet did for a few seconds.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet foraging in a Hawthorn tree – Nikon D500, f9, 1/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Even though the hawthorn leaves covered part of this kinglet’s body I couldn’t resist taking photos of it because of how well the kinglet and the branch stood out from the background in this photo. I’d even go so far as to say this is my favorite Ruby-crowned Kinglet image of the many I took yesterday.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Hawthorn berries – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

And even though the branches, leaves and hawthorn berries made for a cluttered setting in this photo I found I liked it because of the blue sky in the background and the great eye contact with the bird.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet about to take flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Ruby-crowned Kinglets move fast, so fast that I missed the kinglet taking off right after I took this photo and I knew the lift off was imminent so I was taking a long burst of photos. The next frame was looked just like this except that the bird was completely out of the frame.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet looking up into a Hawthorn – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

What I did find odd yesterday was that these kinglets were silent and normally I hear them as they forage, perhaps they were silent because of the winds, I don’t know for sure.

I hope to find more Ruby-crowned Kinglets in my viewfinder this fall.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to view more of my Ruby-crowned Kinglet photos plus facts and information about this species.