Fall White-crowned Sparrow At Bear River MBR

White-crowned Sparrow at Bear River MBR – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Three days ago I photographed a fall White-crowned Sparrow perched on some vegetation from the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. The sparrow was close enough to my Jeep that I had trouble not clipping the bird’s tail and with my depth of field. I would have liked more depth of field to get the feet of the bird sharply in focus but I didn’t have time to change my aperture before the sparrow flew off.

I’ve seen and photographed a few other White-crowned Sparrows at Farmington Bay WMA recently and I have enjoyed hearing their songs and calls again. Although these sparrows are year round residents in some areas of Utah I don’t see them much during their breeding season. They breed at high elevations here.
When falls arrives here in the Great Basin I know that these sparrows will appear and I love it.

I love the great look I have of this White-crowned Sparrow’s eye, the crispness of the stripes on its crown and the way it is perched on the dried stalk of vegetation. The rest of the sparrows I saw that morning didn’t come out in the the open like this one did.

I’m glad these sparrows are back in the valleys. I’ve missed them over the summer.

Life is good.

Mia

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