New World Sparrows are seed eating passerine birds with conical bills.
When autumn arrives White-crowned Sparrows are one of the sparrow species that I look forward to photographing at Farmington Bay WMA each year as they move down to lower elevations.
Sometimes the colors of in a photo I have taken are what pleases me and draws me in even if my subject is small in the frame, in this case my subject was an adult White-crowned Sparrow.
I was in the high Uinta Mountains near Washington Lake when I spotted this young Dark-eyed Junco and I was able to take a few images of it before it flew away.
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.
The light wasn't great when I took this image of a juvenile Song Sparrow perched in a thicket last year but these little ones don't seem to spend a lot of time in the open right after they fledge so I was happy with the photo.
This was the first immature Green-tailed Towhee I have seen this breeding season and I am hoping that it won't be the last one I photograph this year.
Just a few days ago I was listening to Song Sparrows singing on the East Coast and yesterday I was listening to them singing in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah.
Just seconds after I took this photo I think the Song Sparrow decided it had had enough of the wind because it took off and left the bouncy serviceberry perch.
I truly wish that I had been able to photograph this adult Green-tailed Towhee in this Golden Currant bush while is was in full bloom because that would have been gorgeous with all the tiny yellow flowers.
Looking beyond the viewfinder paid off for me because if I hadn't done just that I would have missed seeing and photographing this Green-tailed Towhee.
While I know that for some people this Green-tailed Towhee image might be a "little out there" for their tastes and personal preferences I don't photograph birds for them, I photograph birds for me.
May is a time of renewal at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and as the marsh begins to green up the migrant birds return and along with the year round residents their songs and calls can be heard over the wetlands.
The gems of my photographic journey yesterday morning were Broad-tailed Hummingbirds that were hanging around a Wax Currant bush next to the dirt road where the sounds of their wings alerted me to their presence.
To my surprise when the Vesper Sparrow lifted off it flew onto the top of another sagebrush that was even closer to me which was nearly perfect for taking portraits of the sparrow and I took full advantage of the opportunity.
When mom and I found this adult Green-tailed Towhee singing while perched on a blooming Utah Serviceberry of course we had to stop and take its photo!
The first ID features I noticed yesterday with this Vesper Sparrow were the bright, white eyerings and the rufous lesser coverts and I could make my ID from just those two features.
I wonder if GEICO knows that they can drive a birder/bird photographer bonkers as easy as they did me over the winter.
The birds we observe, learn from and photograph care naught for the constrictions of our human calendars instead they listen to ancient, instinctual rhythms inside themselves.
The last time I wrote about American Tree Sparrows I said that they would be migrating soon and that I hoped I could take a few more photos of them before they migrated and I had that opportunity two days ago.
Before too long these small but handsome American Tree Sparrows will be winging their way north to their breeding grounds in the thickets and open tundra of northern Canada and Alaska.
I adore sparrows and photograph them whenever I can so when this Chipping Sparrow popped up on a wild rose bush and looked in my direction I was ready to take its photo.
I was happy when the "sit and wait" approach allowed me to see this adult Song Sparrow pop up on top of a snow covered pile of vegetation where it proceeded to forage in front of me at a nice distance.
These two Song Sparrow photos are a reminder to me that sometimes having man made objects in my photos isn't such a bad thing, it is just a matter of personal tastes.
One year ago today I photographed this adult White-crowned Sparrow perched in a red branched bush at the gate to Farmington Bay WMA.
I was thinking back on brighter days this morning and decided to share this photo of an adult White-crowned Sparrow perched on a fence with the bright yellow blooms of rabbitbrush in the background.
Yesterday morning I photographed American Goldfinches, House Finches and White-crowned Sparrows that were busy feeding on greasewood seeds.
I checked eBird this morning and I only see one person reporting American Tree Sparrows so far this autumn in northern Utah so hopefully that means one more cold front pushing through and I will be seeing these long-tailed, rusty capped sparrows with their gray heads, rusty eyelines and bicolored bills.
I've been collecting images of immature White-crowned Sparrows that I have taken over the past month or so up in Box Elder County because of all the different settings I have photographed them in.
I photographed this nonbreeding Chipping Sparrow the last week of September as it perched briefly on a wild rose, I love the pop of color the rose hips provided.
Three days ago I was able to photograph a female or immature Dark-eyed Junco of the Oreganus Group when it flew in and landed not too far away from me and I have to admit that seeing it excited me because I enjoy these birds so much.