New World Sparrows are seed eating passerine birds with conical bills.
Yesterday I saw a single Vesper Sparrow which came in and perched out in the open on a lovely Wild Rose that was full of rose hips in nice light. What is not to like about that?
Right now Lincoln's Sparrows are moving to lower elevations and migrating south so I see more of them during the fall and early winter than any other time of the year here in Utah.
The birds I photographed on the wild rose bushes were adult and immature Sage Thrashers, an adult White-crowned Sparrow and one beautiful Northern Mockingbird.
This time of the year male and female Spotted Towhees have finished raising their broods and their young are learning how to be on their own but they do look a touch ragged as they molt into their adult plumage.
Two days ago I was able to photograph a Green-tailed Towhee foraging next to a gravel road up in a Wasatch Mountain Canyon, getting these birds out in the open can be a challenge so I was excited that this towhee was in the clear.
As I sat creekside in my Jeep an adult Song Sparrow flew in, landed and began hopping around looking for food for breakfast in the vegetation floating on the water at the edge of the creek.
In the past week I have photographed so many birds in a Wasatch Mountain canyon that I thought I would share a group of them in a photo gallery.
I spent a few minutes yesterday morning focusing on young Chipping Sparrows foraging in a stand of Chokecherry trees, there were several of these juveniles flitting around in front of me in nice light.
Last week while I was photographing some Lark Sparrows in northern Utah I took images of this one who had droopy wings because the sparrow was hot. I was hot, I know how the sparrow felt.
For several weeks I repeatedly saw and heard a Vesper Sparrow in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains and early in July I was able to take some decent images of it as it sang on a metal post.
A few weeks ago while up in the Wasatch Mountains I watched and photographed a Chipping Sparrow that was busy collecting nesting materials.
While photographing some Pine Siskins that were foraging and gathering nesting materials I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and spotted a Chipping Sparrow with nesting materials in its bill.
I spent some time up in the canyons of the Wasatch Mountains yesterday photographing the birds I found including this handsome Green-tailed Towhee perched on a blooming Utah Serviceberry.
I had fun yesterday morning photographing a male Green-tailed Towhee singing in a mountain canyon, this was a bird I heard before I spotted him perched on a flowering branch.
Vesper Sparrows aren't bright or colorful birds but I find their appearance subtly beautiful in a quiet kind of way and their songs are always a delight to hear in the morning or late afternoon.
Green-tailed Towhees are migratory so I don't see them year round in Utah like I do their close relatives the Spotted Towhees. Green-tailed Towhees spend their winters in the southern most parts of the U.S. and in Mexico and I miss seeing a hearing them while they are away.
Three days ago after I photographed the female American Kestrel eating her prey on a lichen-covered rock I was able to take a few photographs of a single adult White-crowned Sparrow that was perched on a budding tree.
I was only able to photograph one of the Dark-eyed Juncos I saw yesterday because it was the only one that stayed still long enough for me to raise my lens, focus and fire my shutter button, the rest were way too skittish.
In some shrubs next to Glover Pond I saw two sparrows and the one that quickly drew my eye was a lovely first winter Harris's Sparrow, jackpot, a lifer!
I try to take my bird photos with my subjects in natural settings and I spend a lot of time out in nature to do that but I'm realizing I need to include the "hand of mhumans" in my bird photos too because some species fit into the urban environment as easily as they do out in more natural areas.
I had a great deal of fun yesterday morning while photographing the American Tree Sparrows that I found in abundance on Antelope Island State Park foraging on the ground and perching on the bushes on the northern end of the island.
As the snow from the storm fell I noticed some of the Dark-eyed Juncos feeding on the ground and I was able to photograph this junco's portrait as it hid behind a mound of snow.
I love what I do, I love my subjects and it doesn't matter if I find them close to home or further away. I am blessed. 2017 has been wonderful and I am excited for what 2018 may bring.
I have seen very few juvenile Vesper Sparrows and I have just a handful of images of them so when I spot one in good light I certainly want to do my best to photograph it.
I'm seeing more American Tree Sparrows than I've seen since I moved to Utah in 2009 and I hope that means they had a very successful breeding season in 2017.
Last week while on Antelope Island State Park I was able to get some White-crowned Sparrows in my viewfinder, some were pretty far away
I have been having fairly good luck spotting American Tree Sparrows this fall and when this one popped up on top of a greasewood yesterday I was delighted.
I wasn't sure I wanted to write this post about an imprisoned Lark Sparrow I heard about on a Facebook group that is about identifying birds but after mulling it over I decided I'd tell the story.
I spent time photographing primarily small birds yesterday in northern Utah which included Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, American Goldfinches and American Tree Sparrows.
Yesterday morning while looking for birds to photograph on Antelope Island State Park I had two White-crowned Sparrows fly into a rabbitbrush that was so close to me that all I could do was take portraits of them.