Tooele County – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Potpourri Of Birds From This Week

By Mia McPherson|May 25th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, California Gulls, Chukars, Clark's Grebes, Davis County, Eastern Kingbirds, Forster's Terns, Lark Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Tooele County, Utah, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: Aechmophorus clarkii, Alectoris chukar, California Gull, Chondestes grammacus, Chukar, Clark's Grebe, Eastern Kingbird, Forster's Tern, Lark Sparrow, Larus californicus, Mourning Dove, Sterna forsteri, Tyrannus tyrannus, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Zenaida macroura|

These are but a few of the birds I photographed this week in various Utah locations and all of them made great subjects!

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Singing Green-tailed Towhee

By Mia McPherson|May 8th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, canyon, desert, Green-tailed Towhee, juniper, mountains, perched, singing, sky, sparrow, sparrows, towhee, towhees|

Yesterday I was able to photograph this Green-tailed Towhee as it sang on top of a Juniper in a canyon of the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County, Utah.

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Mule Deer Doe in the Stansbury Mountains

By Mia McPherson|May 7th, 2013|Categories: Mule Deer, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, canyon, desert, doe, female, mountains, Mule Deer, nature photography, Odocoileus hemionus, shedding, sky island mountains, spring, wildlife photography|

I photographed this Mule Deer doe while camping in North Willow Canyon in the Stansbury Mountain Range of Tooele County, Utah.

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Female American Kestrel in the West Desert

By Mia McPherson|April 28th, 2013|Categories: American Kestrels, Birds, Juab County, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Kestrel, birds of prey, desert, Falco sparverius, falcon, falcons, female, Juab County, kestrel, kestrels, lift off, road, spring, Tooele County, Utah, west desert|

A few days ago I spotted this female American Kestrel on the road to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, and I do mean in the road. She almost didn't move even when the pickup was 20 feet from her as we rolled to a stop.

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Tale Of A Red-tailed Hawk

By Mia McPherson|April 26th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, desert, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, lift off, perched, photography, raptors, red tail, red tailed hawks, Red-tailed Hawk, sky, spread, Tooele County, Utah, west desert, wings|

This is a rather short tale about a Red-tailed Hawk although the tail of the Red-tailed Hawk is no shorter than any other Red-tailed Hawk.

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Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks – Birds with Tufts

By Mia McPherson|April 15th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Great Horned Owls, Horned Larks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, antelope, bird photography, birds, Bubo virginianus, Davis County, ear tufts, Eremophila alpestris, feather tufts, female, Great Horned Owl, Horned Lark, lark, larks, male, nature, nature photography, Owls of Utah, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, tufts, Utah, wildlife, wildlife photography|

Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah.

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A Lark, Or Two, Or Four

By Mia McPherson|April 5th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Beaverhead County, Birds, Davis County, Horned Larks, Lark Buntings, Lark Sparrows, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Tooele County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: bunting, buntings, Chondestes grammacus, displaying, Eremophila alpestris, female, grasses, Horned Lark, lark, Lark Bunting, Lark Sparrow, larks, male, meadowlark, meadowlarks, Montana, rock, sage, sagebrush, sparrow, sparrows, Sturnella neglecta, Western Meadowlark|

The only native true lark that lives and breeds in North America is the Horned Lark.

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Female Horned Lark and the moon setting over the Stansbury Mountains

By Mia McPherson|March 31st, 2013|Categories: Birds, Horned Larks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, Eremophila alpestris, female, Horned Lark, lark, larks, moon, moon set, moon setting, singing, Stansbury Mountains|

I photograph tons of male Horned Larks but don't have that many images of female Horned Larks, I was happy to find this beautiful female dancing and singing on a boulder in early morning light yesterday in Tooele County, Utah.

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Adult Red-tailed Hawk on a ridge

By Mia McPherson|March 29th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, flight, flying, hawks, Hawks of Utah, lift off, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, ridge, Western Red-tailed hawk|

Tooele County beckoned yesterday and I am glad it did because of coming across this adult Red-tailed Hawk.

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Winter Inversion Along With -10 Degrees Fahrenheit

By Mia McPherson|January 5th, 2013|Categories: Tooele County, Utah|Tags: clouds, fence, fog, grasses, haze, inversion, nature, nature photography, Oquirrh Mountain Range, photography, pollution, sky, sunrise, Tooele County, unhealthy, Utah, winter|

A few of my non-Utahn friends have asked me what an inversion is after I have mentioned it, this image might help to show what an inversion can look like.

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Feathers & Fur

By Mia McPherson|March 13th, 2012|Categories: American Bison, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Coyotes, Horned Larks, Loggerhead Shrikes, Pronghorn, Tooele County, West Desert|Tags: antelope, Antilocapra americana, bird photography, birding, birds, Canis latrans, Coyote, Eremophila alpestris, Horned Lark, Lanius ludovicianus, lark, larks, nature photography, Pronghorn, Tooele County, Utah, west desert, wildlife photography|

Today I thought I would post a few images taken this past week from Antelope Island State Park and the west desert in Tooele County. Feathers & Fur.

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The West Desert of Utah

By Mia McPherson|February 29th, 2012|Categories: Horned Larks, Pronghorn, Red-tailed Hawks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Turkey Vultures, Utah, West Desert|Tags: Antilocapra americana, bird photography, birding, birds, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, Cathartes aura, desert, desert flats, Eremophila alpestris, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, Horned Lark, lark, larks, mountains, nature, Pronghorn, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Stansbury Mountains, Turkey Vulture, Utah, vulture, vultures, west desert, wildlife photography|

I am one of those people who love deserts and the West Desert of Utah is once again beckoning to me. The weather here in Utah is very changeable right now, it can feel like spring one day and the next it still feels like winter but it won't be long before the weather levels out and the west desert will begin to green up.

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Ferruginous Hawk in Tooele County, Utah

By Mia McPherson|February 8th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, balanced, birds of prey, Buteo regalis, Buteos, desert, fall, feathered legs, fence post, Ferruginous Hawk, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, lift off, light morph, perched, sky, Tooele County, Utah, west desert, wing lift|

There aren't many people in the west desert of Utah thus the raptors and other birds that live there are not habituated to people so they are very skittish even when using a mobile blind.

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More Rough-legged Hawks

By Mia McPherson|November 20th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, flight, hawks, immature, lift off, light morph, natural habitat, perched, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, Stansbury Mountains, young|

I have been very pleased to add so many images of Rough-legged Hawks to my portfolio in just the past week and hopefully these Roughies will stick around until late February of next year so there will be many more opportunities.

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Ferruginous Hawk – A Regal Raptor

By Mia McPherson|November 7th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, birds of prey, Buteo regalis, Buteos, desert, fall, Ferruginous Hawk, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, lift off, light morph, raptors, sky, west desert|

Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawks found in North America, the "regalis" in the latin name means "kingly" or "regal" and I have to agree with those descriptions.

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Red-tailed Hawk with Long-billed syndrome

By Mia McPherson|November 6th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: beak deformity, bill deformity, Buteo jamaicensis, coped, coping, Long bill syndrome, long-billed syndrome, nature, Red-tailed Hawk|

Red-tailed Hawk with Long-billed syndrome, a perfect example of the sickle-bill form (the worst) all the way over in Utah and the first I am aware of for that state.

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Taking a look back on a few previous Autumn Birds

By Mia McPherson|October 28th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Pied-billed Grebes, Red-tailed Hawks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Ring-necked Pheasants, Tooele County, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: Agelaius phoeniceus, autumn, birds of prey, blackbird, blackbirds, Buteo jamaicensis, Circus hudsonius, desert, Gray Ghost, grebe, grebes, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Northern Harrier, Phasianus colchicus, pheasant, Pickleweed, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Ring-necked Pheasant, sparrow, sparrows, White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys|

Photographing birds during Autumn is a wonderful time for me in Utah, the beautiful fall colors delight and enthrall me, the air gets nippy and I find myself feeling a surge of energy whenever I am outdoors.

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Friday Photos – A split second does matter

By Mia McPherson|July 29th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Frustrations in bird photography, Handheld, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: bird photographer, bird photography, birds, Buteo jamaicensis, clipped, frustration, frustrations in photography, hawk, nature, photography, Red-tailed Hawk, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, wildlife|

For the past two days I have been having an amazing time photographing a family of Red-tailed Hawks; including at least 4 juveniles, in Tooele County, Utah

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Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge – another favorite location

By Mia McPherson|May 29th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Juab County, Pronghorn, Simpson Springs, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: animals, antelope, baby, bird photography, birds, Caspian Tern, cute, Fish Spring Range, Forster's Tern, Gadwall, nature, oasis, Pronghorn, refuge, Rock Wren, sign, Simpson Springs, Western Tanager, White-tailed Antelope Squirrel, wildlife|

After a recent journey from Simpson Springs in Tooele County to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge in Juab County I have added it as a Favorite Location. It was an amazing trip with gorgeous views. I hope to return there soon.

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Red-tailed Hawks

By Mia McPherson|March 2nd, 2011|Categories: Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: Buteo jamaicensis, desert, fence post, hawk, hawks, immature, juvenile, perched, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, sky, tree, Utah, young|

I'm looking forward to seeing red-tailed hawks in the high country of Utah and Montana this summer and hopefully getting some more images of both the juveniles and adult.

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Horned Larks

By Mia McPherson|February 14th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Horned Larks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: desert, Eremophila alpestris, female, Great Basin, ground foragers, Horned Lark, lark, larks, male, open country, perched, Shore Lark, singing|

Yesterday was awesome for Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) in Tooele County, Utah.

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