Trees, Shrubs and Flowers – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Surprise Pine Siskin

By Mia McPherson|July 8th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Pine Siskins, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, bee, bees, blooming, canyon, Carduelis pinus, Carduus nutans, finch, finches, flowering, mountains, Musk Thistle, nonnative, Pine Siskin, pink wildflowers, purple wildflowers, siskin, siskins, thistle, thistles, wildflowers|

Yesterday morning I was high in the Wasatch Mountains photographing bees on a Musk Thistle when a Pine Siskin landed on the flower.

6

Spotted Sandpiper Foraging In White Water Crowfoot

By Mia McPherson|June 20th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Spotted Sandpipers, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Actitis macularia, adult, aquatic wildflower, canyon, Common Water-Crowfoot, creek, foraging, mountains, native, prey, Ranunculus aquatilis, sandpiper, sandpipers, Spotted Sandpiper, spring, water, White Water Buttercup, White Water-crowfoot, wildflower|

Two days ago I photographed an adult Spotted Sandpiper foraging in Common Water-Crowfoot in a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.

6

Blooming Lewis’s Flax

By Mia McPherson|June 6th, 2021|Categories: Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: bee, beetle, blooming, blooms, blue wildflowers, desert, drought, flax, flowering, Lewis's flax, Linum lewisii, mountains, prolonged drought conditions, sky island mountains, wildflowers|

I wanted to follow my post about a blue bird with blue wildflowers so here are some photos I took last week of Lewis’s Flax which are also known as Wild Blue Flax.

2

Great Blue Heron and Mountain Goldenbanner

By Mia McPherson|June 2nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Great Blue Herons, Morgan County, Small in the frame, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, blooming, blooms, canyon, Filamentous algae, flowering, grasses, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, Mountain Goldenbanner, mountain meadow, Mountain Thermopsis, mountains, pond, spring, Thermopsis montana, wading birds, water, wildflowers, willows, yellow wildflowers|

Yesterday I wrote about a Golden Eagle in the Wasatch Mountains. Today I am writing about "golden" again. Blooming Mountain Goldenbanner and a Great Blue Heron.

3

Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers And A Butterfly

By Mia McPherson|May 23rd, 2021|Categories: California Tortoiseshell Butterflies, Shrubs, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Abies concolor, aspen, aspens, bloom, blooming, blossoms, butterflies, butterfly, California Tortoiseshell butterfly, cone, cones, currant, currants, Douglas fir, fir, firs, Gray's Biscuitroot, Hydrophyllum occidentale, Lomatium grayi, Nymphalis californica, Populus tremuloides, prunus, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Quaking Aspen, Ribes cereum, shrubs, spring, trees, Wax Currant, Western Chokecherry, Western Waterleaf, White Fir|

On a recent trip to the West Desert sky island mountains in Tooele County I found my lens pointed at trees, shrubs, wildflowers and a butterfly.

12

Bluebells, Currants, Warblers And A Duck

By Mia McPherson|May 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Mallards, Morgan County, Shrubs, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers, Yellow Warblers|Tags: adult, alpine, Anas platyrhynchos, bath, bathing, beaver damage, bloom, blooming, blossoms, blue wildflowers, branch, branches, canyon, creek, creekside, currant, currants, dabbling ducks, drake, duck, ducks, female, flowering, flowers, fork, Golden Currant, male, Mallard, mallards, Mertensia ciliata, Mountain Bluebells, mountains, perched, pink wildflowers, purple wildflowers, Ribes aureum, riparian zone, Setophaga petechia, shrub, singing, spring, stump, tapestry, warbler, warblers, water, water droplets, wildflowers, Yellow Warbler, yellow wildflowers|

I spent my morning up in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday and came home with photos of bluebells, currants, warblers, and a duck.

5

Dreaming Of Wildflowers

By Mia McPherson|March 30th, 2021|Categories: Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Bearberry honeysuckle, Black Twin Berry, Black twinberry honeysuckle, blue wildflowers, Bluebells, flora, Lewis flax, Lewis's flax, Linum lewisii, Lonicera involucrata, Mertensia ciliata, Mountain Bluebells, Prairie Flax, shade, shrub, spring, Twinberry honeysuckle, Wild Blue Flax, wildflower, wildflowers, wildlflowers|

My dreams were filled with blooming wildflowers and me taking photos of them in the field so it seemed appropriate to share a few wildflower photos this morning.

11

World Wetlands Day 2021

By Mia McPherson|February 2nd, 2021|Categories: American Barn Owls, American Bitterns, American Coots, Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Black-crowned Night Herons, Blue-winged Teals, Brewer's Blackbirds, Centennial Valley, Checkered White Butterflies, Cinnamon Teals, Common Mergansers, Conservation, Eight-spotted Skimmers, Environment, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Greater Scaups, Green-winged Teals, Halloween Pennants, Hooded Mergansers, Least Sandpipers, Lesser Scaups, Long-tailed Weasels, Marsh Wrens, Montana, Moose, Muskrats, Northern Harriers, Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers, Pectoral Sandpipers, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-breasted Mergansers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Reddish Egrets, Redheads, Ruddy Ducks, Rusty Blackbirds, Sandhill Cranes, Scarlet Skimmers, Snowy Egrets, Spotted Sandpipers, Tricolored Herons, Trumpeter Swans, Tundra Swans, Utah, Variegated Meadowhawk, White-faced Ibises, Wildflowers, Wilson's Phalaropes, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: birds, critical, insects, plants, protection, water, wetlands, wildlife, World Wetlands Day|

February 2nd is World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the critical role of wetlands for people, wildlife and our planet.

7

2020 Photographic Year In Review

By Mia McPherson|December 31st, 2020|Categories: Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Bushtits, Common Loons, Cooper’s Hawks, Desert Tarantulas, Eastern Kingbirds, Elk, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ferruginous Hawks, Golden Eagles, Gray Catbirds, Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Green-tailed Towhees, Merlins, Mountain Bluebirds, Nashville Warblers, Northern Harriers, Pine Siskins, Red Foxes, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Red-tailed Hawks, Ring-billed Gulls, Rusty Blackbirds, Short-eared Owls, Townsend's Solitaires, Uinta Ground Squirrels, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, West Desert, Wild Turkeys, Wildflowers, Yellow Warblers|Tags: 5.7 earthquake, blackbirds, bluebirds, catbirds, coronavirus, eagles, Elk, fox, ground squirrels, gulls, harriers, hawks, herons, hummingbirds, kingbirds, loons, Merlin, owls, rare birds, red tailed hawks, siskins, tarantula, towhees, turkeys, uncommon, wablers, year in review|

This is my 2020 photographic year in review. I'm selecting some of my favorite photos from 2020 and a few that just make me happy to see them.

16

Common Sunflower, Great Basin Bumble Bee And Long-horned Bee At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|August 21st, 2020|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Great Basin Bumble Bees, Long-horned Bees, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: bee, bees, bloom, blooming, Bombus centralis, bumble bee, bumble bees, Central Bumble Bee, Common Sunflower, Great Basin Bumble Bee, Helianthus annuus, Long-horned Bee, Longhorn Bee, pollinators, Tribe Eucerini, wildflower, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

When I photographed this Common Sunflower I noticed the Great Basin Bumble Bee right away then I saw the other bee and what appears to be two midges on the upper left quadrant of the flower petals.

7

Pink Wildflowers: Showy Milkweed Buds & Blooms

By Mia McPherson|July 21st, 2020|Categories: Morgan County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Asclepias speciosa, blooming, blooms, blossoms, buds, canyon, flower buds, flowering, leaves, milkweed, milkweeds, mountains, native, pink wildflowers, Showy Milkweed, wildflowers|

Once again I missed out on photographing Showy Milkweed at the lower elevations of northern Utah but I made up for it by photographing some of these spectacular pink wildflowers high in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday.

9

Least Chipmunk Eating A Serviceberry

By Mia McPherson|June 28th, 2020|Categories: Least Chipmunks, Morgan County, Shrubs, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, berries, berry, branches, canyon, chipmunk, chipmunks, close up, eating, fruit, fruiting shrub, fruits, growing season, Least Chipmunk, leaves, mid-way, midway, mountains, Neotamias minimus, serviceberries, serviceberry, shrub, Utah Serviceberry|

Last week while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains photographing birds I had a Least Chipmunk pop into my view while it ate a serviceberry.

7

Black Henbane – Noxious Weeds In Utah

By Mia McPherson|June 23rd, 2020|Categories: Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: beer, Bilsen, Black Henbane, blooming, canyon, flowers, Germany, hog's-bean, Hyoscyamus niger, introduced, mountains, non-native, nonnative, noxious weed, Pilsen, stinking nightshade, toxic, wildflower|

This plant is Black Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and is also known as Henbane, Hog’s-bean, and Stinking Nightshade and is native to the Mediterranean.

7

My First of Year Monarch Butterfly Sighting

By Mia McPherson|June 18th, 2020|Categories: Box Elder County, Monarch Butterflies, Shrubs, Trees, Utah|Tags: adult, butterflies, butterfly, Celtis reticulata, Danaus plexippus, desert, male, Monarch Butterfly, Netleaf Hackberry|

I'm always happy to photograph "other things with wings" when I am out in the field so last week when I spotted my first of year Monarch butterfly I had to take a few photos of it.

8

Say’s Phoebes And Sagebrush

By Mia McPherson|June 12th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Habitat, Say's Phoebes, Shrubs, Utah|Tags: adult, Artemisia tridentata, barbed wire, Big Sagebrush, Box Elder County, desert, fence, fence post, flycatcher, flycatchers, foraging, hunting, landing, nest, perched, phoebe, phoebes, sage, sagebrush, Say's Phoebe, spring, tyrant flycatchers, Utah, young|

Over time I have come to associate Say's Phoebes with sagebrush because I don't think I have ever seen or photographed one of these phoebes where there wasn't sage nearby here in northern Utah.

8

Painted Lady Butterfly And Rocky Mountain Bee Plants

By Mia McPherson|June 10th, 2020|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Painted Lady Butterflies, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: butterflies, butterfly, Cleomella serrulata, Cosmopolitan, nectaring, Painted Lady, Painted Lady Butterfly, pink wildflowers, pollinating, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Thistle Butterflies, Vanessa cardui, wildflowers|

I'd forgotten about this Painted Lady butterfly I photographed in August of 2017 that I found while photographing hummingbirds on Antelope Island State Park.

5

Blooming Chokecherry Trees In Utah’s Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|June 8th, 2020|Categories: Summit County, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: blooms, blossoms, chokecherries, Chokecherry, flowering, flowering tree, flowers, fruit tree, native, Prunus virginiana, spring, tree|

I am not just a bird photographer. I am also a student of nature each and every time I venture into the field because being out there teaches me something new on practically every journey.

5

Serviceberries Are Blooming In The Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|May 24th, 2020|Categories: Morgan County, Shrubs, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Amelanchier, Amelanchier alnifolia, bloom, blooming, cold snap, flowering, flowering shrub, fruit production, in bloom, migration, serviceberries, serviceberry, Western Serviceberry, white flowers|

What got me so excited was seeing how many serviceberries there were blooming on the slopes of the mountains and how thick the blossoms were on each of the shrubs.

5

Broad-tailed Hummingbird Male Hovering Below Black Twinberry Honeysuckle Flowers

By Mia McPherson|May 21st, 2020|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: below, Black twinberry honeysuckle, blooming, breeze, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, canyon, construction, flight, flying, frustrations in bird photography, gale, honeysuckle, hovering, hummingbird, hummingbirds, Lonicera involucrata, male, mountains, Selasphorus platycercus, wildflowers, wind, yellow wildflowers|

Of the hundred or so images I took of the male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in that small and very windy area I only liked this one photo.

9

Photographing Blooming Glacier Lilies

By Mia McPherson|April 21st, 2020|Categories: Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: alpine, bloom, blooming, canyons, Dogtooth Fawn Lily, Dogtooth Violet, Erythronium grandiflorum, flowering, flowers, Glacier Lily, lilies, lily, mountains, wildflower, Yellow Avalanche Lily, yellow wildflower|

I enjoyed my journey to photograph the Glacier Lilies yesterday, it was quiet, peaceful and very relaxing. No news, no negativity, and not thinking about what a mess our world is in helped me to de-stress.

12

Fall Colors In The Wasatch Mountains Plus A Male Dusky Grouse

By Mia McPherson|September 28th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Dusky Grouse, Sky Line Drive, Bountiful Canyon, Trees, Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: aspens, autumn, autumn colors, Bountiful Peak, changing seasons, conifers, Dendragapus obscurus, Dusky Grouse, fall, fall colors, Francis Peak, Gambel Oak, grouse, male, mountains, oaks, Quaking Aspen, road, upland terrestrial birds|

This morning is cloudy and gray but seven years ago today it was bright, the air was crisp and the fall colors of the Front Range of the Wasatch Mountains were in their full glory.

7

Douglas Firs – Bird Food Grown, Stored And Served in Handy Cones

By Mia McPherson|September 15th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Daggett County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Pine Siskins, Red Crossbills, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, West Desert|Tags: autumn, Carduelis pinus, cone, crossbill, crossbills, Douglas fir, foraging, Loxia curvirostra, nuthatch, nuthatches, perched, Pine Siskin, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, Red Crossbill, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir, siskin, siskins, Sitta canadensis, sunflowers|

The cones of Douglas Firs provide food for birds and mammals and the trees provide shelter and nesting areas too. I've been paying attention to the Douglas Firs we have here for several years because of the birds I know I can find eating the seeds of the trees from their cones.

7

Immature Swainson’s Hawk, Golden Light And Common Sunflowers

By Mia McPherson|September 6th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: bird food, Buteo swainsoni, Buteos, Common Sunflower, early morning light, fence post, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, Helianthus annuus, immature, juvenile, native, perched, raptors, summer, sunflower, sunflowers, Swainson's Hawk, wild Sunflowers, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers, young|

Two days ago I was able to photograph an immature Swainson's Hawk in golden light perched on a fence post that was surrounded by bright yellow common sunflowers. Yes, I was blissed out.

8

Two-striped Grasshopper Photographed on Showy Milkweed

By Mia McPherson|August 10th, 2019|Categories: Summit County, Two-striped Grasshoppers, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Asclepias speciosa, blooming, grasshopper, grasshoppers, Melanoplus bivittatus, milkweed, milkweeds, pink wildflowers, Showy Milkweed, Two-striped Grasshopper, wildflowers|

I researched Utah's grasshoppers and found out that this is a Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) and even though I may have seen this species of grasshopper before it is a photographic lifer for me.

7

Least Chipmunk Feasting On Golden Currants

By Mia McPherson|August 8th, 2019|Categories: Least Chipmunks, Morgan County, Shrubs, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Buffalo Currant, canyon, chipmunk, chipmunks, Clove Currant, currant, currants, Golden Currant, Least Chipmunk, mountains, Neotamias minimus, Ribes aureum|

I noticed that the Golden Currants have started to ripen and this chipmunk was actively feeding on the fruits when I caught sight of it and twisted my body like a pretzel to take a few photos of it.

5

Blooming Showy Milkweed In The Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|August 3rd, 2019|Categories: Morgan County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Asclepias speciosa, blooming, butterflies, creek milkweed, Cupido amyntula, flowers, Greek milkweed, in bloom, native, pink wildflowers, Red Milkweed Beetle, showy butterfly weed, Showy Milkweed, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus, Western Tailed-Blue, wildflower, wildflowers|

I missed out on photographing Showy Milkweed in bloom in the lower elevations of northern Utah but not at the higher elevations of the Wasatch Mountains.

4

Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird Sipping Nectar From A Lanceleaf Figwort

By Mia McPherson|July 30th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Broad-tailed Hummingbird, hummingbird, hummingbirds, Lanceleaf Figwort, male, nectaring, Scrophularia lanceolata, Selasphorus platycercus, sipping, summer, wildflower|

Just a short post today with a photo of a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird getting nectar from an unknown wildflower, or at least it is unknown to me.

5

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly Resting On Black Twinberry Honeysuckle

By Mia McPherson|July 29th, 2019|Categories: Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers, Wildlife|Tags: American Black Bear, Argynnis cybele, Argynnis cybele letona, Black twinberry honeysuckle, butterflies, butterfly, fritillary, fritillary butterfly, Great Spangled Fritillary, Lonicera involucrata, Speyeria|

I'm confident in my North American bird ID abilities but when it comes to Fritillary butterfly species ID in the Wasatch Mountains I feel stymied a lot of the time.

8

Wild Roses in Bloom in Northern Utah

By Mia McPherson|July 1st, 2019|Categories: Box Elder County, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: bloom, blooming, introduced, native, naturalized, pink wildflowers, Rosa woodsii, rose, rose bush, roses, wild rose, wild roses, wildflowers, Wood’s Roses|

The wild roses, like many of the other wildflowers, don't bloom for long so I am happy that I took the time to photograph individual blossoms and the top of one of the rose bushes this year

6

Dame’s Rocket – Invasive Biennial From Eurasia

By Mia McPherson|June 28th, 2019|Categories: Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: damask-violet, dame's gilliflower, Dame's Rocket, dame's-violet, dames-wort, Hesperis matronalis, invasive, mother-of-the-evening, mustard family, night-scented gilliflower, nonnative, perennial, pink flowers, purple flowers, queen's gilliflower, rogue's gilliflower, summer lilac, sweet rocket, white flowers, winter gilliflower|

What I didn't know at the time that I photographed the flowering Dame's Rocket was that it is a prohibited plant in Utah.

6