bird food – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

West Desert Wandering – Birds, Bees, And Blooms

By Mia McPherson|October 5th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Dark-eyed Juncos, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: back lit, bird food, Bombus, bumble bee, Dark-eyed Junco, junco, Junco hyemalis, junco hyemalis oreganus, juncos, light angle, rabbitbrush, rabbitbrush fluff, seeds, side lit, small in frame, sparrows, species ID|

Even though I came home with very few photos I'm still glad I went wandering. I had great views, sunshine, birds to delight my eyes and ears and I soaked it all up like a thirsty sponge.

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Cedar Waxwing Eating Ripe Chokecherries

By Mia McPherson|September 11th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Cedar Waxwings, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, bird food, Bombycilla cedrorum, Cedar Waxwing, chokecherries, eating, fruits, Prunus virginiana demissa, ripe, ripening, summer, waxwing, waxwings, Western Chokecherry|

Two days ago I was up in the Wasatch Mountains and heard a Cedar Waxwing near some chokecherry trees and once I spotted the waxwing I waited until I could get a clear shot of it with a chokecherry in its beak.

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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.

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Flowering Chokecherry Trees – AKA Blooming Bird Food

By Mia McPherson|June 8th, 2019|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Morgan County, Shrubs, Smith and Morehouse Reservoir, Summit County, Trees, Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: American Robin, bird food, bloom, blooming, cherry, Chokecherry, flowering shrubs, flowering tree, immature, native, Prunus virginiana, Prunus virginiana demissa, ripe, robin, robins, Turdus migratorius, Western Chokecherry|

Because of our wetter than normal spring it seems that the chokecherries are doing well, extremely well. Many of the chokecherry branches are bending low because of the weight of the blossoms.

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Male Ring-necked Pheasant And Midges At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|May 13th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Ring-necked Pheasants, Utah|Tags: adult, bird food, close up, insects, male, marsh, midges, Phasianus colchicus, pheasant, pheasants, portrait, Ring-necked Pheasant, spring, upland terrestrial birds|

I don't know if the Ring-necked Pheasants eat the midges but I know that many of the other birds at the refuge do so I like to think of midges as bird food on the wing.

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