burn area – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Poof: Utah’s Merlins Could Disappear

By Mia McPherson|August 13th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Beaverhead County, Birds, Box Elder County, Centennial Valley, Conservation, Environment, Merlins, Montana, Utah|Tags: adult, burn area, climate change, climate crisis, disappear, early morning, Falco columbarius, Falco columbarius richardsonii, falcon, falcons, fence, marsh, Merlin, merlins, perched, post, prairie, prey, wetlands|

In my experience Merlins are already hard to find in the state of Utah but because of our climate crisis they could become even more difficult to locate or they might even disappear from the state altogether.

Killdeer Nesting In Last Year’s Ashes

By Mia McPherson|June 24th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Killdeer, Utah|Tags: adult, ashes, back lit, burn area, Charadrius vociferus, Killdeer, marsh, mitigation, nest, nesting, phragmites, plover, plovers, scrape, shorebirds, wetlands|

Both the female and male Killdeer incubate so there is no way for me to tell what the gender of this Killdeer is but it stayed on the scrape while I photographed it and didn't move.

A Dead D810 and a Killdeer in a burned area of Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|March 21st, 2016|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Killdeer, Utah|Tags: adult, burn area, camera problems, Charadrius vociferus, D810, dead, frosty, Killdeer, marsh, Nikon D810, plovers, shorebirds, spring, wetlands|

After they burn the phragmites it doesn't take long for life to go back to normal for some of the birds like this Killdeer in a burned area.