close up – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

It Is Great-tailed Grackle Breeding Season

By Mia McPherson|March 16th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Great-tailed Grackles, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, bath, blackbird, blackbirds, breeding display, breeding season, close up, courtship display, displaying, female, grackle, grackles, Great-tailed Grackle, male, park, portrait, Quiscalus mexicanus, resting, rushes, Salt Lake County, urban, Utah, wet, winter|

I had a fun time at my local pond yesterday because it is Great-tailed Grackle breeding season and photographing these grackles kept me on my toes.

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Immature Snow Goose Close Up Photos

By Mia McPherson|March 1st, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Snow Geese, Utah|Tags: Anser caerulescens, close up, early morning light, geese, goose, immature, marsh, side lit, Snow Goose, wetlands, winter, young|

I drove up to Bear River MBR yesterday morning and was thrilled to be able to photograph an immature Snow Goose resting on the frost covered ground.

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The Golden Eagle – Utah’s Official State Bird Of Prey

By Mia McPherson|February 25th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Golden Eagles, Utah|Tags: Aquila chrysaetos, birds of prey, close up, desert, eagle, eagles, Eagles of Utah, flight, flying, Golden Eagle, immature, raptors, sky, Utah State Bird Of Prey, winter, young|

This morning I would like to celebrate the State of Utah's newly designated official state bird of prey, the Golden Eagle.

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Winter American Crow Portraits

By Mia McPherson|February 17th, 2022|Categories: American Crows, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, American Crow, close up, corvids, Corvus brachyrhynchos, crow, crows, Davis County, Farmington Bay WMA, marsh, portrait, Utah, wetlands, winter|

Today I am sharing two American Crow portraits that I took this morning near the water's edge at Farmington Bay WMA.

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Four Immature Red-tailed Hawk Portraits

By Mia McPherson|February 12th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, close up, hawk, hawks, head on, hunting, immature, looking, perched, portrait, prey, ranchlands, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Utah, wooden post, young|

Two days ago I was able to take a nice series of immature Red-tailed Hawk portraits on my most recent trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Immature Light Morph Rough-legged Hawk Portraits

By Mia McPherson|February 8th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Rough-legged Hawks|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, frost, frosty, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, light morph, marsh, perched, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, subadult, wetlands, winter, young|

I had five minutes of bird bliss yesterday morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when I was able to take immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk portraits.

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Light Morph Male Rough-legged Hawk Winter Site Fidelity

By Mia McPherson|February 5th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, birds of prey, Box Elder County, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, light morph, male, marsh, one way sign, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, sign, site fidelity, territorial site fidelity, Utah, wetlands, winter|

I have been photographing a light morph male Rough-legged Hawk on or near a One Way sign at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge frequently this winter.

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Drake Common Goldeneye Close Up Photos

By Mia McPherson|February 1st, 2022|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Bucephala clangula, close up, Common Goldeneye, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, goldeneye, goldeneyes, head on, male, pond, shaking, urban, water, waterfowl, winter|

Last week while going through photos I had taken last year I came across three drake Common Goldeneye close up photos that I wanted to share.

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Three California Gull Photos

By Mia McPherson|January 19th, 2022|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, California Gulls, Davis County, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, California Gull, close up, Definitive Alternate Plumage, desert island, Erodium cicutarium, gape, grass, grasses, gull, gulls, Larus californicus, near breeding plumage, orbital ring, portrait, Redstem Filaree, resting, urban, wildflowers, winter|

While taking a short break yesterday morning I went down to my local pond for a few minutes and took a few California Gull photos while I was there.

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Bear River MBR Common Raven Photos

By Mia McPherson|January 15th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Ravens, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, Common Raven, corvids, Corvus corax, frost, frozen, head, ice, marsh, pair, played, portrait, raven, ravens, shaggy throat, wetland, wing tips, winter|

Earlier this week as I drove slowly around the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I was able to take a short series of Common Raven photos as they played on the ice.

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Adult Male Rough-legged Hawk Portraits

By Mia McPherson|January 12th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, dawn, funny, goofy, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, head on, left, light morph, male, marsh, portrait, raptors, right, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, wetlands, winter|

For eleven minutes yesterday morning this Rough-legged Hawk was my main point of focus as I took hundreds of photos of him at Bear River MBR.

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Horned Grebe In The Marsh At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|January 10th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Horned Grebes, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, grebe, grebes, habitat, Horned Grebe, marsh, nonbreeding plumage, Podiceps auritus, water, waterbirds, wetlands, winter|

When I have the opportunity to photograph a Horned Grebe in the marsh at Bear River MBR I am going to jump at the chance and take as many photos as I can.

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Riverbank Red-tailed Hawk Dining Al Fresco

By Mia McPherson|January 9th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: al fresco, bank, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, close up, dining, eating, first winter, grass, grasses, Great Blue Heron, hawk, hawks, ice, immature, portrait, prey, raptors, river, river bank, riverbank, Utah, wetlands, winter, young|

Yesterday morning I photographed an immature Red-tailed Hawk dining al fresco on the bank of the Bear River on my way back to I-15 to head home.

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One Very Cooperative Male Rough-legged Hawk

By Mia McPherson|January 3rd, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, blue sky, Box Elder County, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, frost, frosted, frosty, hawk, hawks, light morph, male, marsh, perched, plastic marker, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, stretching, Tamarisk, tree, Utah, wetlands, wings, winter|

For the second year in a row the first bird I photographed in the New Year was a Rough-legged Hawk and both were photographed at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Canada Goose In Flight – My First Bird Sighting Of 2022

By Mia McPherson|January 2nd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, close up, eye, flight, flying, geese, goose, landing, mountains, portrait, skimming, small in frame, snow, snowy, staring, tree, urban, Wasatch Mountains, water, waterfowl, winter|

The first bird that I could positively identify seeing for 2022 was a Canada Goose flying away from my local pond yesterday morning.

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Male Rough-legged Hawk – The First Bird I Photographed in 2021

By Mia McPherson|December 30th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, male, marsh, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, wetlands, winter|

The first bird I photographed in 2021 was this adult male Rough-legged Hawk perched above the wetlands at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Christmas Day Birds 2021

By Mia McPherson|December 26th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Birds, California Gulls, Common Goldeneyes, Great Blue Herons, Great-tailed Grackles, Mallards, Rough-legged Hawks|Tags: adult, American Coot, Anas platyrhynchos, Ardea herodias, breeding plumage, Bucephala clangula, Buteo lagopus, California Gull, calling, Christmas, Christmas Day, close up, Common Goldeneye, coot, coots, crawdad, crayfish, dabbling ducks, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, eating, female, first winter, flight, flying, foraging, Fulica americana, goldeneye, goldeneyes, grackle, grackles, grass, gray sky, Great Blue Heron, Great-tailed Grackle, gull, gulls, hawk, hawks, heron, herons, hovering, Icterids, immature, Larus californicus, low light, male, Mallard, mallards, marsh, nonbreeding plumage, open bill, pond, portrait, Quiscalus mexicanus, rails, Rough-legged Hawk, splashing, urban, wading birds, water, water droplets, wetlands, winter, young|

I did get out to find and photograph birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA and then later in the morning I found more closer to home.

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Happy Winter Solstice 2021!

By Mia McPherson|December 21st, 2021|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Robin, close up, crabapple, foraging, fruit, Malus, Northern Hemisphere, portrait, robin, robins, sky, snow, Solstice, thrush, thrushes, Turdus migratorius, urban, winter, Yuletide|

Happy Solstice and Yuletide! Hello Winter! Happy return to the light!

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Close Up Chukar On Fresh Snow

By Mia McPherson|December 8th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Davis County, Utah|Tags: adult, Alectoris chukar, Chukar, chukars, close up, desert island, introduced, shadow, snow, upland terrestrial birds, winter|

I came across this photo of an adult Chukar standing in top of fresh snow the other day and felt a pang of sadness.

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Focusing On Fall Wild Turkey Tom Photos

By Mia McPherson|November 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, behavior, close up, desert, displaying, face off, facing off, fall, male, Meleagris gallopavo, portrait, ranchlands, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

Yesterday morning the first birds I focused on taking photos of were Wild Turkey toms as they displayed for each other on desert ranchlands in northern Utah.

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Immature Black-billed Magpie Portrait At Sunrise

By Mia McPherson|November 9th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Davis County, Utah|Tags: autumn, Black-billed Magpie, close up, corvids, desert island, fall, hatch year, immature, iris, magpie, magpies, Pica hudsonia, portrait, sunrise, young|

I was looking through my archives yesterday when I came across this immature Black-billed Magpie portrait taken at sunrise on Antelope Island State Park.

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White-faced Ibis Close Up

By Mia McPherson|October 21st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, White-faced Ibises|Tags: adult, autumn, close up, fall, ibis, ibises, marsh, migratory, mobile blind, nonbreeding plumage, Plegadis chihi, portrait, red eyes, wading birds, water, wetlands, White-faced Ibis|

I'd almost forgotten about this White-faced Ibis close up photo that I took at the end of last month in the wetlands of Farmington Bay WMA.

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Autumn Wild Turkey Hen Portrait

By Mia McPherson|October 11th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: Acer negundo, autumn, Box Elder, canyon, close up, fall, fall colors, female, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, portrait, shadows, Stansbury Mountains, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

I found this Wild Turkey hen last autumn as she walked out of the shadows of the forest and into the bright morning light.

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Clouded Sulphur Butterfly And Rabbitbrush

By Mia McPherson|September 29th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Clouded Sulphur Butterflies, Shrubs, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, autumn, bloom, blooming, butterflies, butterfly, close up, Clouded Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur butterfly, Colias philodice, Ericameria nauseosa, fall, feeding, flowering, nectaring, rabbitbrush, ranchlands, roadside, Rubber Rabbitbrush, sulphur, sulphurs, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

I got lucky at one rabbitbrush when I found a Clouded Sulphur butterfly nectaring on what I believe is a Rubber Rabbitbrush.

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Blooming Common Sunflower With An Ant

By Mia McPherson|August 13th, 2021|Categories: Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: ant, bloom, blooming, canyon, close up, Common Sunflower, flowering, forest edge, Helianthus annuus, mountains, native, roadside, summer, sunflower, sunflowers, wild Sunflowers, yellow wildflowers|

I photographed some birds yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains but it was the blooming Common Sunflower with an ant that made me smile the most when I saw it on my screen.

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Adult Least Chipmunk High In The Mountains

By Mia McPherson|August 6th, 2021|Categories: Least Chipmunks, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: canyon, chipmunk, chipmunks, close up, fence post, Least Chipmunk, mountains, Neotamias minimus, riparian habitat, summer, wooden post|

I haven't seen as many chipmunks this year as I normally do so when I spotted this adult Least Chipmunk on a fence post I wanted to focus on the little furball.

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Young Red Fox In A Meadow

By Mia McPherson|August 3rd, 2021|Categories: Morgan County, Red Foxes, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: alpine meadow, canyon, close up, forest edge, fox, foxes, grasses, immature, meadow, mountains, portrait, Red Fox, summer, Vulpes vulpes, young|

One year ago this morning I had a relaxing experience photographing a young Red Fox in an alpine meadow high in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Immature Belted Kingfisher With A Spider Web

By Mia McPherson|July 23rd, 2021|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Belted Kingfisher, branch, canyon, close up, immature, inset, juvenile, kingfisher, kingfishers, Megaceryle alcyon, mountains, perched, riparian habitat, spider web, spider webs, summer, web, young|

What I missed seeing was that the immature Belted Kingfisher had spider webs stuck to its face in a long series of photos that I took of it next to a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Adult American Robin Portrait – Photos Can Transport Us To Another Place And Time

By Mia McPherson|June 27th, 2021|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, American Robin, canyon, close up, forest, mountains, portrait, robin, robins, summer, thrush, thrushes, Turdus migratorius|

One of the birds I photographed on the June morning was this American Robin that was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of it.

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Green-tailed Towhee Close Up Photos

By Mia McPherson|June 25th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, canyon, close up, Green-tailed Towhee, metal pipe, mountains, Pipilo chlorurus, rusty, serviceberry, sparrow, sparrows, summer, towhee, towhees, Utah Serviceberry|

While photographing nesting House Wrens three days ago I was also able to photograph an adult Green-tailed Towhee up close in a serviceberry shrub.

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