desert – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Virga

By Mia McPherson|April 24th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah, Weather Phenomena|Tags: clouds, desert, meteorology, nature, nature photography, plains, precipitation, virga, weather, weather forecast, weather phenomena|

Once again the weather forecasters blew it. Their predictions were wrong. They missed the boat. If weather predictions were a dice game... they crapped out.

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Almost – Golden Eagle in flight

By Mia McPherson|April 3rd, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Golden Eagles, Utah|Tags: adult, Aquila chrysaetos, birds of prey, desert, desert island, eagle, eagles, flight, flying, Golden Eagle, hillside, raptors, spring|

Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) have thus far been a nemesis bird for me and when I spotted one yesterday I thought I might finally get the shots I have long wanted.

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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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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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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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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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