female – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Great Egret, Mallards and Hooded and Common Mergansers On The Bear River

By Mia McPherson|December 23rd, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Mergansers, Great Egrets, Hooded Mergansers, Mallards, Utah|Tags: Anas platyrhynchos, Ardea alba, Bear River, Common Merganser, composite, dabbling ducks, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, egret, egrets, female, Great Egret, hen, Hooded Merganser, ice, Lophodytes cucullatus, male, Mallard, mallards, marsh, merganser, mergansers, Mergus merganser, river, riverbank, snow, wading birds, water, waterfowl, winter|

The Great Egret landed where I had views of Hooded and Common Mergansers and three Mallards resting on the ice on the Bear River.

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ABA Bird Of The Year 2022 – The Burrowing Owl!

By Mia McPherson|December 20th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Box Elder County, Burrowing Owls, Davis County, Utah|Tags: adult, Antelope Island State Park, Athene cunicularia, Box Elder County, Burrowing Owl, Davis County, desert, desert island, female, immature, juvenile, male, owl, owls, raptors, Utah, young|

It was announced yesterday that the Burrowing Owl is the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year! Burrowing Owls are small, long-legged, sandy-colored, charismatic owls with bright yellow eyes.

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Female Hooded Merganser Lifting Off From The Bear River

By Mia McPherson|December 10th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Hooded Mergansers, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, Bear River, close, diving ducks, duck, ducks, fall, female, Glover Pond, hen, Hooded Merganser, ice, lift off, lifting off, Lophodytes cucullatus, merganser, mergansers, pond, river, running, take off, taking off, water, waterfowl, wetlands|

I spotted a single female Hooded Merganser on the Bear River two days ago and photographed her as she ran on top of the water to lift off.

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Remembering Higher Water In The Great Salt Lake

By Mia McPherson|November 29th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Conservation, Davis County, Green-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, Utah|Tags: Anas crecca, breeding plumage, dabbling ducks, drake, duck, ducks, dying lake, eclipse plumage, female, Great Salt Lake, Green-winged Teal, hen, hypersaline lake, inland sea, lake, male, Northern Shoveler, shoveler, shovelers, Spatula clypeata, surf, teal, teals, water, waves|

I came across this photo of a Green-winged Teal with Northern Shovelers in the surf of the Great Salt Lake that I took in December of 2011 yesterday. It was a punch in the gut.

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Thanksgiving 2021

By Mia McPherson|November 25th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, barn, desert, fall, female, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, on top, pole barn, ranchlands, red, Thanksgiving, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

Despite how rough this year has been this morning on Thanksgiving Day I want to write about thankfulness and gratitude.

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Ruddy Ducks In Flight

By Mia McPherson|November 24th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ruddy Ducks, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, fall, female, flight, flock, flying, hen, male, marsh, nonbreeding plumage, Oxyura jamaicensis, pond, preening, Ruddy Duck, sky, swimming, urban, water, waterfowl, wetlands, winter|

A few days ago I saw someone say that they rarely saw photos of Ruddy Ducks in flight and I remembered I had a series of them flying past taken 11 years ago.

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Adult Female Northern Harrier Lifting Off From A Tumbleweed

By Mia McPherson|November 23rd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, Davis County, fall, Farmington Bay WMA, female, flats, flight, flying, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, hen, lift off, lifting off, marsh, Northern Harrier, raptors, resting, take off, taking off, tumbleweed, Utah, wetlands|

When I spotted this adult female Northern Harrier resting on a tumbleweed yesterday morning it took a few moments for me to point her out.

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Fall Wild Turkey Hen Images

By Mia McPherson|November 17th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, beam, desert, fall, female, hen, look out, Meleagris gallopavo, metal, pole barn, power pole, ranchlands, rusty, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, walking, Wild Turkey|

I spotted this Wild Turkey hen walking on a rusty, metal beam of a dilapidated pole barn and I knew that I had to take images of her.

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How I Found My First Of Season Rough-legged Hawks

By Mia McPherson|November 6th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Common Ravens, Rough-legged Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, autumn, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, Common Raven, Corvus corax, fall, female, first of year, foothills, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, male, prey, raptors, raven, ravens, Rough-legged Hawk, sighting, Tooele County, Utah, west desert|

It was a very memorable first of year sighting of these Rough-legged Hawks. The kind where you sit there wondering if you really saw what you saw.

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Fall Wild Turkey Hen Foraging On Desert Ranchlands

By Mia McPherson|October 19th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, branches, desert, female, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, ranchlands, rocks, standing, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

The first photos I took with my newly refurbished Nikon D500 with a new shutter assembly were of this Wild Turkey hen foraging on desert ranchlands.

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Fall Hooded Merganser At Farmington Bay

By Mia McPherson|October 17th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Hooded Mergansers, Utah|Tags: autumn, autumn colors, colors, diving ducks, duck, ducks, fall, female, hen, Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, marsh, merganser, mergansers, mirror, Nikon D500, pond, reflections, shutter replacement cost, small in frame, water, wetlands|

This morning I am sharing a simple image of a Hooded Merganser I found two days ago on a pond at Farmington Bay WMA that had autumn colors reflected on the water.

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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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Dark and light morph Red-tailed Hawk Photos

By Mia McPherson|October 9th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, cliff, cliff face, dark morph, desert, fall, female, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, lichen, lichen covered, lift off, light morph, male, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, resting, take off|

I almost missed finding this adult dark morph Red-tailed Hawk last Sunday because when I first spotted the hawk he was behind a tree in dark shadows but I recognized the shape and form of the raptor.

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Summer Dragonflies And Butterflies At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|August 26th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Blue-eyed Darner Dragonflies, Box Elder County, Clouded Sulphur Butterflies, Purplish Copper Butterflies, Utah|Tags: adult, bloom, blooming, Blue-eyed Darner, butterflies, butterfly, Clouded Sulphur, Colias philodice, Common Sunflower, copper, coppers, copulating, dragonflies, dragonfly, female, Helianthus annuus, Lycaena helloides, male, marsh, mating, nectaring, pair, Purplish Copper, Rhionaeschna multicolor, sky, sulphur, sulphurs, summer, sunflower, sunflowers, wetlands, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

Today I am sharing some of the dragonflies and butterflies I've found at Bear River MBR in the summer.

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Female Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly

By Mia McPherson|July 22nd, 2021|Categories: Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Argynnis cybele, Black twinberry honeysuckle, butterflies, butterfly, canyon, Carduus nutans, female, forest, fritillaries, fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary, honeysuckle, honeysuckles, Lonicera involucrata, mountains, Musk Thistle, nectaring, nonnative, pink wildflowers, summer, thistle, thistles, wildflowers|

This is a female Great Spangled Fritillary, a butterfly species that can be abundant in the Wasatch Mountains at this time of the year.

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Antelope Island Spider Fest 2021

By Mia McPherson|July 11th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah, Western Spotted Orbweaver|Tags: 2021, adult, desert island, female, Neoscona oaxacensis, orbweaver, orbweavers, spider, Spider Fest, Spider Festival, spider web, spiders, summer, Western Spotted Orbweaver|

The Antelope Island Spider Fest starts on August 2, 2021 and continues through August 7, 2021 this year.

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Female Spotted Sandpiper Post-coital Photo

By Mia McPherson|July 2nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Spotted Sandpipers, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Actitis macularia, adult, aerial chase, behavior, breeding behavior, breeding display, canyon, creek, female, ground chase, mating, mating behavior, mountains, one wing up, post copulation, post-coital, postcoital, posture, sandpiper, sandpipers, shore, shorebirds, Spotted Sandpiper, summer, water|

What intrigued me the most was the post-coital posture of the female Spotted Sandpiper where she kept one wing raised for a long period of time.

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Western Kingbird Attempting To Take Over A Bullock’s Oriole Nest

By Mia McPherson|June 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Bullock's Orioles, Utah, Western Kingbirds|Tags: adult, behavior, Bullock's Oriole, Celtis reticulata, desert, down, entering, female, Icterus bullockii, interactions, kingbird, kingbirds, nest, nest take over, Netleaf Hackberry, oriole, orioles, spring, Tyrannus verticalis, tyrant flycatchers, Western Kingbird|

At times I see some odd things in the field and two days ago that was what appeared to be a Western Kingbird attempting to take over a Bullock's Oriole nest.

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Female Brown-headed Cowbird And Willow Catkins

By Mia McPherson|June 9th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, brood parasites, Brown-headed Cowbird, canyon, catkins, cowbird, cowbirds, female, interspecific brood parasites, Molothrus ater, mountains, perched, pussywillows, riparian habitat, spring, willow, willows|

Late last month I photographed this female Brown-headed Cowbird surrounded by willow catkins in East Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Spring Female Black-chinned Hummingbird Photos

By Mia McPherson|June 7th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Archilochus alexandri, Black Twin Berry, Black twinberry honeysuckle, Black-chinned Hummingbird, canyon, feeding, female, honeysuckle, honeysuckles, hovering, hummingbird, hummingbirds, Lonicera involucrata, mountains, nectaring, resting, riparian habitat, spring, willows|

I took my first Black-chinned Hummingbird of the year photos in the middle of May but it wasn't until the end of the month that I took some that I liked.

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Female Black-chinned Hummingbird And A Knothole

By Mia McPherson|May 28th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, Archilochus alexandri, behavior, Black-chinned Hummingbird, canyon, female, flight, flying, forest, hummingbird, knothole, mountains, sky island mountains, spring, tree, trees|

Yesterday while out in the sky island mountains of the West Desert I spotted a female Black-chinned Hummingbird repeatedly checking out a knothole in a tree.

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Violet-green Swallow Photos

By Mia McPherson|May 27th, 2021|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: adult, alpine forest, branch, branches, canyon, female, flight, flying, forest, guarding, male, mountains, nesting cavity, scuffling, sky, sky island mountains, spring, swallow, swallows, Tachycineta thalassina, Tooele County, tree, trees, tussling, Utah, Violet-green Swallow, west desert|

Yesterday I was able to take the Violet-green Swallow photos that I have been dreaming of since I first moved to Utah in 2009.

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Spring Female Cassin’s Finch

By Mia McPherson|May 21st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Cassin's Finches, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, alpine creek, branches, canyon, Cassin's Finch, creek, creekside, female, finch, finches, Haemorhous cassinii, mountains, paying attention, sky island mountains, spring, willows|

When this female Cassin's Finch landed next to a creek two days ago in the West Desert I was happy to take her photo.

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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.

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Dreaming Of Mountain Bluebirds

By Mia McPherson|April 24th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Mountain Bluebirds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: bluebird, bluebirds, canyon, female, male, Mountain Bluebird, mountains, Sialia currucoides, sky, sky island mountains, thrush, thrushes, tree, Utah|

I woke up this morning dreaming of Mountain Bluebirds so I thought I would share two images of them from previous springs.

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Red-naped Sapsucker Photos

By Mia McPherson|April 11th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Clark County, Idaho, Modoc Creek, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Summit County, Targhee National Forest, Uinta National Forest, Utah|Tags: adult, aspen, begging, calls, chick, drumming, female, fledgling, forest, immature, leaving, male, nest, nesting, nesting cavity, nesting season, nesting tree, Red-naped Sapsucker, sapsucker, sapsuckers, Sphyrapicus nuchalis, woodpecker, woodpeckers, young|

This morning I wanted to share a few Red-naped Sapsucker photos I have taken while in gorgeous alpine forests of Idaho and Utah.

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Female Red-winged Blackbird Munching A Midge

By Mia McPherson|April 7th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-winged Blackbirds, Utah|Tags: adult, Agelaius phoeniceus, blackbird, blackbirds, female, marsh, midge, munching, phragmites, phrags, Red-winged Blackbird, spring, wetlands|

What I liked about this photo was that I caught the female Red-winged Blackbird with her bill open while she was munching on a midge.

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Utah’s Ospreys Are Back For Their Nesting Season

By Mia McPherson|April 1st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Daggett County, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Florida, Honeymoon Island State Park, Ospreys, Pinellas County, Utah|Tags: adult, branch, female, Fish Hawk, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Florida, male, nest, nesting platform, nesting season, Osprey, ospreys, Pandion haliaetus, perched, raptor, Sea Hawk, watchful|

I was hoping to find my first of the year Swainson's Hawks yesterday but instead I spotted my first of year Ospreys.

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Mated Red-tailed Hawk Pair

By Mia McPherson|March 22nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteo jamaicensis calurus, cliff, cliff face, female, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, light morph, male, mated pair, mates, morning light, nesting material, pair, perched, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk|

Last week I spotted and photographed a mated Red-tailed Hawk pair on the branches of a tree in front of a cliff in early morning light.

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Spring Wild Turkey Tom Displays

By Mia McPherson|March 17th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: breeding display, courtship display, display, displaying, female, grasses, hen, junipers, male, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, plumage variation, smoke phase, spring, strutting, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

The last time I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I found a Wild Turkey tom displaying next to some old farm equipment for the nearby hens.

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