flight – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Cooler Weather on the Horizon

By Mia McPherson|October 15th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: adult, Cygnus columbianus, flight, flying, mountains, Promontory Mountains, snow, swan, swans, Tundra Swan, waterfowl, winter|

We've still been having record breaking high temperatures here in northern Utah but the forecast shows some cooler weather is about to arrive. I'm glad. It is about time.

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Hovering Harrier – Head Down and Eyes on the Ground

By Mia McPherson|October 7th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, female, flight, flying, harrier, harriers, hovering, hunting, marsh, Marsh hawk, Northern Harrier, wetlands, winter|

I photographed this hovering Northern Harrier several years ago at Farmington Bay Water Fowl Management Area as it scanned the ground below for prey.

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What is in the background of an image can enhance or distract

By Mia McPherson|September 29th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Ring-billed Gulls, Utah|Tags: backgrounds, flight, flying, Gulf of Mexico, gull, gulls, landing, Larus delawarensis, Ring-billed Gull|

In bird photography what is in the background can enhance or distract the eye from the main subject.

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Snowy Egrets at Farmington Bay

By Mia McPherson|September 24th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, egret, egrets, flight, marsh, nonbreeding plumage, portrait, Snowy Egret, territorial disputes, wading birds, water, wetlands|

Farmington Bay's Snowy Egrets were the birds I photographed most yesterday because they were cooperative and because they were active, very active.

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Centennial Valley Swainson’s Hawk

By Mia McPherson|September 9th, 2015|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo swainsoni, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Montana, lift off, light morph, perched, raptors, Swainson's Hawk|

I am enjoying my time in the Centennial Valley especially when I can spend time photographing raptors like this adult light morph Swainson's Hawk.

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Smokey skies and a Great Blue Heron in flight

By Mia McPherson|August 27th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: Ardea herodias, flight, flying, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, smokey sky, wading birds|

On a clear day this Great Blue Heron image would have shown the Promontory Mountains in the distant background instead of the dull gray seen here.

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Flurry of Snowies in August

By Mia McPherson|August 14th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: adult, Bear River, congregation, egret, egrets, Egretta thula, feathers, flight, flurry, flying, land, landing, marsh, preening, rousing, scratching, shaking, Snowy Egret, stretch, stretching, wading birds, wetlands|

There was lots of bird activity yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and a flurry of Snowy Egrets kept things interesting early in the morning.

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Western Kingbirds – Juveniles Begging To Be Fed

By Mia McPherson|July 30th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Western Kingbirds|Tags: adult, begging, bird photography, birds, calling, farmlands, flight, flycatcher, flycatchers, flying, hovering, immature, juvenile, kingbird, kingbirds, summer, Tyrannus verticalis, Western Kingbird, young|

So even though I didn't come home with many Burrowing Owls images yesterday these Western Kingbird images more than made up for it!

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An Assortment of Birds from Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge This Week

By Mia McPherson|July 26th, 2015|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Mourning Doves, Northern Pintails, Sandhill Cranes, Utah|Tags: adult, American White Pelican, Anas acuta, Antigone canadensis, barbed wire, crane, cranes, dove, doves, duck, ducks, eclipse plumage, field, flight, flying, immature, Mourning Dove, Northern Pintail, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, pelican, pelicans, perched, pintail, pintails, Sandhill Crane, sky, sunrise, water, Zenaida macroura|

Yesterday I posted a juvenile Wilson's Phalarope and today I am posting an assortment of others birds I photographed the same day at Bear River NWR.

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White-lined Sphinx Moths for National Moth Week

By Mia McPherson|July 19th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah, White-lined Sphinx Moths, Wildflowers, Wildlife|Tags: Cleomella serrulata, feeding, flight, flying, hovering, Hyles lineata, moth, moths, National Moth Week, nectar, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, sphinx moth, White-lined Sphinx Moth|

Yesterday was the first day of National Moth Week 2015 and the featured family of moths for this year are from the Sphingidae family which are commonly know as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms.

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Immature Sandwich Tern In Flight

By Mia McPherson|July 18th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Sandwich Terns|Tags: coastal, flight, flying, Gulf Coast, immature, Sandwich Tern, sky, summer, tern, terns, Thalasseus sandvicensis, young|

I processed an older image of a juvenile Sandwich Tern in flight from my Florida archives to post this morning.

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Tree Swallow Defending Its Nest Photo In Memory Of A Great Friend

By Mia McPherson|July 7th, 2015|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Tree Swallows|Tags: adult, defensive, flight, flying, great friend, in memory, male, nest box, Rohn McKee, spring, swallow, swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, Tree Swallow, valley|

I'm posting this Tree Swallow image that was taken at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in memory of a great friend, Rohn McKee.

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Bundle of Western Burrowing Owls

By Mia McPherson|July 1st, 2015|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Burrowing Owls, Utah|Tags: adult, Athene cunicularia, birds of prey, Burrowing Owl, desert owl, female, fledgling, flight, gopher owl, ground owl, howdy owl, immature, juvenile, landing, owl, owls, Owls of Utah, perched, prairie dog owl, stretching, Western Burrowing Owl|

I thought I would share some images I have taken of Western Burrowing Owls that I took over several days spent with them in Box Elder County, Utah.

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Swainson’s Hawk in Box Elder County

By Mia McPherson|June 30th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, attack, birds of prey, boulder, Buteo swainsoni, Buteos, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, lichen, lift off, mimids, Mimus polyglottos, molt, molting, Northern Mockingbird, perched, raptors, sage, sagebrush, Swainson's Hawk|

I am always happy to photograph Swainson's Hawks no matter where I find them so I was pleased to find this one perched on a lichen covered rock yesterday in Box Elder County, Utah.

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Morning Spent at a Burrowing Owl Burrow

By Mia McPherson|June 23rd, 2015|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Burrowing Owls, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, Athene cunicularia, barbed wire, birds of prey, Burrowing Owl, Circus hudsonius, fence, fledgling, fledglings, flight, flying, Gray Ghost, harrier, harriers, immature, juvenile, landing, Northern Harrier, owl, owls, Western Burrowing Owl|

Last week I posted an image of Burrowing Owl siblings that I found in northern Utah and today I am posting images of that burrow after spending yesterday morning being delighted by them once more.

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Red-tailed Hawk just after lift off

By Mia McPherson|June 20th, 2015|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, lift off, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Western Red-tailed hawk|

This Red-tailed Hawk image was taken last week in the Centennial Valley of Montana just after the hawk lifted off from a power pole.

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Western Kingbirds On The Wing

By Mia McPherson|June 1st, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah, Western Kingbirds|Tags: adult, Artemisia tridentata, Big Sagebrush, bird photography, desert, flight, flycatcher, flycatchers, flying, island, kingbird, kingbirds, landing, lift off, on the wing, sagebrush, take off, Tyrannus verticalis, Western Kingbird|

I had fun photographing Western Kingbirds again yesterday on Antelope Island State Park and hours later I was still hearing their calls in my mind.

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Killdeer in Flight Over Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By Mia McPherson|May 30th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Killdeer, Utah|Tags: adult, Charadrius vociferus, difficult, flight, flying, Killdeer, marsh, marshes, medium sized, plover, plovers, refuge, shorebirds, sky, wetlands|

I have found trying to capture a Killdeer in flight a difficult endeavor because they fly fast and are hard to track but yesterday I did just that.

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Snowy Egrets on the Gulf Coast

By Mia McPherson|May 23rd, 2015|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Snowy Egrets|Tags: adult, clouds, egret, egrets, Egretta thula, flight, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, landing, Snowy Egret, spread, wading bird, wading birds, wings|

I'm hoping to add images of Snowy Egrets to my portfolio this summer that might be taken at Farmington Bay WMA or up north at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge.

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Happy Birthday Mom!

By Mia McPherson|May 17th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Davis County, Utah|Tags: Archilochus alexandri, bird photography, birds, Black-chinned Hummingbird, female, flight, hovering, hummingbirds|

My Mom loves birds, flowers and nature and she is a big part of why I do too.

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California Gulls on a Clear April Morning

By Mia McPherson|April 21st, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, California Gulls, Davis County, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, California Gull, close up, desert island, flight, flying, grasshopper hatch, gull, gulls, Larus californicus, portrait, spring|

The California Gulls and the Marbled Godwit came in close and I decided to do some portrait images of the gull.

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Long-billed Curlew calling in flight

By Mia McPherson|March 31st, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Long-billed Curlews, Utah|Tags: adult, Buffalo Point, calling, curlew, curlews, Davis County, flight, flying, Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus, shorebirds, spring|

Long-billed Curlews will nest on the island in the grasses soon but before then I look forward to watching their courtship displays both on the ground and in the air.

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Return of the Tree Swallows

By Mia McPherson|March 25th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Beaverhead County, Birds, Box Elder County, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Tree Swallows, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding season, bug eating machines, first of year, flight, flock, flying, male, marsh, migration, nest box, nesting box, phragmites, phrags, refuge, return, spring, stand, swallow, swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, Tree Swallow|

Not only are Tree Swallows colorful and beautiful they are bug-zapping machines and keep the number of flying insects down.

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Red-shouldered Hawk at Myakka River State Park, Florida

By Mia McPherson|March 24th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Florida, Myakka River State Park, Red-shouldered Hawks, Sarasota County|Tags: adult, birds of prey, branch, Buteo lineatus, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Florida, lift off, perched, raptors, Red-shouldered Hawk, sky, swamp, tree, winter|

In January of 2009 I went to Myakka River State Park with three of my bird photography friends and the raptor highlight of the day was this Red-shouldered Hawk.

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Partially Leucistic Black-billed Magpie

By Mia McPherson|March 20th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Leucistic, Utah|Tags: "piebald" effect, bird photography, Black-billed Magpie, bush, Davis County, flight, flying, landing, leucism, leucistic, magpie, magpies, Partially leucistic, Pica hudsonia, pied, pigment issues|

Last week I photographed some Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island State Park and one of them was partially leucistic

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A female Northern Harrier in flight

By Mia McPherson|March 17th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, female, flight, flying, harriers, hawks, Hawks of Utah, Northern Harrier, raptors|

But... things seem to be leveling out now much like this female Northern Harrier in flight that I photographed along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park in northern Utah in mid January.

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Collared Tundra Swans – Banded Together and Staying Together

By Mia McPherson|March 12th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: adult, banded, Certificate of Appreciation, collared, Cygnus columbianus, female, flight, flying, marsh, pens, swan, swans, Tundra Swan, USGS, waterfowl, wetlands, Whistling Swan, winter|

Last week I posted some Tundra Swan images and mentioned that two of the swans I saw had markers on their necks, these are those swans flying together over the marsh.

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Double-crested Cormorant coming in for a landing

By Mia McPherson|March 9th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Double-crested Cormorants, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park|Tags: birds, coast, coastal, cormorant, cormorants, Double-crested Cormorant, flight, flying, Gulf of Mexico, landing, landing pose, molt, molting, Nannopterum auritus, Pinellas County, sky|

I'm glad the Double-crested Cormorant didn't decide to relive itself as it came in to land or I might have been wearing white-wash!

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Tundra Swans of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By Mia McPherson|March 6th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: adult, Cygnus columbianus, flight, flying, lift off, marsh, Promontory Mountains, swan, swans, Tundra Swan, Tundra Swans, wetlands|

I spent part of my morning yesterday being serenaded by the calls of thousands of Tundra Swans at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.

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A Gray Ghost on a Gray Day

By Mia McPherson|February 24th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, bird photography, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, flight, gray day, Gray Ghost, harrier, harriers, hawks, low light, male, Marsh hawk, Northern Harrier, raptors|

Three years ago on a very gray morning I photographed this male Northern Harrier; the Gray Ghost, in flight along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.

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