flying – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Spring Caspian Tern Photos Plus A Bonus Osprey Image

By Mia McPherson|May 4th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Caspian Terns, Ospreys, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, aerial chase, breeding plumage, Caspian Tern, chasing, dive, eye level, flight, flying, Hydroprogne caspia, Osprey, ospreys, Pandion haliaetus, park, pond, raptors, sky, spring, tern, terns, urban|

At the end of last month, I had the pleasure of taking Caspian Tern photos as these terns were flying and fishing at my local pond.

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Osprey Lifting Off After Missing Prey

By Mia McPherson|April 29th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Ospreys, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, dive, flight, flying, lift off, lifting off, Osprey, ospreys, Pandion haliaetus, park, pond, raptors, spring, take off, taking off, unsuccessful, urban, water|

I had great fun photographing this Osprey lifting off from an unsuccessful dive for prey two days ago. It was definitely a challenge and I will explain why.

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Learning More About Collared Tundra Swans

By Mia McPherson|April 3rd, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: adult, banded, collar, collared, Cygnus columbianus, flight, flock, flying, grasses, ice, inset, male, marsh, mountains, neck markers, snow, snow covered, swan, swans, Tundra Swan, U915, U961, U974, USGS, water, waterfowl, wetlands, winter|

As the Tundra Swans in Utah begin to make their long journeys to their breeding grounds, I wanted to do one more post about the collared Tundra Swans I've found.

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Snow Weary And Needing A Bird Fix

By Mia McPherson|March 31st, 2023|Categories: American Avocets, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Marsh Wrens, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: adult, Agelaius phoeniceus, American Avocet, American Avocets, avocet, avocets, Black-crowned Night Heron, blackbird, blackbirds, breeding plumage, Cistothorus palustris, early morning, flight, flying, heron, herons, Icterids, male, marsh, Marsh Wren, mountains, night heron, night herons, Nycticorax nycticorax, perched, phragmites, phrags, preening, Recurvirostra americana, Red-winged Blackbird, resting, river, shorebirds, singing, sky, spring, wading birds, water, wetlands, wren, wrens, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, Yellow-headed Blackbird|

More fresh snow on the ground this morning. I am snow weary. What I need is a bird, nature, gone exploring in the wild fix with no real or clear return time.

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World Water Day 2023

By Mia McPherson|March 22nd, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Centennial Valley, Conservation, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, Glacier County, Glacier National Park, Juab County, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Sawgrass Lake Park, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, American Coots, aspens, Box Elder County, canyon, Centennial Mountains, Centennial Valley, clouds, conifers, coots, creek, Cygnus columbianus, Fish Springs Range, flight, flock, Florida, flying, footbridge, foothills, grass, grasses, hills, ice, immature, Juab County, maple swamp, marsh, mountains, Pinellas County, pond, Promontory Mountains, rapids, reflections, river, rocks, rushing, sage, sagebrush, Sawgrass Lake Park, shadows, shrubs, sky, snow, snow-topped, spring, summer, swamp, swan, swans, trail, trees, Tundra Swan, Utah, valley, water, waterfowl, west desert, wetlands, Wigeon Pond, willows, winter, young|

Today is World Water Day. The theme for World Water Day 2023 is: Accelerate Change. Every human being on this planet is roughly 60% water.

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Big & Beautiful: Tundra Swans of Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|March 3rd, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: adult, alert, bath, bathing, bill, close, Cygnus columbianus, droplets, flight, flock, flying, goofy, ice shelf, immature, marsh, nips, Promontory Mountains, relaxing, resting, sky, snow, spot, swans, Tundra Swan, walking, water, waterfowl, wetlands, winter, young|

Yesterday morning I spent time with a flock of big, beautiful Tundra Swans at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I loved every moment that I had with the swans.

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Migrating Sandhill Cranes On The Wing

By Mia McPherson|February 25th, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Sandhill Cranes, Utah|Tags: adult, Antigone canadensis, calling, crane, cranes, flight, flying, late, marsh, mates, mountains, pair, Sandhill Crane, snowy, wetlands, winter|

I heard through the grapevine that Sandhill Cranes have returned to Farmington Bay WMA. Since the cranes are there they might be at other Utah locations too.

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Great Blue Heron Slip Slidin’ Away

By Mia McPherson|February 16th, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, flight, flying, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, ice, icy, jumping, landing, marsh, open water, sliding, slip, slippery, slipping, wading birds, walking, wetlands, winter|

Earlier this week, I visited Bear River MBR and had a fantastic time capturing photographs of birds sliding on the ice. This included an adult Great Blue Heron.

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Bear River MBR: Winter Haven For Tundra Swans

By Mia McPherson|February 7th, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: adult, azure, Cygnus columbianus, flight, flying, immature, marsh, sky, swan, swans, Tundra Swan, Tundra Swans, waterfowl, wetlands, winter, young|

I had hoped that this morning would be sunny so I could head to Bear River MBR to see, listen to, and photograph Tundra Swans on the marshes.

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California Gull Playing With A Stick

By Mia McPherson|January 25th, 2023|Categories: Birds, California Gulls, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: behavior, California Gull, flight, flying, gull, gulls, Larus californicus, mid air, play, playing, pond, shoreline, snagging, stick, urban, water, winter, winter plumage|

This morning I'm sharing two photos of a California Gull playing with a stick at one of my local ponds that I took during the winter in January of 2021.

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Missing Our Neighborhood Bald Eagle

By Mia McPherson|January 23rd, 2023|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, branches, eagle, eagles, flight, flying, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, mountains, neighborhood, pond, raptors, sky, tree, trees, urban, winter|

By this time in January I have usually already seen and photographed our neighborhood Bald Eagle that visits during the winter for a few weeks.

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My 2022 Year In Review

By Mia McPherson|December 31st, 2022|Categories: American Kestrels, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Box Elder County, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Golden Eagles, Great Horned Owls, Horned Grebes, Morgan County, Ring-billed Gulls, Rock Wrens, Ruffed Grouse, Tundra Swans, Utah, Warbling Vireos, Wasatch Mountains, Yellow Warblers|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, American Kestrel, Aquila chrysaetos, autumn, background, berries, Bewick's Swan, bill, birds of prey, Black-billed Magpie, blooming, blooms, blossoms, Bonasa umbellus, boulder, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Bubo virginianus, building, canyon, close up, corvids, Cygnus columbianus, Cygnus columbianus bewickii, Davis County, desert, dirt, eagle, eagles, Falco sparverius, falcon, falcons, fall, farmlands, female, fledgling, flight, flock, flowering, flowering shrub, flying, forest edge, fruiting shrub, fruits, fruting shrubs, Golden Eagle, gorget, Great Horned Owl, grebe, grebes, grouse, gull, gulls, Horned Grebe, hummingbird, hummingbirds, immature, juvenile, kestrel, kestrels, Larus delawarensis, lichen, lores, magpie, magpies, male, marsh, mountains, nest, nest box, nesting, nonbreeding plumage, owl, owls, perched, Pica hudsonia, Podiceps auritus, raptors, rare, reflection, Ring-billed Gull, riparian habitat, road, roadside, rock, Rock Wren, rocks, Ruffed Grouse, Salpinctes obsoletus, Selasphorus platycercus, serviceberries, serviceberry, Setophaga petechia, shrub, spring, stink-eye, summer, swan, swans, thicket, tree, Tundra Swans, Utah, Utah Serviceberry, vagrant, warbler, warblers, water, waterbirds, waterfowl, wetlands, willow, willow thicket, willows, winter, winter plumage, wood-warbler, wood-warblers, wren, wrens, Yellow Warbler, young|

On this last day of the year it is time for my annual 2022 Year in Review post. In some ways 2022 has been great for me and in others not so good.

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Immature Ferruginous Hawk In December

By Mia McPherson|December 23rd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: autumn, birds of prey, Buteo regalis, Buteos, clouds, desert, eyes, fall, Ferruginous Hawk, flight, flying, foothills, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, lifting off, light morph, raptors, sky, taking off, young|

I was overjoyed to see an immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk in my viewfinder four years ago in December while I was out in Utah's West Desert.

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Canada Goose Tracks In Snow

By Mia McPherson|December 8th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: autumn, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, Canada Goose, cloudy sky, fall, flight, flying, footprint, footprints, geese, goose, high key, snow, track, tracks, urban, waterfowl|

While I was out walking yesterday, I stopped at a neighborhood pond and saw fresh Canada Goose tracks in the snow. I felt that I had to take photos of them.

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Immature Red-tailed Hawk In A Safety Zone

By Mia McPherson|December 4th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: autumn, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, Circus hudsonius, defensive mode, dive, dive bombing, fall, flight, flying, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, marsh, Nothern Harrier, perched, post, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, resting, safety zone, sign, wetlands, wooden post, young|

About two years ago, I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk resting above a safety zone sign at Farmington Bay WMA on a cold morning.

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Male Northern Harrier Photo

By Mia McPherson|November 22nd, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, Circus hudsonius, dorsal view, duck club, fall, flats, flight, flying, Gray Ghost, harrier, harriers, hawks, male, Marsh hawk, Northern Harrier, raptors, trailers|

I'd like this photo of a male Northern Harrier more if there weren't camping trailers from a duck hunting club near the auto loop of Bear River MBR behind him.

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Ring-billed Gull Feeding Frenzy Excitement

By Mia McPherson|November 16th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Ring-billed Gulls, Utah|Tags: autumn, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, fall, feeding, flight, flying, frenzy, gull, gulls, Larus delawarensis, marsh, Promontory Mountains, Ring-billed Gull, Utah, video, water, wetlands|

When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge two days ago I witnessed several Ring-billed Gull feeding frenzies out on the marshes of the refuge.

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Golden Eagle Rising Above A Ridge

By Mia McPherson|October 22nd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Golden Eagles, Utah|Tags: adult, Aquila chrysaetos, autumn, birds of prey, desert, eagle, eagles, fall, flight, flying, foothills, Golden Eagle, grasses, rabbitbrush, raptors, ridge, sky|

This morning I'm sharing a photo of a gorgeous adult Golden Eagle that I took just as it was taking off from a ridge, shortly after I found it.

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International Vulture Awareness Day 2022

By Mia McPherson|September 3rd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Tooele County, Turkey Vultures, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Cathartes aura, desert, flight, flying, foothills, juniper, landing, lichen, lift off, perched, raptors, rock, sage, sagebrush, sky, spring, stump, Turkey Vulture, vulture, Vulture Awareness Day, vultures|

The first Saturday of September is International Vulture Awareness Day which is a day to bring awareness to these birds that face a range of threats.

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Two Phalarope Species At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|August 30th, 2022|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Red-necked Phalaropes, Utah, Wilson's Phalaropes|Tags: adult, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, flight, flock, flying, foraging, Great Salt Lake, hypersaline lake, lake, marsh, nonbreeding plumage, phalarope, phalaropes, Phalaropus lobatus, Phalaropus tricolor, Red-necked Phalarope, shorebirds, summer, Utah, water, wetlands, Wilson's Phalarope|

Two days ago after leaving the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I was able to photograph two phalarope species in a wetlands that were feeding side by side.

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Female Black-chinned Hummingbird Feeding On Honeysuckle

By Mia McPherson|May 30th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds|Tags: adult, Archilochus alexandri, Black Twin Berry, Black twinberry honeysuckle, Black-chinned Hummingbird, canyon, eating, feeding, female, flight, flying, honeysuckle, honeysuckles, hovering, hummingbird, hummingbirds, Lonicera involucrata, mountains, riparian habitat, spring|

I took these female Black-chinned Hummingbird photos as she fed on the nectar of a honeysuckle last week high in the Wasatch Mountains near an alpine creek.

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Female Black-chinned Hummingbird With Honeysuckle

By Mia McPherson|May 19th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Black Twinberry Honeysuckle, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Archilochus alexandri, Black Twinberry, Black twinberry honeysuckle, Black-chinned Hummingbird, canyon, female, flight, flower bud, flying, honeysuckle, honeysuckles, hovering, hummingbird, hummingbirds, Lonicera involucrata, mountains, perched, poking, riparian habitat, spring, wildflowers|

When I spotted this tiny female Black-chinned Hummingbird yesterday high in the Wasatch Mountains I hoped she'd begin to feed on some nearby honeysuckle.

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Adult Black-crowned Night Heron In Flight

By Mia McPherson|April 29th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: adult, Black-crowned Night Heron, flight, flying, heron, herons, marsh, mountains, night heron, night herons, Nycticorax nycticorax, Promontory Mountains, sky, spring, wading birds, wetlands|

Almost a year ago I had this adult Black-crowned Night Heron in my viewfinder as it flew in front of the Promontory Mountains at Bear River MBR.

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Black Skimmer Photo From 13 Years Ago

By Mia McPherson|April 24th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: adult, Black Skimmer, coast, coastal, flight, flying, Gulf of Mexico, Rynchops niger, skimmer, skimmers, sky, spring|

It was thirteen years ago today when I took this photo of an adult Black Skimmer flying over the Gulf of Mexico in Pinellas County, Florida.

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Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird And Thoughts About Spring

By Mia McPherson|March 23rd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, branch, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, canyon, Chokecherry, flight, flying, forest, forest edge, hummingbird, hummingbirds, landing, male, mountains, perched, Prunus virginiana, Selasphorus platycercus, summer, Western Chokecherry|

Hummingbirds delight me and this male Broad-tailed Hummingbird did just that when he landed on his favorite chokecherry branch a few years ago in the mountains.

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Young Great Blue Heron In Front Of The Promontory Mountains

By Mia McPherson|March 14th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: Ardea herodias, flight, flying, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, immature, marsh, mountains, Promontory Mountains, small in frame, snow, wading birds, wetlands, winter, young|

I liked this image of an immature Great Blue Heron flying in front of the snow covered Promontory Mountains even though the heron is small in the frame.

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Ducks On The Wing Over The Marsh At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|March 12th, 2022|Categories: American Wigeons, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Green-winged Teals, Mallards, Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers, Utah|Tags: adult, American Wigeon, Anas acuta, Anas crecca, Anas platyrhynchos, flight, flying, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Mareca americana, marsh, mountains, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, on the wing, Promontory Mountains, snow, Spatula clypeata, wetlands, winter|

I took this photo of ducks on the wing over the marsh on my most recent trip up to the wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Drake Northern Pintail Lift Off Images

By Mia McPherson|March 8th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Pintails, Utah, Video|Tags: adult, Anas acuta, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, dabbling ducks, drake, ducks, female, flight, flock, flying, hen, lift off, lifting off, male, marsh, mountains, Northern Pintail, pintail, pintails, sky, snow, take off, taking off, Utah, video, water, waterfowl, wetlands, winter|

I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning and came home with some drake Northern Pintail lift off images that I am pleased with.

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Tundra Swan In Flight In Early Morning Light

By Mia McPherson|March 7th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: adult, Cygnus columbianus, flight, flying, marsh, pastel, phragmites, phrags, sky, swan, swans, Tundra Swan, vegetation, waterfowl, wetlands, winter|

I took this Tundra Swan photo on my most recent trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when I came upon hundreds of these swans on the marsh.

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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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