hatch year bird – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Three American Coots Side By Side

By Mia McPherson|October 28th, 2023|Categories: American Coots, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, autumn, coot, coots, fall, Fulica americana, hatch year, hatch year bird, marsh, marsh habitat, phragmites, phrags, water, wetlands, younger|

What's better than having one coot in my viewfinder? I'd say having three American Coots side by side in my viewfinder at one time!

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Bathing Western Grebe Giggles

By Mia McPherson|October 20th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, Western Grebes|Tags: Aechmophorus occidentalis, autumn, bath, bathing, fall, flinging, grebe, grebes, hatch year bird, immature, marsh, open bill, score, splashing, water, waterbirds, Western Grebe, wetlands, young|

Yesterday morning, a bathing Western Grebe gave me the giggles. Amidst global turmoil and my own personal struggles this year, I needed those laughs.

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Surprise Immature Osprey In The West Desert Of Utah

By Mia McPherson|October 1st, 2020|Categories: Birds, Ospreys, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: desert, fence post, Fish Hawk, foothills, harvest moon, hatch year, hatch year bird, hawks, immature, moon, mountains, Osprey, ospreys, Pandion haliaetus, perched, raptors, sunrise, wooden post, young|

I don't know how many times I have said "expect the unexpected" since I began photographing birds while talking to fellow photographers.

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Photographing My First Green Heron In Northern Utah

By Mia McPherson|September 24th, 2020|Categories: American White Pelicans, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Green Herons, Long-tailed Weasels, Utah|Tags: adult, American White Pelican, Butorides virescens, duckweed, Green Heron, half blind, hatch year bird, heron, herons, immature, Long-tailed Weasel, marsh, missing eye, Mustela frenata, one-eared, one-eyed, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, pelican, pelicans, rare, standing, sub-adult, subadult, uncommon, wading birds, water, weasel, weasels|

It was a terrific "season opener" for me yesterday thanks to my keen observation skills at Farmington Bay WMA with a Green Heron, one-eared Long-tailed Weasel and a one-eyed American White Pelican.

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Immature Wilson’s Warbler Peeking Out Of Willow Leaves

By Mia McPherson|September 20th, 2020|Categories: Birds, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wilson's Warblers|Tags: canyon, Cardellina pusilla, creek, hatch year bird, immature, mountains, summer, warbler, warblers, willow, willows, Wilson's Warbler, wood-warblers, young|

Three days ago while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I had an immature Wilson's Warbler in my viewfinder for just a few moments.

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Immature Swainson’s Hawk In Changing Light

By Mia McPherson|September 9th, 2019|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: Buteo swainsoni, Buteos, changing light, close up, eye on the sky, flight, gravel road, hatch year bird, hawks, Hawks of Montana, immature, ISO, lift off, lifting off, light morph, low light, pose, raptors, Swainson's Hawk, variable|

This photo session with an immature Swainson's Hawk reinforced how as a bird photographer I need to not only be keenly aware of changing light it also showed how I may need to quickly change my settings to get the photos I want.

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Yellow Warbler In Willows

By Mia McPherson|August 22nd, 2019|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Yellow Warblers|Tags: canyons, creek, hatch year, hatch year bird, mountain, Setophaga petechia, thicket, warbler, warblers, willows, wood-warblers, Yellow Warbler, young|

When this hatch year Yellow Warbler popped out into an open area of a willow thicket in a beam of sunlight I was happy to take its photo.

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Immature Black-billed Magpies Flocking In The Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|August 9th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Black-billed Magpie, canyon, close up, flock, flocking, flocks, forest edge, grasses, green grasses, hatch year bird, immature, magpie, magpies, mountains, perched, Pica hudsonia, portrait, sagebrush, young|

I was delighted to photograph the few immature Black-billed Magpies that were close to me and to observe those who were further away foraging and chasing each other around in a field dotted with wildflowers, grasses and sage.

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Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird Male Diving Towards The Ground

By Mia McPherson|October 19th, 2017|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Red-winged Blackbirds, Utah|Tags: Agelaius phoeniceus, blackbird, blackbirds, diving, first year, hatch year bird, immature, juvenile, male, Red-winged Blackbird, sexually dimorphic, sunflowers|

The plumage of male juvenile Red-winged Blackbirds is highly variable during their first year, some of the young blackbirds can look like females and some can look more like adult males.

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Franklin’s Gulls at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By Mia McPherson|October 14th, 2017|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Franklin's Gulls, Utah|Tags: adult, fish, flight, flying, Franklin's Gull, gull, gulls, hatch year, hatch year bird, immature, juvenile, Leucophaeus pipixcan, marsh, migration, prey, summer, water, wetlands, young|

Franklin's Gulls are only here in northern Utah during the breeding season, during the winter they spend their time along the west coast of South America.

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Peregrine Falcon on a Tumbleweed Perch

By Mia McPherson|November 8th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Peregrine Falcons, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Falco peregrinus, falcon, falcons, Great Salt Lake, hatch year bird, immature, Peregrine Falcon, raptors, tumbleweeds, young|

I was delighted to have a minute or two with this immature Peregrine Falcon on a tumbleweed perch in northern Utah. It made my day.

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Young Wilson’s Phalaropes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By Mia McPherson|August 3rd, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wilson's Phalaropes|Tags: foraging, hatch year bird, immature, juvenile, phalarope, phalaropes, Phalaropus tricolor, shorebirds, Wilson's Phalarope, young|

I am seeing more and more Wilson's Phalaropes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the majority of the birds I see are hatch year birds.

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Bird Photography Isn’t Easy But It Does Have Its Rewards

By Mia McPherson|September 22nd, 2014|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: bird of prey, bird photography, Buteo swainsoni, ground foraging, hatch year bird, hawks, Hawks of Montana, hunting, immature, juvenile, light morph, portrait, Swainson's Hawk|

Being a bird photographer has its rewards beyond the most obvious which for me is being out in nature or better yet being a part of it. It means with patience and plenty of time in the field I do get it right.

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Fun with a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

By Mia McPherson|August 24th, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, fence, flight, hatch year bird, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Montana, immature, juvenile, lift off, perched, raptor, Red-tailed Hawk, Western Red-tailed hawk|

While I was away in Montana for eight days starting last week I had a fantastic time photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.

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Pied-billed Grebe juvenile

By Mia McPherson|March 23rd, 2012|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Pied-billed Grebes, Utah|Tags: bird ID, grebe, grebes, hatch year bird, immature, juvenile, juveniles, marsh, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, water, wetlands, young|

As I observed and photographed this Pied-billed Grebe juvenile it preened some, did a few stretches and fluffed up it feathers.

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