hawks – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Northern Harrier

By Mia McPherson|January 31st, 2012|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: 2nd year, birds of prey, chattering, Circus hudsonius, desert island, diving, flight, flying, Gray Ghost, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, immature, low light, male, Marsh hawk, Northern Harrier, raptors, snow, winter|

This Northern Harrier displayed interesting behavior, it didn't appear to be hunting but it would dive into the vegetation where it would make a sound that reminded me of parrots chattering.

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Rough-legged Hawk Kiting, Being Bit and Eating on the Fly

By Mia McPherson|January 19th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, eating, eating in flight, flight, flying, goofy, Great Salt Lake, hawks, Hawks of Utah, hovering, immature, kiting, prey, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, vole, young|

Some days are wonderful for bird photography especially when the subject is close, exhibits interesting behavior and the light is in my favor. These images are from an afternoon just like that when I happened across a lovely Rough-legged Hawk on a breezy day.

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Friday Photos – Yes, another Rough-legged Hawk

By Mia McPherson|December 9th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, desert island, flight, flying, hawks, immature, lift off, light morph, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, young|

I can relate to the hawk in a way, just like it doesn't always get the prey it is intent on, I don't always get the shots I want.

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Rough-legged Hawk Preening

By Mia McPherson|November 30th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: Antelope Island State Park, birds of prey, buteo, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, comical, feet, funny, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, light morph, perched, post, preening, raptors, regal, Rough-legged Hawk, side view, wooden post|

Last week though I had the opportunity to photograph a very cooperative Rough-legged Hawk preening.

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More Rough-legged Hawks

By Mia McPherson|November 20th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, flight, hawks, immature, lift off, light morph, natural habitat, perched, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, Stansbury Mountains, young|

I have been very pleased to add so many images of Rough-legged Hawks to my portfolio in just the past week and hopefully these Roughies will stick around until late February of next year so there will be many more opportunities.

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Rough-legged Hawks

By Mia McPherson|November 13th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: autumn, bird ID, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, desert island, fall, hare-footed, hawks, immature, light morph, perched, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, young|

Eureka! The Rough-legged Hawks are back from their high subarctic and Arctic breeding grounds and they seem to be showing up in larger numbers than I have seen them since I moved to Utah.

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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-shouldered Hawk Juvenile

By Mia McPherson|August 8th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Portraits, Red-shouldered Hawks, Sawgrass Lake Park|Tags: Buteo lineatus, close up, fledgling, Florida, forest, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Florida, immature, juvenile, perched, Pinellas County, portrait, raptor, RAW files, Red-shouldered Hawk, Sawgrass Lake Park, swamp, young|

This very cooperative juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was used to the people who frequented Sawgrass County Park and it would land very close to humans.

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Friday Photos: A Friendly Swainson’s Hawk

By Mia McPherson|June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Portraits, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, Antelope Island State Park, bird ID, Buteo swainsoni, close up, Great Salt Lake, hawk, hawks, mobile blind, perched, portrait, preening, raptor, sign, speed limit sign, Swainson's Hawk, water|

Last Friday I came upon this Swainson's Hawk; not just once but twice, perched on signs very close to the road.

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Northern Harrier in Low Light

By Mia McPherson|May 16th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: bird ID, bird photography, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, falling snow, flight, fog, harrier, harriers, hawks, hovering, inversion, low light, Marsh hawk, marshes, Northern Harrier, raptors, snow, Wasatch Mountains, winter|

I don't mind the motion blur in these images and because northern harriers hunt by looking down at the ground for their prey I was very happy to get eye contact in both frames.

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Nesting Northern Harrier

By Mia McPherson|May 7th, 2011|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, female, flight, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Hen Harrier, hovering, landing, marsh, Marsh hawk, marshes, nest, nesting, nesting material, Northern Harrier, wetlands|

Tt was the first time that I have ever seen a Northern Harrier building a nest. It more than made my day!

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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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Northern Harrier expelling a pellet

By Mia McPherson|December 29th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: Bird behavior, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, hawk, hawks, nature, Northern Harrier, pellet, pellet expulsion, regugitating a pellet|

This Northern Harrier took about a minute to expel the pellet and I filled my buffer several times trying to catch all the action. The harrier appeared to be concentrating so hard on regurgitating the pellet that it nearly fell off of the fence.

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Northern Harrier Wingtip Repair

By Mia McPherson|December 25th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, nature, Northern Harrier, photoshop repair, post processing, raptor, raptors, wingtip repair|

There are times when I think an image might be worth a little extra work in post processing and this young male Northern Harrier image seemed worth the effort to repair a clipped wingtip.

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Northern Harrier – Gray Ghost

By Mia McPherson|November 24th, 2010|Categories: Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Low light, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, fall, flight, flying, Gray Ghost, Gray Ghosts, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, hovering, male, marsh, Northern Harrier, raptors, wetlands|

I will have more opportunities with northern harriers in better light this winter and while I wouldn't consider this image perfect, I am happy with the results I obtained while photographing this "Gray Ghost".

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A Matter Of Taste?

By Mia McPherson|September 20th, 2010|Categories: Beaverhead County, Centennial Valley, Critique Forums, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Short-eared Owls, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: a matter of taste, adult, Asio flammeus, bird photography, birds, Buteo swainsoni, critique forum, female, hawk, hawks, low light, Montana, owl, owls, Short-eared Owl, summer, valley|

I got excited while I was on the refuge when I spotted a female Short-eared Owl that flew up from the gravel road and landed on a fence post in a heavy, swirling fog.

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