legs – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Snowy Egret In Marsh Morning Light

By Mia McPherson|September 26th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, egret, egrets, Egretta thula, fall, fluffed, legs, marhsy, marsh, morning light, plumes, resting, shadowed, shadows, shore, Snowy Egret, spotlight, wading birds, water, wetlands|

One of the first birds I photographed this autumn was this fluffed-up Snowy Egret glowing in a natural spotlight in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA.

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Great Goldeneye-Merganser Showdown: Who Won the Shad?

By Mia McPherson|February 15th, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: Ardea herodias, bill, Bucephala clangula, chasing, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, feet, female, fish, following, Great Blue Heron, hen, ice, legs, male, marsh, Mergus merganser, prey, running, shad, sliding, slipping, thin, wading birds, winter|

On my last trip to Bear River MBR I saw and photographed a Goldeneye-Merganser showdown where the prize that was being fought over was a shiny shad.

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Snowy Egret With The Strangest Shadows I Have Ever Seen – How Does This Even Happen?

By Mia McPherson|October 1st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, bank, egret, egrets, Egretta thula, enclosed, fall, inside, legs, light, marsh, morning light, odd, projected, reflection, reflections, secondary shadow, shadow, shadows, Snowy Egret, strange, strangest, wading birds, water, weird, wetlands|

Yesterday morning I took a series of photos of a Snowy Egret at Farmington Bay WMA with the strangest shadows I have ever seen.

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Late Summer White-lined Sphinx Moth Images

By Mia McPherson|September 2nd, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah, White-lined Sphinx Moths|Tags: adult, back view, Cleomella serrulata, covered, desert island, feeding, flight, flying, hovering, Hyles lineata, legs, moth, moths, native, nectaring, pink wildflowers, pollen, pollinators, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, summer, White-lined Sphinx Moth, wildflowers, xeriscaping|

Of the hundreds of White-lined Sphinx moth photos I took two days ago I picked three to share today of the moth feeding on Rocky Mountain Bee Plant.

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Young Cedar Waxwing With A Crane Fly Leg Problem

By Mia McPherson|August 8th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Cedar Waxwings, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Bombycilla cedrorum, canyon, Cedar Waxwing, crane fly, fledgling, immature, juvenile, legs, mosquito hawk, mountains, open bill, perched, riparian habitat, summer, Wasatch Mountains, waxwing, waxwings, willow thicket, willows, young|

This young Cedar Waxwing may look like it is yawning, calling, or begging for food because of its wide open bill.

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Ferruginous And Rough-legged Hawk Lift Off Photos

By Mia McPherson|February 22nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteo regalis, Buteos, feathered legs, feathered tarsi, feet, Ferruginous Hawk, first winter, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, legs, lift off, lifting off, light morph, male, power pole, raptors, rock, rocks, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, take off, taking off, young|

Yesterday morning I was able to take Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawk lift off photos where both of the raptors still had their feet on their perches.

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Young Cedar Waxwing Photos

By Mia McPherson|August 10th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Cedar Waxwings, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Bombycilla cedrorum, canyon, Cedar Waxwing, close up, crane fly, eating, immature, juvenile, legs, Morgan County, mosquito hawk, mountains, open bill, perched, portrait, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, waxwing, waxwings, young|

I was excited when I found this young Cedar Waxwing out in the open and within the range of my lens right after it caught a crane fly to eat for breakfast.

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Photographing Pied-billed Grebes With Crayfish – Oh What Fun Can Be Had

By Mia McPherson|December 27th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Pied-billed Grebes, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: bill, crawdads, crawfish, crayfish, fun, funny, grebe, grebes, head, legs, mid air, photograph, photographing, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, pond, shaking, surfacing, tearing, urban, winter|

The funniest photo I took yesterday, the one that made me laugh out loud the hardest, was when a crayfish landed on the Pied-billed Grebe's head after the bird shook it hard.

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Feathered Tarsi – Ferruginous & Rough-legged Hawks Have Feathered Legs

By Mia McPherson|November 7th, 2017|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Ferruginous Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, bare legs, bare tarsi, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteo regalis, Buteo swainsoni, Buteos, feathered, feathered legs, feathered tarsi, Ferruginous Hawk, flight, hawk, hawks, legs, lift off, light morph, morph, perched, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, tarsus|

North America has two hawk (buteos) species that have feathered tarsi, or legs, those two species are Ferruginous Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks.

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White Ibis in breeding and nonbreeding plumage

By Mia McPherson|November 24th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, White Ibises|Tags: adult, bill, breeding plumage, Eudocimus albus, forage, foraged, Gulf of Mexico, ibis, legs, lores, nonbreeding plumage, Pinellas County, surf, wading birds, water, White Ibis|

There isn't much of a change between the plumage in breeding and nonbreeding White Ibis, primarily the differences are in the legs, bill and lores.

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