natural – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Female Downy Woodpecker – Beauty of Sunlight and Shadows

By Mia McPherson|October 13th, 2024|Categories: Arkansas, Birds, Downy Woodpeckers, Sebastian County|Tags: adult, autumn, Downy Woodpecker, driftwood, Dryobates pubescens, fall, feeder, female, garden, light, natural, perched, shadows, spotlight, suburban, sunlight, woodpecker, woodpeckers, yard|

When this female Downy Woodpecker showed up at the suet feeder in such dramatic light and shadows, I knew I wanted to photograph her to showcase her beauty.

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Young Eastern Bluebird Fledging Day

By Mia McPherson|July 31st, 2024|Categories: Arkansas, Birds, Eastern Bluebirds, Sebastian County|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebirds, chick, delivering, Eastern Bluebird, feeding, female, fledge, fledging, food, garden, grub, hungry, immature, juvenile, leaving, male, natural, nest box, nestbox, Sialia sialis, spotlight, summer, thrush, thrushes, urban, vignette, yard, young|

Yesterday morning, the Eastern Bluebird in Steve Creek's third brood fledged. We sat for hours on his deck, waiting for the one chick to leave the nest box.

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My Mom Would Have Been 92 Today

By Mia McPherson|May 17th, 2024|Categories: Eastern Cottonwood, Miscellaneous, Oklahoma, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: American Sycamore, babies, birds of prey, bottomland hardwood forests, Buteo lineatus, Buteos, chicks, Cottonwood, Eastern Cottonwood, forest, hawk, hawks, heart, heart shape, immature, juvenile, leaves, light, native, natural, nest, nestling, Platanus occidentalis, Populus deltoides, raptors, Red-shouldered Hawk, shadow, spotlight, spring, sycamore, tree, tree trunk, trunk, young|

My mom would have been 92 today. I miss her terribly, but she is with me in so many ways. She was also with me when I went to Tishomingo NWR last Saturday.

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Tree Swallows Have Migrated Into Northern Utah

By Mia McPherson|March 25th, 2024|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, High Uintas, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Summit County, Tree Swallows, Uinta Mountains, Uinta National Forest, Utah|Tags: adult, aspen, aspens, close up, female, forest, male, mountains, natural, nest, nest box, nesting, nesting box, nesting cavity, nesting season, perched, Populus tremuloides, portrait, Quaking Aspen, spring, Summit County, swallow, swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, Tree Swallow, tree trunk, Utah|

Over the weekend, I read on Facebook that Tree Swallows have migrated back into Northern Utah for their breeding season. I am so excited about that news!

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Dark And Moody Common Loon Photos

By Mia McPherson|April 18th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Common Loons, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, Common Loon, Gavia immer, loon, loons, low light, magic, migration, mystery, natural, park, pond, shadowed, shadows, spotlight, spring, water, waterbirds|

The dark and moody nature of the Common Loon has made this bird species a popular subject of mythology and folklore.

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Nesting House Wrens And A Closed Gate

By Mia McPherson|May 1st, 2019|Categories: Birds, House Wrens, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: breeding season, forest, House Wren, knothole, natural, nest, nesting cavity, nesting season, spring, Troglodytes aedon, wren, wrens|

I tried to get up into a canyon in the Stansbury Mountains yesterday but was met with a closed gate so I turned my Jeep around and decided that I would explore a different canyon.

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Puffed Up Song Sparrow On Natural And Man Made Perches

By Mia McPherson|December 15th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Song Sparrows, Utah|Tags: adult, branch, fence rail, frost, frosted, frosty, man made, Melospiza melodia, natural, puffed up, Song Sparrow, sparrow, sparrows, winter|

These two Song Sparrow photos are a reminder to me that sometimes having man made objects in my photos isn't such a bad thing, it is just a matter of personal tastes.

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