portrait – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Spring Male Yellow-headed Blackbird Portraits

By Mia McPherson|April 3rd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: adult, alert, blackbird, blackbirds, Box Elder County, calls, close up, desert, fluffed up, male, perched, portrait, ranchlands, road, singing, song, spring, Utah, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, Yellow-headed Blackbird|

When I was up in northern Utah two days ago there was a male Yellow-headed Blackbird that was so close that all I could do was take portraits of him.

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Spring Pronghorn Buck Photos

By Mia McPherson|March 24th, 2022|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Pronghorn, Utah|Tags: adult, antelope, Antilocapra americana, buck, close up, Davis County, desert island, male, mammals, portrait, Pronghorn, pronghorns, shed, spring|

I was able to get out into the field yesterday morning and while I was on Antelope Island State Park I took a series of spring buck Pronghorn photos.

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Male Great-tailed Grackle – Whatchu Lookin’ At?

By Mia McPherson|March 18th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Great-tailed Grackles, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, blackbird, blackbirds, breeding season, close up, displaying, grackle, grackles, Great-tailed Grackle, male, park, pine, portrait, Quiscalus mexicanus, sky, tree, urban, winter|

When I photographed this Great-tailed Grackle male in a pine yesterday I was torn between focusing on taking photos of him and laughing out loud.

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It Is Great-tailed Grackle Breeding Season

By Mia McPherson|March 16th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Great-tailed Grackles, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, bath, blackbird, blackbirds, breeding display, breeding season, close up, courtship display, displaying, female, grackle, grackles, Great-tailed Grackle, male, park, portrait, Quiscalus mexicanus, resting, rushes, Salt Lake County, urban, Utah, wet, winter|

I had a fun time at my local pond yesterday because it is Great-tailed Grackle breeding season and photographing these grackles kept me on my toes.

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Winter American Crow Portraits

By Mia McPherson|February 17th, 2022|Categories: American Crows, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, American Crow, close up, corvids, Corvus brachyrhynchos, crow, crows, Davis County, Farmington Bay WMA, marsh, portrait, Utah, wetlands, winter|

Today I am sharing two American Crow portraits that I took this morning near the water's edge at Farmington Bay WMA.

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Four Immature Red-tailed Hawk Portraits

By Mia McPherson|February 12th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, close up, hawk, hawks, head on, hunting, immature, looking, perched, portrait, prey, ranchlands, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Utah, wooden post, young|

Two days ago I was able to take a nice series of immature Red-tailed Hawk portraits on my most recent trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Immature Light Morph Rough-legged Hawk Portraits

By Mia McPherson|February 8th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Rough-legged Hawks|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, frost, frosty, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, light morph, marsh, perched, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, subadult, wetlands, winter, young|

I had five minutes of bird bliss yesterday morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when I was able to take immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk portraits.

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Light Morph Male Rough-legged Hawk Winter Site Fidelity

By Mia McPherson|February 5th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, birds of prey, Box Elder County, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, light morph, male, marsh, one way sign, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, sign, site fidelity, territorial site fidelity, Utah, wetlands, winter|

I have been photographing a light morph male Rough-legged Hawk on or near a One Way sign at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge frequently this winter.

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Three California Gull Photos

By Mia McPherson|January 19th, 2022|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, California Gulls, Davis County, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, California Gull, close up, Definitive Alternate Plumage, desert island, Erodium cicutarium, gape, grass, grasses, gull, gulls, Larus californicus, near breeding plumage, orbital ring, portrait, Redstem Filaree, resting, urban, wildflowers, winter|

While taking a short break yesterday morning I went down to my local pond for a few minutes and took a few California Gull photos while I was there.

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Bear River MBR Common Raven Photos

By Mia McPherson|January 15th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Ravens, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, Common Raven, corvids, Corvus corax, frost, frozen, head, ice, marsh, pair, played, portrait, raven, ravens, shaggy throat, wetland, wing tips, winter|

Earlier this week as I drove slowly around the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I was able to take a short series of Common Raven photos as they played on the ice.

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Adult Male Rough-legged Hawk Portraits

By Mia McPherson|January 12th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, dawn, funny, goofy, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, head on, left, light morph, male, marsh, portrait, raptors, right, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, wetlands, winter|

For eleven minutes yesterday morning this Rough-legged Hawk was my main point of focus as I took hundreds of photos of him at Bear River MBR.

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Riverbank Red-tailed Hawk Dining Al Fresco

By Mia McPherson|January 9th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: al fresco, bank, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, close up, dining, eating, first winter, grass, grasses, Great Blue Heron, hawk, hawks, ice, immature, portrait, prey, raptors, river, river bank, riverbank, Utah, wetlands, winter, young|

Yesterday morning I photographed an immature Red-tailed Hawk dining al fresco on the bank of the Bear River on my way back to I-15 to head home.

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One Very Cooperative Male Rough-legged Hawk

By Mia McPherson|January 3rd, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, blue sky, Box Elder County, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, frost, frosted, frosty, hawk, hawks, light morph, male, marsh, perched, plastic marker, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, stretching, Tamarisk, tree, Utah, wetlands, wings, winter|

For the second year in a row the first bird I photographed in the New Year was a Rough-legged Hawk and both were photographed at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Canada Goose In Flight – My First Bird Sighting Of 2022

By Mia McPherson|January 2nd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, close up, eye, flight, flying, geese, goose, landing, mountains, portrait, skimming, small in frame, snow, snowy, staring, tree, urban, Wasatch Mountains, water, waterfowl, winter|

The first bird that I could positively identify seeing for 2022 was a Canada Goose flying away from my local pond yesterday morning.

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Male Rough-legged Hawk – The First Bird I Photographed in 2021

By Mia McPherson|December 30th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, male, marsh, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, wetlands, winter|

The first bird I photographed in 2021 was this adult male Rough-legged Hawk perched above the wetlands at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Christmas Day Birds 2021

By Mia McPherson|December 26th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Birds, California Gulls, Common Goldeneyes, Great Blue Herons, Great-tailed Grackles, Mallards, Rough-legged Hawks|Tags: adult, American Coot, Anas platyrhynchos, Ardea herodias, breeding plumage, Bucephala clangula, Buteo lagopus, California Gull, calling, Christmas, Christmas Day, close up, Common Goldeneye, coot, coots, crawdad, crayfish, dabbling ducks, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, eating, female, first winter, flight, flying, foraging, Fulica americana, goldeneye, goldeneyes, grackle, grackles, grass, gray sky, Great Blue Heron, Great-tailed Grackle, gull, gulls, hawk, hawks, heron, herons, hovering, Icterids, immature, Larus californicus, low light, male, Mallard, mallards, marsh, nonbreeding plumage, open bill, pond, portrait, Quiscalus mexicanus, rails, Rough-legged Hawk, splashing, urban, wading birds, water, water droplets, wetlands, winter, young|

I did get out to find and photograph birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA and then later in the morning I found more closer to home.

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Happy Winter Solstice 2021!

By Mia McPherson|December 21st, 2021|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Robin, close up, crabapple, foraging, fruit, Malus, Northern Hemisphere, portrait, robin, robins, sky, snow, Solstice, thrush, thrushes, Turdus migratorius, urban, winter, Yuletide|

Happy Solstice and Yuletide! Hello Winter! Happy return to the light!

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Focusing On Fall Wild Turkey Tom Photos

By Mia McPherson|November 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, behavior, close up, desert, displaying, face off, facing off, fall, male, Meleagris gallopavo, portrait, ranchlands, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

Yesterday morning the first birds I focused on taking photos of were Wild Turkey toms as they displayed for each other on desert ranchlands in northern Utah.

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Immature Black-billed Magpie Portrait At Sunrise

By Mia McPherson|November 9th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Davis County, Utah|Tags: autumn, Black-billed Magpie, close up, corvids, desert island, fall, hatch year, immature, iris, magpie, magpies, Pica hudsonia, portrait, sunrise, young|

I was looking through my archives yesterday when I came across this immature Black-billed Magpie portrait taken at sunrise on Antelope Island State Park.

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White-faced Ibis Close Up

By Mia McPherson|October 21st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, White-faced Ibises|Tags: adult, autumn, close up, fall, ibis, ibises, marsh, migratory, mobile blind, nonbreeding plumage, Plegadis chihi, portrait, red eyes, wading birds, water, wetlands, White-faced Ibis|

I'd almost forgotten about this White-faced Ibis close up photo that I took at the end of last month in the wetlands of Farmington Bay WMA.

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Autumn Wild Turkey Hen Portrait

By Mia McPherson|October 11th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: Acer negundo, autumn, Box Elder, canyon, close up, fall, fall colors, female, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, portrait, shadows, Stansbury Mountains, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

I found this Wild Turkey hen last autumn as she walked out of the shadows of the forest and into the bright morning light.

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Young Red Fox In A Meadow

By Mia McPherson|August 3rd, 2021|Categories: Morgan County, Red Foxes, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: alpine meadow, canyon, close up, forest edge, fox, foxes, grasses, immature, meadow, mountains, portrait, Red Fox, summer, Vulpes vulpes, young|

One year ago this morning I had a relaxing experience photographing a young Red Fox in an alpine meadow high in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Adult American Robin Portrait – Photos Can Transport Us To Another Place And Time

By Mia McPherson|June 27th, 2021|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, American Robin, canyon, close up, forest, mountains, portrait, robin, robins, summer, thrush, thrushes, Turdus migratorius|

One of the birds I photographed on the June morning was this American Robin that was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of it.

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Spring Black-crowned Night Heron Butt Shot

By Mia McPherson|May 5th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, Black-crowned Night Heron, butt shot, close up, flight, flying, heron, herons, marsh, night heron, night herons, Nycticorax nycticorax, phragmites, phrags, portrait, reflections, wading birds, water, wetlands, winter|

Some photos just make me laugh and this spring Black-crowned Night Heron butt shot image does just that.

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Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Portrait

By Mia McPherson|April 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, Buteo swainsoni, Buteos, close up, dark moprh, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, migration, portrait, ranchlands, raptors, spring, Swainson's Hawk|

I have shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and since today is the four year anniversary of me finding it I thought I would share one more.

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Spring Male Ring-necked Pheasant Portraits

By Mia McPherson|April 8th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Ring-necked Pheasants, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, early morning light, farm, male, Phasianus colchicus, pheasant, pheasants, portrait, ranch, Ring-necked Pheasant, spring, upland terrestrial birds, valley|

I was tickled to be able to take a nice series of male Ring-necked Pheasant portraits yesterday morning in early morning light in Box Elder County, Utah.

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Spring Sage Thrasher Portrait

By Mia McPherson|April 2nd, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Sage Thrashers, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, early morning light, mimids, Oreoscoptes montanus, portrait, Sage Thrasher, spring, thrasher, thrashers|

The second bird I photographed yesterday morning on Antelope Island State Park was an adult Sage Thrasher in gorgeous early morning light.

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Finding Greater Sage-Grouse Away From Their Leks

By Mia McPherson|March 26th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Dixie National Forest, Greater Sage-Grouse, Utah|Tags: adult, Aquarius Plateau, Centrocercus urophasianus, close up, Greater Sage-Grouse, grouse, habitat, lek, male, portrait, sage-grouse, sagebrush steppe, spring, upland terrestrial birds|

Finding Greater Sage-Grouse away from their leks isn't easy. It takes sharp eyes, keen observation skills, plus knowing what to look for.

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Winter American Coot Portraits

By Mia McPherson|February 18th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, close up, coot, coots, Fulica americana, pond, portrait, snow, snowy, winter|

After an extremely snowy night and morning I was able to get out yesterday afternoon and take some wintry American Coot portraits close to home.

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Snowy Spotted Towhee Portrait

By Mia McPherson|February 15th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Spotted Towhees, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, male, Pipilo maculatus, portrait, snow, snowy, sparrow, sparrows, Spotted Towhee, towhee, towhees, urban, winter|

There was about 2 1/2 inches of white stuff on the ground yesterday morning which allowed me to take this snowy Spotted Towhee portrait close to home.

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