smoky – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Smoky Sunrise At Sunnymede Trail Park

By Mia McPherson|March 13th, 2025|Categories: Arkansas, Sebastian County, Sunnymede Trail Park|Tags: Arkansas River, dawn, forest, park, silhouette, smoky, sunrise, trail, trees, urban, water, winter|

I went to a new area of Arkansas yesterday morning and explored Sunnymede Trail Park which is in Fort Smith on the banks of the Arkansas River with Steve Creek.

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Day At Mount Magazine State Park With Steve Creek

By Mia McPherson|August 26th, 2023|Categories: Arkansas, Eastern Cottontails, Logan County, Mount Magazine State Park, White-tailed Deer|Tags: adult, Arkansas, bluffs, buck, close up, clouds, cottontail, cottontails, deer, doe, Eastern Cottontail, eating, female, fence, forest, grass, grasses, landscape, leaves, Logan County, male, Mount Magazine, Mount Magazine SP, Mount Magazine State Park, mountains, Mt Magazine, Odocoileus virginianus, rabbit, rabbits, road, roadside, scenic, scenic view, sky, smoke, smoky, spring, Sylvilagus floridanus, trees, valley, view, walkway, White-tailed Deer|

I've been meaning to share these images taken on a June day spent with my dear friend Steve Creek from Mount Magazine State Park in Arkansas for weeks.

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Cooperative West Desert Red-tailed Hawk

By Mia McPherson|September 13th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, calm cooperative, confiding, desert, errant, feather, foothills, habitat, hawk, hawks, haze, head, inset, junipers, Juniperus osteosperma, look, mountains, over the shoulder, perched, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, sky, sky island mountains, smoky, summer, Utah Juniper|

Last week I photographed a very cooperative adult Red-tailed Hawk that was next to a road in the West Desert of Utah on a smoky morning.

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Adult Red-tailed Hawk Lifting Off

By Mia McPherson|September 11th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, altitude, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, desert, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, haze, juniper, Juniperus osteosperma, perched, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, sky island mountains, smoky, summer, taking off, Utah Juniper|

It didn't take long before the Red-tailed Hawk raised its wings to lift off from the juniper with a smoky blue sky in the background.

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Small Herd Of Mule Deer On A Smoky Morning

By Mia McPherson|September 10th, 2021|Categories: Mule Deer, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: deer, doe, grasses, haze, herd, juniper, Juniperus osteosperma, morning, mountains, Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus, sky island mountains, smoke, smoky, Utah Juniper, wildfire, young|

Yesterday morning I photographed a small herd of Mule Deer in a smoky haze while I was looking for birds in the West Desert.

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Rufous Hummingbird For National Hummingbird Day

By Mia McPherson|September 4th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rufous Hummingbirds, Utah|Tags: bee plant, blooming, Cleomella serrulata, desert island, fall migration, female/immature, flight, flowering, flying, hovering, hummingbird, hummingbirds, low light, migration, native, pink wildflowers, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, smoky, summer, wildflowers|

Today is National Hummingbird Day and I am celebrating by sharing some Rufous Hummingbird photos I took earlier this week on Antelope Island.

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Rufous Hummingbird Plus Smoky Rising Sun Photos

By Mia McPherson|September 1st, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Low light, Rufous Hummingbirds, Utah, western skies|Tags: bloom, blooming, Cleomella serrulata, desert island, eating, fall migration, feeding, flight, flying, haze, hovering, hummingbird, hummingbirds, immature/female, low light, morning, nectaring, pink wildflowers, rising, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, smoke, smoky, smoky haze, summer, sun, tail flare, wildfires, wildflowers|

Yesterday I went out to Antelope Island for the first time since April and I took hundreds of Rufous Hummingbird photos plus some of the rising sun.

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Poppies, Birds, Trees, Butterflies And A Smoky Haze

By Mia McPherson|August 5th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Flatbud Prickly Poppy, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, Weidemeyer's Admiral Butterflies, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: Abies concolor, admiral, admirals, adult, Argemone munita, birds of prey, bloom, blooming, branch, Buteo jamaicensis, butterflies, butterfly, cone, cones, creek, dawn, desert, Douglas fir, fir, firs, flowering, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, juvenile, Limenitis weidemeyerii, mountains, native, poppies, poppy, Prickly Poppy, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, puddling, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir, sky, sky island mountains, smoky, smoky haze, summer, tree, trees, Weidemeyer's Admiral, White Fir, white wildflowers, wildflowers, young|

The first time I raised my lens yesterday morning it was for blooming Prickly Poppies that were along the shoulder of the bumpy gravel road.

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Vesper Sparrow Lifting Off

By Mia McPherson|July 31st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Vesper Sparrows|Tags: adult, desert, Fragrant Sumac, freshwater seep, lift off, lifting off, Poocetes gramineus, Rhus aromatica, seep, sky, smoky, sparrow, sparrows, sumac, summer, take off, taking off, Vesper Sparrow|

While looking through my archives yesterday I came across this image of a Vesper Sparrow I photographed last September near a freshwater seep in Box Elder County.

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Yellow Warbler Photographed In A Smoky Haze

By Mia McPherson|July 27th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Yellow Warblers|Tags: branch, canyon, female/immature, hazy, hop, hopped, lichen, lichen encrusted, mountains, moving, riparian habitat, Setophaga petechia, smoky, summer, Summit County, tilted head, Utah, warbler, warblers, Wasatch Mountains, Yellow Warbler|

Yesterday morning the second bird I photographed was a Yellow Warbler on an old branch in a smoky haze high in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Turkey Vulture, An Aspen And A Smoky Haze

By Mia McPherson|July 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Turkey Vultures, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, aspen, aspens, birds of prey, canyon, Cathartes aura, leaves, mountains, perched, Populus tremuloides, Quaking Aspen, raptors, smoky, smoky haze, summer, tree, Turkey Vulture, vulture, vultures, wildfires|

The last bird I photographed high in the Wasatch Mountains three days ago was an adult Turkey Vulture perched in an aspen in a smoky haze.

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Male Spotted Towhees – One Immature And One Adult

By Mia McPherson|September 14th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Spotted Towhees, Utah|Tags: adult, adult plumage, colorful, desert, Fragrant Sumac, hatch year, immature, male, molt, molting, Pipilo maculatus, raggedy, ranchlands, Rhus aromatica, seep, smoke, smoky, sparrow, sparrows, Spotted Towhee, sumac, summer, towhee, towhees, young|

Spotted Towhees are among the most colorful members of the sparrow family and I always enjoy photographing them on those occasions when they are out in the open.

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I’m Just Mad About Sparrows

By Mia McPherson|September 8th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Brewer's Sparrows, Lincoln's Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Utah, Vesper Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: adult, branches, Brewer's Sparrow, desert, Fragrant Sumac, immature, juvenile, Lincoln's Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, Passerculus sandwichensis, Poocetes gramineus, Rhus aromatica, rose hips, roses, Savannah Sparrow, sky, smoky, sparrow, sparrows, Spizella breweri, sumac, Vesper Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, wild roses, young, Zonotrichia leucophrys|

I had a great time photographing all of the sparrow species I saw two days ago and I could have stayed with them all morning long. I might do just that later this week.

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Focusing On Taking Immature Cooper’s Hawk Photos

By Mia McPherson|September 7th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Cooper’s Hawks, Utah|Tags: accipiter, Accipiters, birds of prey, blooming, Cooper’s Hawk, defecating, desert, early morning light, gate, hawk, hawks, immature, morning, poop, pooping, railing, ranch, raptors, smoky, sunflowers, wild Sunflowers, wildflowers, young|

The first bird I photographed yesterday morning was an immature Cooper's Hawk that I found because I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk on a cliff face that the young accipiter decided to harass.

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