sun – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Daybreak at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge

By Mia McPherson|June 18th, 2024|Categories: Johnston County, Oklahoma, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: bottomland hardwood forest, bottomlands, clouds, dawn, daybreak, Eagle Cove Overlook, Lake Texoma, sky, spring, sun, sunrise, tree, trees, vegetation, water|

Daybreak in nature is always a special time for me, no matter where I am on the planet. It is a time of awakening. Tishomingo NWR is gorgeous at daybreak.

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Happy Winter Solstice 2022

By Mia McPherson|December 21st, 2022|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah, Weather Phenomena|Tags: clouds, first day of winter, halo around the sun, mountains, Optical Phenomena, parhelion, sky, sun, Sun Dog, weather, weather phenomena, Winter Solstice|

Happy Winter Solstice! May the Winter Solstice bring to you the promise of endless brand new days.

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Glowing Sunset In The Heart Of A Spruce Tree

By Mia McPherson|December 12th, 2022|Categories: Salt Lake County, Trees, Utah|Tags: autumn, boughs, branches, fall, glowing, heart, picea, snow, spruce tree, sun, sunset, tree|

For a brief period of time in December when conditions are right I can see the glowing sunset in the heart of my neighbor's spruce tree each year.

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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: 7:40 am, 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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Recent Birds I’ve Found In The West Desert

By Mia McPherson|May 31st, 2021|Categories: Birds, House Wrens, Lazuli Buntings, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, Warbling Vireos, West Desert, Western Kingbirds|Tags: adult, barbed wire, basking, branch, bunting, buntings, Buteos, canyon, fence, fence post, foothills, foraging, forest, hawk, hawks, House Wren, juniper, junipers, Juniperus osteosperma, kingbird, kingbirds, Lazuli Bunting, male, mixed deciduous conifer forest, morning, mountains, Passerina amoena, perched, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, sky, sky island mountains, spring, sun, Troglodytes aedon, Tyrannus verticalis, tyrant flycatchers, Utah Juniper, vireo, Vireo gilvus, vireos, Warbling Vireo, warmth, Western Kingbird, wild rose, wooden post, wren, wrens|

Last week I made two trips out to the West Desert and today I am sharing a medley of recent birds that I found while I was out there.

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Northern Shoveler, The Rising Sun And Fog

By Mia McPherson|November 16th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Shovelers, Utah|Tags: adult, dabbling ducks, duck, ducks, fog, Northern Shoveler, rising, rising sun, shoveler, shovelers, Spatula clypeata, steam fog, sun, Wasatch Mountains, water, waterfowl, wetlands, winter|

Three days ago there was a little bit of fog at Farmington Bay WMA while the sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains which set up the conditions I needed to take this Northern Shoveler photo.

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Migrating Turkey Vultures Are On The Wing

By Mia McPherson|March 9th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah|Tags: Cathartes aura, fence post, flight, flying, migration, sagebrush, spring, sun, Turkey Vulture, vulture, vultures, warming|

I miss seeing and photographing Turkey Vultures during the winter and now I am excited that very soon I'll be seeing them roosting on fence posts, rocky outcroppings, cattle gates, trees, corrals and the ground, riding the thermals, thermoregulating and scarfing up road kill all over the place!

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Turkey Vultures – Feathered Gatekeepers

By Mia McPherson|May 17th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah|Tags: bill, body temperatures, Cathartes aura, close up, feather, gatekeepers, gates, green gate, perched, poop, portrait, preening, red gate, resting, sun, thermoregulating, thermoregulation, Turkey Vulture, vulture, vultures, walking, warming up, weathered|

Normally I prefer natural perches for my subjects but I rather enjoyed photographing these Turkey Vultures and thinking of them as feathered gatekeepers.

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An Exceptionally Obliging Turkey Vulture in Box Elder County

By Mia McPherson|May 14th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Cathartes aura, close up, cooperative, desert, fanned, fence post, fluffy, obliging, perched, pooping, portrait, post, raptors, rousing, stretch, stretching, sun, tail, Turkey Vulture, vulture, vultures, warming, wing lift, wooden post|

I found an exceptionally obliging Turkey Vulture in Box Elder County warming up in the morning sun.

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An American Avocet

By Mia McPherson|June 19th, 2012|Categories: American Avocets, Antelope Island State Park, Utah|Tags: adult, American Avocet, Antelope Island State Park, avocet, avocets, breeding plumage, Recurvirostra americana, scorched, shorebirds, sun, vegetation|

Currently I am considering pursuing legal action against a commercial web site in Layton, Utah that has stolen 4 of my copyrighted images and used them on their site. The process of making a legal claim is daunting to me, however; I feel that I have to stand up and fight for what is legally mine AND protected by law.

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People, Birds And A Sea Star In A Sea Fog

By Mia McPherson|February 28th, 2012|Categories: American Herring Gulls, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Pinellas County, Ring-billed Gulls, Sea Stars|Tags: American Herring Gull, beach, beach walkers, feeding, fog, fog bank, foggy, Gulf, gull, gulls, Larus delawarensis, Larus smithsonianus, Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla, low light, people, preening, resting, Ring-billed Gull, sand-crawled, sea fog, Sea Star, Sea Stars, starfish, sun, sunrise|

I'm glad I didn't turn around to head home when I saw the thick sea fog that morning, if I had I may have missed photographing some of these beautiful things.

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