Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Western Burrowing Owls are declining throughout their range

By Mia McPherson, on June 19th, 2013

Banded Burrowing Owl adult with telemetry device?

Anyone who follows my blog knows I adore Burrowing Owls, I am totally fascinated by these small “Clowns of the Desert” and could spend hours & hours watching and photographing them.

Last week while taking a quick look at a burrow I have been watching I noticed several chicks above the ground and one adult that was perched high up on a dried out sunflower stalk way off in the distance. I took a few quick shots of the adult and I am glad I did because with my naked eye I couldn’t see that someone has banded the adult and it appears that a telemetry device has also been attached to the adult. You might wonder why.

Adult Burrowing Owl

Western Burrowing Owls populations are declining, human population explosion and subsequent urban development plus habitat degradation has reduced Burrowing Owl populations by 60% and that number is still rising. Burrowing Owls are a Species of Concern in Utah and we should be concerned if we want to stop their population decline.

Adult and juvenile Burrowing Owl

The reason for the bands on the Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island is research on their populations and the telemetry device will be used to track their migration.

As a bird photographer I’m not exactly thrilled about the “bling” the owls are wearing but as a person concerned about their conservation and their future I do understand why the research is needed.

For facts on Western Burrowing Owls take a look at these sites:

Burrowing Owl Conservation Network

Center for Biological Diversity

Mia

*I am still away, thanks for your comments on these posts and please feel free to share this with your family & friends.

More Burrowing Owl images

Wired Western Wood-pewee

By Mia McPherson, on June 18th, 2013

Western Wood-pewee perched on barbed wire

I saw several Tyrant Flycatchers on my last trip to Montana, Eastern and Western Kingbirds and a couple of Western Wood-pewees that were hawking from fence posts and barbed wire along a gravel road. I haven’t photographed many Western Wood-pewees so I was interested in their aerial forays after the insects as I watched and photographed them through my viewfinder. These small birds flew off their perches rapidly to go after prey and were difficult to track in flight.

I hope to have more opportunities with Western Wood-pewees soon.

Mia

* I am on the road again, please feel free to share this post.

Adult Red-tailed Hawk in a Montana Sky

By Mia McPherson, on June 17th, 2013

Adult Red-tailed Hawk in a Montana Sky

There are issues with this image which I will cover shortly but I really liked the pose of this Red-tailed Hawk, the spread of the wings, the flared tail and the great eye contact I was able to capture as the Red-tail looked down towards me as it flew in a bright blue Montana sky.

The issues I spoke about? Well I wish that the sun had been lower so that the underside of the bird was completely lit up instead of just a portion of the bird’s right wing and a sliver of the hawk’s tail. I also wish there had been a few fluffy, white clouds in the sky to break up the expanse of blue.

You might notice also that the Red-tailed Hawk is going through a molt, there are two shorter secondaries on the right wing and one that is visible on the left. I won’t hold that against this handsome raptor though!

Mia

*I am away again, please feel free to share this post with your family and friends, I would appreciate it if you did!

More Red-tailed Hawk images

A Mountain Bluebird Tribute to Fathers

By Mia McPherson, on June 16th, 2013

Male Mountain Bluebird in a breeze

Yesterday my post focused on female Mountain Bluebirds and today I am presenting males in honor of Father’s Day. I was blessed to have two fathers, one who died when I was very young and later 0n my second Dad came into my life. Both of them are deeply missed, especially on this day.

Mountain Bluebird males help the female feed their nestlings and they are great providers, that is if you like insects, spiders and caterpillars! This male Mountain Bluebird was photographed in Montana, the breeze was blowing hard that day and for a few seconds he struggled to keep his balance on his perch. I guess some human dads struggle to stay on the pedestals we as children place them on too.

Male Mountain Bluebird with prey for its nestlings

Mountain Bluebirds hover at times like American Kestrels do when they are hunting. They must have great eyesight to see small insects and spiders before they dive down to capture them. I think this one caught a spider in the shrubs in a valley in Montana.

Mountain Bluebird male bringing in prey for its young

This male Mountain Bluebird brought in a rather hairy looking caterpillar to the nest box for his young.

Mountain Bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters and the bluebird boxes that have been put up all over the country has helped the bluebirds return from serious declines in previous decades.

Thanks to Neil Paprocki of WildLensInc.org I found out about “The Bluebird Man“; Al Larson, who has been putting up Bluebird nest boxes and monitoring them since 1978 and he has banded and astonishing 27,000 plus bluebirds in Idaho and who is continuing to monitor them at 91 years of age. In the near future I will do another post on this fascinating man and the movie that WildLensInc.org is producing about Al Larson, bluebirds and other secondary cavity nesters.

Beautiful blue Mountain Bluebird

This male Mountain Bluebird was photographed in Fremont County, Idaho not far from Henry’s Lake and Island Park. The blue of these males outshines sapphires!

I wish every dad who reads my blog a Happy Father’s Day!

Mia

*I am on the road again, you might think I am trying very hard to not let moss grow under my feet and you would be correct! Please feel free to share my posts with your family and friends.

Female Mountain Bluebirds in Montana

By Mia McPherson, on June 15th, 2013

Mountain Bluebird female with prey for her young – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

There were Mountain Bluebirds everywhere I looked on my recent trip to Montana where flashes of their brilliant blue plumage were a delight to my eyes. Mountain Blue birds are secondary cavity nesters which means they don’t create their own cavities but do use the cavities that other birds create, for instance Woodpeckers create their own cavities and bluebirds can use them later. Mountain Bluebirds have made a comeback since people started placing nest boxes in areas where they breed.

Female Mountain Bluebird on barbed wire - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

Mountain Bluebirds inhabit grasslands, open canyons, and alpine meadows in western North America. These females are more subtly colored than their male counterparts but I find that subtlety very appealing.

Both sexes were very busy bringing insects to their young in the nest boxes on my recent trip north, by now perhaps some of the chicks will have already fledged. Last year there was a late snow in the Centennial that caused mortality for the chicks of the earlier nesters, hopefully this year there will be far more flashes of blue in the Big Sky of western Montana!

Mia