beak – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Focusing On A Greater Yellowlegs With A Small Fish

By Mia McPherson|2022-04-20T20:57:28-05:00October 24th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Greater Yellowlegs, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, beak, bill, fall, fall migration, fish, foraging, fry, Greater Yellowlegs, marsh, migration, prey, shorebird, shorebirds, small fish, Tringa melanoleuca, water, wetlands, yellowlegs|

I'd watched the Greater Yellowlegs foraging and most of the time the prey was too tiny to see but this little fish was a nice catch for the shorebird and for me.

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The Colorful Insides Of A Ring-billed Gull’s Bill

By Mia McPherson|2021-09-20T04:35:46-05:00September 27th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ring-billed Gulls, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, beak, bill, close up, colorful, fall, gull, gulls, inside, Larus delawarensis, mouth, Ring-billed Gull, tongue|

Just a simple post today of the colorful insides of a Ring-billed Gull's bill that I photographed yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA as it yawned.

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Rough-legged Hawk On A Snowy Day At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By Mia McPherson|2021-11-06T07:15:34-05:00September 14th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, beak, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, hawks, Hawks of Utah, head on, high key, low light, male, marsh, open, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, saliva, snow storm, stare, wetlands, winter|

I didn't see or photograph as many Rough-legged Hawks last winter as I have in previous years but I did have a close up, extraordinary experience with one who was expelling a pellet on a snowy, foggy day at Bear River MBR.

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Barn Swallow Nesting Season Is Happening Now In Northern Utah

By Mia McPherson|2021-03-12T04:18:23-06:00May 4th, 2018|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Barn Swallows, Birds, Davis County, Utah|Tags: adult, Barn Swallow, beak, biting gnats, close, Hirundo rustica, landing, mud, nesting behavior, nesting material, nesting season, no-see-ums, puddle, spring, swallow, swallows, wings up|

Barn Swallows are like tiny, feathered brick masons. One pellet by itself is nothing but combined pellets form the nests these birds use to raise their young in.

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Male American Kestrel On A Sign Post With His Prey

By Mia McPherson|2024-01-15T09:53:42-06:00January 3rd, 2018|Categories: American Kestrels, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, American Kestrel, beak, birds of prey, Falco sparverius, falcon, falcons, holding prey, kestrel, kestrels, lift off, marsh, post, prey, raptors, sign post, vole, wetlands, winter|

I've found American Kestrels to be "stickier" in cold weather and it wasn't much above 20°F when I photographed him as he consumed the vole bit by bit.

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Barn Swallow Nesting Season Has Begun

By Mia McPherson|2021-07-15T05:41:47-05:00April 17th, 2017|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Barn Swallows, Birds, Davis County, Utah|Tags: adult, Barn Swallow, beak, bill, clutch, Hirundo rustica, mud, nest construction, nesting material, nesting season, pellets, photo bomb, puddle, swallow, swallows, water|

Barn Swallows have returned for the nesting season here in northern Utah and if they aren't already building nests they will be constructing them very soon.

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American White Pelicans – PeliCam and PeliTrack

By Mia McPherson|2023-09-04T11:33:49-05:00March 26th, 2017|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American White Pelican, beak, bill, breeding colony, breeding season, caruncle, climate change, epidermal plate, flight, flock, fluffed up, flying, Great Salt Lake Institute, Gunnison Island, horn, nesting birds, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, Pelicam, pelican, pelicans, PeliTrack, pond, ridge, sky, soaring, Tracy Aviary, water, Westminster|

American White Pelicans are returning to their breeding grounds in Utah and I have already seen a few of them myself and though I haven't been able to photograph them yet I know I will soon.

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