Photographer and Author

About Mia McPherson

I am Mia McPherson. I became seriously passionate about bird photography while living in Florida. After my move West in 2009 I have spent much of my time photographing birds in Utah, Idaho, Montana, and beyond. As a nature lover, bird and wildlife photographer, I have a passion for capturing the beauty and grace of birds and wildlife in their natural habitats.
Life is good.

Waves And A Forster’s Tern

By |September 3rd, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Forster's Terns, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The nonbreeding Forster's Tern in these two images is the same bird and the images were taken ten frames and a few seconds apart as the tern stood on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.

Female Black-chinned Hummingbird

By |September 2nd, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

After looking at these images that I took last Friday I am wondering if this hummingbird that I photographed is a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird.

Calliope Hummingbirds

By |August 29th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Calliope Hummingbirds, Davis County, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I believe these are Calliope Hummingbirds but if I am wrong please do not hesitate to correct me, I don't get upset about things like that.

The Summer of Swainson’s Is Nearing An End

By |August 28th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Box Elder County, Centennial Valley, Davis County, Fremont County, Idaho, Montana, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It won't be long before Swainson's Hawks start to migrate to South America and some may already have started their journey south.

Great Blue Heron Up Close And Not So Close

By |August 26th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One December morning in 2008 I was sitting in the sand at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in Florida when a Great Blue Heron came up and perched on a driftwood stump that had washed up onto the shore.

Green Heron reacts to a Broad-winged Hawk

By |August 24th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Green Herons, Pinellas County, Sawgrass Lake Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One morning in 2008 I photographed this Green Heron at Sawgrass Lake Park in Pinellas County, Florida as it perched and preened on broken branch that was laying in the water.

Frustrations in Bird Photography – Dark Morph Ferruginous Hawk

By |August 23rd, 2013|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Ferruginous Hawks, Frustrations in bird photography, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The dark morph Ferruginous Hawk above had just lifted off from a power pole when I photographed it with a partly cloudy sky in the background.

Young Red-tailed Hawk

By |August 22nd, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last month while up in Montana I saw this young Red-tailed Hawk just standing in the road looking around and not acting the least bit concerned about the pickup or the two large lens that were pointed at it.

On the Wing Photography has landed in its new home!

By |August 21st, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Ferruginous Hawks, Montana|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Like this handsome Ferruginous Hawk that I photographed in the centennial Valley of Montana... On The Wing Photography has landed!

Nonbreeding Plumage Black Skimmer

By |August 10th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

When I did my post the other day on "Missing Fort De Soto" I found this Black Skimmer image in my archives while looking for photos to put in that post and wanted to share it.

Snowy Plovers – North America’s Smallest Plover

By |August 9th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Snowy Plovers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A while back I did a post on the Least Sandpiper which is the world's smallest sandpiper so I thought I would do a post about North America's smallest plover, the Snowy Plover.

Greater Sage-Grouse Of Beaverhead County, Montana

By |August 8th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Greater Sage-Grouse, Montana|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I saw and photographed my first Greater Sage-Grouse this summer in Beaverhead County, Montana while traveling through the Centennial Valley. Yay! Lifer!

Missing Fort De Soto

By |August 7th, 2013|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Greater Yellowlegs, Marbled Godwits, Pinellas County, Ring-billed Gulls, Roseate Spoonbills, Semipalmated Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Some days I find myself missing Fort De Soto so much it hurts, the birds I found there and the entire experience of just being there. It is just such an amazing place, how could I not miss it?

What Is The Last Thing A Jackrabbit Might See – A Ferruginous Hawk

By |August 6th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Montana|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Ferruginous Hawks west of the Continental Divide prefer rabbits as prey so what you see here might be the last thing a Cottontail or Jackrabbit might see.

American Coot On A Cold Winter Day

By |August 4th, 2013|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

American Coots aren't thought of as "gorgeous" birds but I do find them appealing and a challenge to expose properly because of the high contrast between the very dark feathers and the whiteness of the ivory colored bill.

Ragged Red-tailed Hawk In Molt

By |August 3rd, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Many of the adult Red-tailed Hawks that I saw and photographed in southwestern Montana on my last trip had worn feathers and were molting.

Two different Swainson’s Hawks

By |August 1st, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Red-tailed Hawks have the most variable plumages of North American hawks but Swainson's Hawks are also pretty variable, there are light morphs, intermediate morphs and dark morphs.

Juvenile Mountain Bluebird in Montana

By |July 31st, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last month and this month I wrote about Mountain Bluebirds in several posts that included images of adult males and females, today I am posting one image of the many fledglings I saw last week.

Simple Red-tailed Hawk photo from Montana

By |July 30th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This adult Red-tailed flew by at close range which gave me a very nice view of the underside of its wing that shows it was also molting though it didn't look as raggedy as some of the other adult Red-tailed Hawks looked.

Spots before my eyes – Spotted Sandpipers that is

By |July 29th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Montana, Pinellas County, Spotted Sandpipers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

So I finally have images of the breeding plumage of this small shorebird that show the spots that gave this bird the name Spotted Sandpiper!

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