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.

Female Duck ID Quiz

By |January 8th, 2013|Categories: Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Swans, Ducks and Geese, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed this female duck yesterday morning at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in northern Utah, she was on ice that was covered by frost flowers and was moving towards a group of males that were in open water.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron – A Winter Treat

By |January 6th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've mentioned before that Great Blue Herons stay in the Salt Lake Valley over winter even though the temperatures get very cold and so do some of the Black-crowned Night Herons.

Coyote On A Snowy Morning

By |January 2nd, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Coyotes, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The weather forecast for yesterday was "mostly sunny" and once again the weather forecasters were wrong, at least for the period of time I was out photographing on Antelope Island State Park.

Goodbye 2012 – Hello 2013

By |January 1st, 2013|Categories: American Bison, American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Beaverhead County, Burrowing Owls, California Gulls, Centennial Valley, Coyotes, Montana, Moose, Northern Harriers, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-tailed Hawks, Short-eared Owls, Snowy Egrets, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, valley, western skies|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

2012 was a fantastic year for me as a photographer and I am looking forward to the joys that 2013 will bring. Happy New Year to all.

Chukar Images – 4 Hits – 1 Miss

By |December 31st, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I spotted a covey of Chukars on Antelope Island foraging in the snow, this Chukar was pulling guard duty and standing on top of a snow covered rock and for a bit it was calling.

600th post – An Antelope Island Snow Day

By |December 30th, 2012|Categories: American Bison, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Coyotes, Davis County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I wanted to share a few images taken two days ago when Antelope Island was covered with a fresh snow fall. The entire island looked glorious and the sunlight caused the snow to sparkle much to my delight.

Common Raven in the snow – An exposure problem

By |December 29th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Common Ravens, Exposure Compensation, Light angles, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Photographing dark birds such as this Common Raven is a challenge and knowing how to expose properly as well as getting the right angle of light is critical in producing a quality image.

Chukar In Fresh Fallen Snow

By |December 28th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Fresh snow fell on Antelope Island last night and it made for wonderful settings for the subjects I photographed this morning like this Chukar. I haven't been seeing the Chukars regularly lately so I was very pleased to see them again.

Tricolored Heron Shaking It Up On Tip Toes

By |December 28th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Tricolored Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Great Blue Heron I photographed on Christmas Day seems to have focused my attention on wading birds, yesterday it was Reddish Egrets and this morning I present a Tricolored Heron shaking its feather while on tip toes

Reddish Egret Morphs

By |December 27th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These two Reddish Egrets; a dark and a white morph, were photographed on the same day at Fort De Soto's north beach in May of 2009 and both of them were showing signs of being in breeding plumage.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Christmas Day 2012

By |December 26th, 2012|Categories: Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Christmas Day of 2012 turned out to be as beautiful as I hoped at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge because of bright skies, snow on the ground, birds and the expansive views.

Images of Christmas Past – Happy Holidays

By |December 25th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Australia, Bald Eagles, Birds, Burnie, Common Mergansers, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Miscellaneous, Northern Harriers, Roseate Spoonbills, Tasmania|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I took a stroll down memory lane, actually I looked for images I have taken either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my files but in a way that is taking a stroll down memory lane.

Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow In A Snow Storm

By |December 24th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Low light, Small in the frame, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

The White-crowned Sparrow in this image is small in the frame, the bird isn't super sharp and there isn't a lot of contrast or color to the photo either yet the image speaks to me.

More on Escaped Falconry Birds

By |December 23rd, 2012|Categories: American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Peregrine Falcons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Throughout these three experiences in finding escaped falconry birds what I have learned is that falconry is for experts not for people who just think it is cool to have a pet raptor.

Short-billed Dowitcher On The Wrack Line

By |December 20th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Short-billed Dowitchers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed this Short-billed Dowitcher and the out of focus Sanderling the day after a storm had pushed mounds of Sargassum seaweed onto the wrack line and the birds were busy looking for food within it.

Fledgling Burrowing Owl

By |December 19th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Burrowing Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This fledgling Burrowing Owl was just learning to fly at the time and wasn't always great at landing. When I took this image it had made a soft crash landing into the Rabbitbrush and it was trying to get its balance back.

Western Meadowlark Lift Off

By |December 18th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

This Western Meadowlark image was taken last month on Antelope Island State Park. I meant to post it earlier but forgot because I got so busy trying to set up my new computer. Life outside of bird photography does get in the way at times.

Red Knot In Early Morning Light

By |December 17th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Pinellas County, Red Knots|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A simple image of a Red Knot taken in Florida in early morning light. Morning has been; and is, my favorite time of day to photograph birds and other wildlife because the rising sun can add drama and a warm glow to whatever subject I am photographing.

Male American Kestrel Lifting Off

By |December 16th, 2012|Categories: American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

There is something about American Kestrels that speaks to me. They might be our smallest falcon in North America but they have big attitudes, fierce characters and are terrific hunters.

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