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 spent much of my time photographing birds in Utah, Idaho, Montana, and beyond. Now I photograph in primarily in east central Oklahoma and Arkansas. 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.

Gunnison Island Pelicans Are On The Move – Help Out By Reporting Wing Tagged American White Pelicans

By |September 30th, 2018|Categories: American White Pelicans, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Bird photographers, birders, nature watchers and citizen scientists can help out by reporting all banded birds including our Gunnison Island American White Pelicans.

Snowy Egret Landing Sequence Plus Two Bonus Photos

By |September 29th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Four days ago I was able to photograph a Snowy Egret landing sequence that I liked because of the action of the bird, the setting and the lovely lighting I had at the time.

Immature Cedar Waxwing in the Wasatch Mountains

By |September 27th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Cedar Waxwings, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've been trying for over a month to get decent images of fledgling and juvenile Cedar Waxwings and hadn't succeeded but yesterday I was able to take a photograph of an immature waxwing that I actually like.

Female or Immature Dark-eyed Junco – Oreganus Group

By |September 26th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Dark-eyed Juncos, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Three days ago I was able to photograph a female or immature Dark-eyed Junco of the Oreganus Group when it flew in and landed not too far away from me and I have to admit that seeing it excited me because I enjoy these birds so much.

Snowy Egrets in Flight On A September Morning

By |September 25th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

It has been a while since I photographed Snowy Egrets so having them in my viewfinder yesterday morning was a real treat especially since they will be migrating soon and I will go the winter without seeing them.

Sage Thrashers, Northern Mockingbird, White-crowned Sparrow and Wild Rose Hips

By |September 22nd, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Mockingbirds, Sage Thrashers, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The birds I photographed on the wild rose bushes were adult and immature Sage Thrashers, an adult White-crowned Sparrow and one beautiful Northern Mockingbird.

Autumn Yellow-rumped Warblers Are On the Move

By |September 21st, 2018|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah, Yellow-rumped Warblers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've been spotting more and more Yellow-rumped Warblers over the past 10 to 14 days and I am excited because I have been expecting them to start showing up in my viewfinder.

Black-capped Chickadee Plus the Colors of Autumn

By |September 19th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Black-capped Chickadees, Little Dutch Hollow, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Typically I would prefer that all of the body of this Black-capped Chickadee was free of the out of focus elements in front of it but visually the abstract jumble of Autumn colored leaves stimulates my eyes and my brain.

Focusing on Ruby-crowned Kinglets in the Wasatch Mountains

By |September 17th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning I spent time focused on photographing Ruby-crowned Kinglets in a Wasatch Mountain Canyon in a thicket of hawthorn and chokecherry trees.

Winter Canada Geese – Longing For Cooler, Smoke and Wildfire Free Days

By |September 16th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I've spent a lifetime appreciating these large geese and when I have lived in locations where Canada Geese weren't present I have missed hearing them calling overhead or seeing them floating by on the water.

Cutest Bee Flies in the World on Rabbitbrush & Curlycup Gumweed

By |September 15th, 2018|Categories: Bee Flies, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed some of the cutest, fuzzy Bee Flies in the world this week nectaring on Rabbitbrush and Curlycup Gumweed in the Stansbury Mountains of the West Desert.

Molting Juvenile Spotted Towhee

By |September 14th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Little Dutch Hollow, Morgan County, Spotted Towhees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

This time of the year male and female Spotted Towhees have finished raising their broods and their young are learning how to be on their own but they do look a touch ragged as they molt into their adult plumage.

Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Portrait in the Stansbury Mountains

By |September 13th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

It isn't often that I am able to get close enough to a Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay that my only option is to take closeup portraits of them yet that is precisely what happened to me two days ago.

Let’s Talk Turkey About Wild Turkeys In A West Desert Canyon

By |September 12th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed a small flock of Wild Turkeys yesterday in the West Desert of Utah, specifically in a canyon of the Stansbury Mountains. I just never know when turkeys will show up and I am glad they did yesterday because I didn't photograph many other birds.

Roadside Green-tailed Towhee Photos

By |September 11th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago I was able to photograph a Green-tailed Towhee foraging next to a gravel road up in a Wasatch Mountain Canyon, getting these birds out in the open can be a challenge so I was excited that this towhee was in the clear.

Juvenile Osprey with a Tiger Trout in the Wasatch Mountains

By |September 10th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Little Dutch Hollow, Morgan County, Ospreys, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday the "unexpected" bird was a juvenile Osprey in the Wasatch Mountains. I'd say it was unexpected because I'd been photographing songbirds and wasn't expecting to see North America's "Fish Hawk" in the same area.

Northern House Wrens Foraging in the Wasatch Mountains

By |September 8th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Little Dutch Hollow, Morgan County, Northern House Wrens, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning I was delighted to find two Northern House Wrens foraging in a brush pile in the Wasatch Mountains not long after sunrise. This time of the year the wrens aren't singing like they do in the spring so I have to rely more on my eyes and not on a combination of my eyes and ears to locate them.

Western Branded Skipper Butterflies And Rabbitbrush

By |September 7th, 2018|Categories: Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, Video, West Desert, Western Branded Skipper Butterfly, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I saw plenty of Western Branded Skipper butterflies nectaring on blooming rabbitbrush in both the canyons I explored yesterday morning and I can't resist, nor do I want to, photographing wildflowers and butterflies.

Late Summer Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk With The Colors Of Fall

By |September 6th, 2018|Categories: Cooper’s Hawks, Little Dutch Hollow, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I know, I could grumble about not being able to photograph the young Cooper's Hawk taking its prey down just feet away from my Jeep but you know what? Being there to see nature in action was enough for me.

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant Plus a Bee in Flight

By |September 5th, 2018|Categories: Box Elder County, Honey Bees, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On Sunday I was up in Box Elder County looking for birds but I also felt I had to stop and take some images of Rocky Mountain Bee Plants that were blooming along side the road.

Western Warbling-Vireo With Autumn Colors In Northern Utah

By |September 4th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Little Dutch Hollow, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Western Warbling-Vireos|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I looked up and spotted a Western Warbling-Vireo not only out in the open plus it had gorgeous fall colors in the background. I locked focus onto the vireo and started taking images in a long burst!

Female or Immature Wilson’s Warbler Foraging in Box Elder County

By |September 3rd, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wilson's Warblers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

This female or immature Wilson's Warbler isn't a photographic lifer for me but it is the first time I have gotten a decent image of one, most of the time I've gotten blurry images of them of just a small part of the bird.

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