Trees, Shrubs and Flowers – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

California Tortoiseshell Butterfly And Blooming Fragrant Sumac

By Mia McPherson|April 26th, 2022|Categories: Box Elder County, California Tortoiseshell Butterflies, Shrubs, Trees, Shrubs and Flowers, Utah|Tags: blooming, bush, buterflies, butterfly, California Tortoiseshell, desert, Fragrant Sumac, freshwater seep, memories, Nymphalis californica, perched, Rhus aromatica, shrub, spring, sumac, wildflowers|

I had this California Tortoiseshell butterfly nectaring on blooming Fragrant Sumac up in a far northern Utah desert in my viewfinder four years ago today.

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Low Light Male Mountain Bluebird

By Mia McPherson|April 22nd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Mountain Bluebirds, Scenics, Summit County, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, aspen, aspens, bluebird, bluebirds, branches, canyon, conifers, fog, low light, male, Mountain Bluebird, mountains, perched, Populus tremuloides, Quaking Aspen, Sialia currucoides, snow, snowy, spring, thrush, thrushes, trees, twigs, Wasatch Mountains|

Two days ago while I was high in the Wasatch Mountains this adult male Mountain Bluebird landed close enough for me to take photos of him.

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Spring Flowering Gray’s Biscuitroot

By Mia McPherson|April 6th, 2022|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Gray’s Biscuitroot, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: Antelope Island State Park, biscuitroot, biscuitroots, bloom, blooming, Davis County, desert island, flowering, grasslands, Gray's Biscuitroot, Lomatium grayi, native, spring, Utah, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

The first wildflowers I photographed this spring were some Gray's Biscuitroot that I found blooming on the north end of Antelope Island last week.

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Snow Dusted Views Of Utah’s West Desert Mountains

By Mia McPherson|October 14th, 2021|Categories: Tooele County, Trees, Utah, West Desert|Tags: Abies concolor, autumn, canyon, cone, cones, Douglas fir, dusted, fall, fir, firs, ice, juniper, junipers, Juniperus osteosperma, landscape, mountains, peaks, Pseudotsuga menziesii, rabbitbrush, rock, rocks, sage, sagebrush, sky, snow, snowy, tree, trees, Utah Juniper, views, water droplet, White Fir|

I saw snow on Utah's West Desert mountains for the first time since late spring so I thought I'd share a few views of what I saw while out there yesterday morning.

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Clouded Sulphur Butterfly And Rabbitbrush

By Mia McPherson|September 29th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Clouded Sulphur Butterflies, Shrubs, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, autumn, bloom, blooming, butterflies, butterfly, close up, Clouded Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur butterfly, Colias philodice, Ericameria nauseosa, fall, feeding, flowering, nectaring, rabbitbrush, ranchlands, roadside, Rubber Rabbitbrush, sulphur, sulphurs, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

I got lucky at one rabbitbrush when I found a Clouded Sulphur butterfly nectaring on what I believe is a Rubber Rabbitbrush.

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Thoughts on Our Drought, Douglas Firs, And Birds

By Mia McPherson|September 27th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, autumn, branch, canyons, cone, cones, desert, desert mountains, Douglas fir, drought, drought stressed, exceptional drought, fall, firs, mountains, nuthatch, nuthatches, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir, Sitta canadensis, sky island mountains, tree|

Drought stressed Douglas Fir trees will produce what is called a "stress crop" of cones which is what I believe is happening to the firs in this location.

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Late Summer Turkey Vulture And Common Sunflowers

By Mia McPherson|September 16th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, birds of prey, bloom, blooming, Box Elder County, Cathartes aura, Common Sunflower, desert, flowering, Helianthus annuus, metal pipe, pipe, raptors, summer, sunflower, sunflowers, tongue, Turkey Vulture, Utah, vulture, vultures, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

Yesterday I found an adult Turkey Vulture perched on a metal pipe with a field of sunflowers below and it behind it. I liked the pop of yellow in my photos of this bird.

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Western Honey Bee And Common Mullein Photos

By Mia McPherson|September 3rd, 2021|Categories: Honey Bees, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Apis mellifera, bee, bees, bloom, blooming, canyon, Common Mullein, European Honeybee, flight, flowering, flying, introduced, mountains, mullein, mulleins, non-native, nonnative, pollen, riparian zone, summer, Western Honeybee|

Both Common Mullein and the Western Honey Bee are introduced, non-native species yet I can't resist photographing them when given the opportunity.

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Common Bugloss – Late Summer Wildflowers

By Mia McPherson|August 31st, 2021|Categories: Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Anchusa officinalis, bloom, blooming, blue wildflowers, canyon, Common Bugloss, introduced, mountains, nonnative, wildflowers|

I went looking for birds yesterday but my best photos were of a clump of Common Bugloss, an introduced wildflower, in bloom.

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Black-capped Chickadee Photos – Foraging in Common Mulleins

By Mia McPherson|August 28th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Black-capped Chickadees, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, Black-capped Chickadee, bloom, blooming, branch, canyon, chickadee, chickadees, Common Mullein, fence, foraging, introduced, Morgan County, mountains, mullein, mulleins, nonnative, Poecile atricapillus, riparian zone, summer, Utah, Verbascum thapsus, Wasatch Mountains, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

Two days ago I was able to spend a few minutes taking Black-capped Chickadee photos as small flock of them foraged in Common Mulleins.

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Roundleaf Snowberry Berries

By Mia McPherson|August 16th, 2021|Categories: Morgan County, Shrubs, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: berries, berry, bloom, blooming, canyon, drupes, flowering shrub, Mountain Snowberry, mountains, pink wildflowers, ripening, Roundleaf Snowberry, shrub, snowberries, Snowberry, spider webs, spring, summer, Symphoricarpos rotundifolius, Utah, white wildflowers, wildflowers|

Last week while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I had the opportunity to take photos of Roundleaf Snowberry berries in between photographing birds.

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Blooming Common Sunflower With An Ant

By Mia McPherson|August 13th, 2021|Categories: Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: ant, bloom, blooming, canyon, close up, Common Sunflower, flowering, forest edge, Helianthus annuus, mountains, native, roadside, summer, sunflower, sunflowers, wild Sunflowers, yellow wildflowers|

I photographed some birds yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains but it was the blooming Common Sunflower with an ant that made me smile the most when I saw it on my screen.

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Messy Orange-crowned Warbler Plus Canada Thistles

By Mia McPherson|August 7th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Orange-crowned Warblers, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, blooming, branch, Canada Thistle, canyon, Cirsium arvense, damp, down, Leiothlypis celata, Lettuce from hell thistle, looking, mountains, non-native, nonnative, Orange-crowned Warbler, perched, purple wildflowers, riparian habitat, summer, thistle, thistles, warbler, warblers, wildflowers, willow thicket, willows, wood-warblers|

My subject was actually a slightly messy Orange-crowned Warbler perched on a branch looking down at the ground.

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Poppies, Birds, Trees, Butterflies And A Smoky Haze

By Mia McPherson|August 5th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Flatbud Prickly Poppy, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, Weidemeyer's Admiral Butterflies, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: Abies concolor, admiral, admirals, adult, Argemone munita, birds of prey, bloom, blooming, branch, Buteo jamaicensis, butterflies, butterfly, cone, cones, creek, dawn, desert, Douglas fir, fir, firs, flowering, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, juvenile, Limenitis weidemeyerii, mountains, native, poppies, poppy, Prickly Poppy, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, puddling, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir, sky, sky island mountains, smoky, smoky haze, summer, tree, trees, Weidemeyer's Admiral, White Fir, white wildflowers, wildflowers, young|

The first time I raised my lens yesterday morning it was for blooming Prickly Poppies that were along the shoulder of the bumpy gravel road.

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Blooming Common Mullein Images

By Mia McPherson|August 2nd, 2021|Categories: Hunt's Bumble Bees, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: bloom, blooming, Bombus huntii, bumble bee, bumble bees, canyon, Common Mullein, flight, flowering, flying, Hunt's Bumble Bee, mountains, mullein, mulliens, nectaring, non-native, nonnative, riparian habitat, summer, Verbascum thapsus, wildlflowers, yellow wildflowers|

Two days ago in between taking Willow Flycatcher photos in the Wasatch Mountains I took blooming Common Mullein images because they were nearby.

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Blooming Blue Elderberry

By Mia McPherson|July 17th, 2021|Categories: Blue Elderberry, Summit County, Trees, Shrubs and Flowers, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: blooming, blossoms, Blue Elderberry, canyon, drought, drought conditions, elderberries, elderberry, flowering, flowering shrub, flowering tree, mountains, Sambucus cerulea, Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea, summer, white wildflowers|

Blue Elderberry shrubs are blooming right now high in the Wasatch Mountains. Two days ago I took a few photos of the elderberry blossoms.

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Two-tailed Swallowtail And Showy Milkweed

By Mia McPherson|July 14th, 2021|Categories: Morgan County, Two-tailed Swallowtails, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, Asclepias speciosa, bee, blooming, butterflies, butterfly, canyon, flowering, forest, male, milkweed, milkweeds, mountains, native, nectaring, Papilio multicaudata, pink wildflowers, Showy Milkweed, swallowtail, swallowtails, Two-tailed Swallowtail, wildflowers|

When I returned home and could view my images on a large screen I was able to identify this swallowtail butterfly as a male Two-tailed Swallowtail.

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Surprise Pine Siskin

By Mia McPherson|July 8th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Pine Siskins, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, bee, bees, blooming, canyon, Carduelis pinus, Carduus nutans, finch, finches, flowering, mountains, Musk Thistle, nonnative, Pine Siskin, pink wildflowers, purple wildflowers, siskin, siskins, thistle, thistles, wildflowers|

Yesterday morning I was high in the Wasatch Mountains photographing bees on a Musk Thistle when a Pine Siskin landed on the flower.

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Spotted Sandpiper Foraging In White Water Crowfoot

By Mia McPherson|June 20th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Spotted Sandpipers, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Actitis macularia, adult, aquatic wildflower, canyon, Common Water-Crowfoot, creek, foraging, mountains, native, prey, Ranunculus aquatilis, sandpiper, sandpipers, Spotted Sandpiper, spring, water, White Water Buttercup, White Water-crowfoot, wildflower|

Two days ago I photographed an adult Spotted Sandpiper foraging in Common Water-Crowfoot in a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Blooming Lewis’s Flax

By Mia McPherson|June 6th, 2021|Categories: Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: bee, beetle, blooming, blooms, blue wildflowers, desert, drought, flax, flowering, Lewis's flax, Linum lewisii, mountains, prolonged drought conditions, sky island mountains, wildflowers|

I wanted to follow my post about a blue bird with blue wildflowers so here are some photos I took last week of Lewis’s Flax which are also known as Wild Blue Flax.

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Great Blue Heron and Mountain Goldenbanner

By Mia McPherson|June 2nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Great Blue Herons, Morgan County, Small in the frame, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, blooming, blooms, canyon, Filamentous algae, flowering, grasses, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, Mountain Goldenbanner, mountain meadow, Mountain Thermopsis, mountains, pond, spring, Thermopsis montana, wading birds, water, wildflowers, willows, yellow wildflowers|

Yesterday I wrote about a Golden Eagle in the Wasatch Mountains. Today I am writing about "golden" again. Blooming Mountain Goldenbanner and a Great Blue Heron.

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Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers And A Butterfly

By Mia McPherson|May 23rd, 2021|Categories: California Tortoiseshell Butterflies, Shrubs, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Abies concolor, aspen, aspens, bloom, blooming, blossoms, butterflies, butterfly, California Tortoiseshell butterfly, cone, cones, currant, currants, Douglas fir, fir, firs, Gray's Biscuitroot, Hydrophyllum occidentale, Lomatium grayi, Nymphalis californica, Populus tremuloides, prunus, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Quaking Aspen, Ribes cereum, shrubs, spring, trees, Wax Currant, Western Chokecherry, Western Waterleaf, White Fir|

On a recent trip to the West Desert sky island mountains in Tooele County I found my lens pointed at trees, shrubs, wildflowers and a butterfly.

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Bluebells, Currants, Warblers And A Duck

By Mia McPherson|May 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Mallards, Morgan County, Northern Yellow Warblers, Shrubs, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, alpine, Anas platyrhynchos, bath, bathing, beaver damage, bloom, blooming, blossoms, blue wildflowers, branch, branches, canyon, creek, creekside, currant, currants, dabbling ducks, drake, duck, ducks, female, flowering, flowers, fork, Golden Currant, male, Mallard, mallards, Mertensia ciliata, Mountain Bluebells, mountains, perched, pink wildflowers, purple wildflowers, Ribes aureum, riparian zone, Setophaga aestiva, shrub, singing, spring, stump, tapestry, warbler, warblers, water, water droplets, wildflowers, Yellow Warbler, yellow wildflowers|

I spent my morning up in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday and came home with photos of bluebells, currants, warblers, and a duck.

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Dreaming Of Wildflowers

By Mia McPherson|March 30th, 2021|Categories: Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Bearberry honeysuckle, Black Twin Berry, Black twinberry honeysuckle, blue wildflowers, Bluebells, flora, Lewis flax, Lewis's flax, Linum lewisii, Lonicera involucrata, Mertensia ciliata, Mountain Bluebells, Prairie Flax, shade, shrub, spring, Twinberry honeysuckle, Wild Blue Flax, wildflower, wildflowers, wildlflowers|

My dreams were filled with blooming wildflowers and me taking photos of them in the field so it seemed appropriate to share a few wildflower photos this morning.

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World Wetlands Day 2021

By Mia McPherson|February 2nd, 2021|Categories: American Barn Owls, American Bitterns, American Coots, Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Black-crowned Night Herons, Blue-winged Teals, Brewer's Blackbirds, Centennial Valley, Checkered White Butterflies, Cinnamon Teals, Common Mergansers, Conservation, Eight-spotted Skimmers, Environment, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Greater Scaups, Green-winged Teals, Halloween Pennants, Hooded Mergansers, Least Sandpipers, Lesser Scaups, Long-tailed Weasels, Marsh Wrens, Montana, Moose, Muskrats, Northern Harriers, Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers, Pectoral Sandpipers, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-breasted Mergansers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Reddish Egrets, Redheads, Ruddy Ducks, Rusty Blackbirds, Sandhill Cranes, Scarlet Skimmers, Snowy Egrets, Spotted Sandpipers, Tricolored Herons, Trumpeter Swans, Tundra Swans, Utah, Variegated Meadowhawk, White-faced Ibises, Wildflowers, Wilson's Phalaropes, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: birds, critical, insects, plants, protection, water, wetlands, wildlife, World Wetlands Day|

February 2nd is World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the critical role of wetlands for people, wildlife and our planet.

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2020 Photographic Year In Review

By Mia McPherson|December 31st, 2020|Categories: Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Bushtits, Common Loons, Cooper’s Hawks, Desert Tarantulas, Eastern Kingbirds, Elk, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ferruginous Hawks, Golden Eagles, Gray Catbirds, Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Green-tailed Towhees, Merlins, Mountain Bluebirds, Nashville Warblers, Northern Harriers, Northern Yellow Warblers, Pine Siskins, Red Foxes, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Red-tailed Hawks, Ring-billed Gulls, Rusty Blackbirds, Short-eared Owls, Townsend's Solitaires, Uinta Ground Squirrels, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, West Desert, Wild Turkeys, Wildflowers|Tags: 5.7 earthquake, blackbirds, bluebirds, catbirds, coronavirus, eagles, Elk, fox, ground squirrels, gulls, harriers, hawks, herons, hummingbirds, kingbirds, loons, Merlin, owls, rare birds, red tailed hawks, siskins, tarantula, towhees, turkeys, uncommon, wablers, year in review|

This is my 2020 photographic year in review. I'm selecting some of my favorite photos from 2020 and a few that just make me happy to see them.

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Common Sunflower, Great Basin Bumble Bee And Long-horned Bee At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|August 21st, 2020|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Common Sunflowers, Great Basin Bumble Bees, Long-horned Bees, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: bee, bees, bloom, blooming, Bombus centralis, bumble bee, bumble bees, Central Bumble Bee, Common Sunflower, Great Basin Bumble Bee, Helianthus annuus, Long-horned Bee, Longhorn Bee, pollinators, Tribe Eucerini, wildflower, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

When I photographed this Common Sunflower I noticed the Great Basin Bumble Bee right away then I saw the other bee and what appears to be two midges on the upper left quadrant of the flower petals.

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Pink Wildflowers: Showy Milkweed Buds & Blooms

By Mia McPherson|July 21st, 2020|Categories: Morgan County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Asclepias speciosa, blooming, blooms, blossoms, buds, canyon, flower buds, flowering, leaves, milkweed, milkweeds, mountains, native, pink wildflowers, Showy Milkweed, wildflowers|

Once again I missed out on photographing Showy Milkweed at the lower elevations of northern Utah but I made up for it by photographing some of these spectacular pink wildflowers high in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday.

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Least Chipmunk Eating A Serviceberry

By Mia McPherson|June 28th, 2020|Categories: Least Chipmunks, Morgan County, Shrubs, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, berries, berry, branches, canyon, chipmunk, chipmunks, close up, eating, fruit, fruiting shrub, fruits, growing season, Least Chipmunk, leaves, mid-way, midway, mountains, Neotamias minimus, serviceberries, serviceberry, shrub, Utah Serviceberry|

Last week while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains photographing birds I had a Least Chipmunk pop into my view while it ate a serviceberry.

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Black Henbane – Noxious Weeds In Utah

By Mia McPherson|June 23rd, 2020|Categories: Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: beer, Bilsen, Black Henbane, blooming, canyon, flowers, Germany, hog's-bean, Hyoscyamus niger, introduced, mountains, non-native, nonnative, noxious weed, Pilsen, stinking nightshade, toxic, wildflower|

This plant is Black Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and is also known as Henbane, Hog’s-bean, and Stinking Nightshade and is native to the Mediterranean.

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