Wildflowers – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

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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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, Stansbury Mountains, 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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Black Henbane – Noxious Weeds In Utah

By Mia McPherson|June 23rd, 2020|Categories: Black Henbane, 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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Painted Lady Butterfly And Rocky Mountain Bee Plants

By Mia McPherson|June 10th, 2020|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Painted Lady Butterflies, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: butterflies, butterfly, Cleomella serrulata, Cosmopolitan, nectaring, Painted Lady, Painted Lady Butterfly, pink wildflowers, pollinating, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Thistle Butterflies, Vanessa cardui, wildflowers|

I'd forgotten about this Painted Lady butterfly I photographed in August of 2017 that I found while photographing hummingbirds on Antelope Island State Park.

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Broad-tailed Hummingbird Male Hovering Below Black Twinberry Honeysuckle Flowers

By Mia McPherson|May 21st, 2020|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: below, Black twinberry honeysuckle, blooming, breeze, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, canyon, construction, flight, flying, frustrations in bird photography, gale, honeysuckle, hovering, hummingbird, hummingbirds, Lonicera involucrata, male, mountains, Selasphorus platycercus, wildflowers, wind, yellow wildflowers|

Of the hundred or so images I took of the male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in that small and very windy area I only liked this one photo.

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Photographing Blooming Glacier Lilies

By Mia McPherson|April 21st, 2020|Categories: Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: alpine, bloom, blooming, canyons, Dogtooth Fawn Lily, Dogtooth Violet, Erythronium grandiflorum, flowering, flowers, Glacier Lily, lilies, lily, mountains, wildflower, Yellow Avalanche Lily, yellow wildflower|

I enjoyed my journey to photograph the Glacier Lilies yesterday, it was quiet, peaceful and very relaxing. No news, no negativity, and not thinking about what a mess our world is in helped me to de-stress.

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Immature Swainson’s Hawk, Golden Light And Common Sunflowers

By Mia McPherson|September 6th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: bird food, Buteo swainsoni, Buteos, Common Sunflower, early morning light, fence post, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, Helianthus annuus, immature, juvenile, native, perched, raptors, summer, sunflower, sunflowers, Swainson's Hawk, wild Sunflowers, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers, young|

Two days ago I was able to photograph an immature Swainson's Hawk in golden light perched on a fence post that was surrounded by bright yellow common sunflowers. Yes, I was blissed out.

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Two-striped Grasshopper Photographed on Showy Milkweed

By Mia McPherson|August 10th, 2019|Categories: Summit County, Two-striped Grasshoppers, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Asclepias speciosa, blooming, grasshopper, grasshoppers, Melanoplus bivittatus, milkweed, milkweeds, pink wildflowers, Showy Milkweed, Two-striped Grasshopper, wildflowers|

I researched Utah's grasshoppers and found out that this is a Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) and even though I may have seen this species of grasshopper before it is a photographic lifer for me.

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Blooming Showy Milkweed In The Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|August 3rd, 2019|Categories: Morgan County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Asclepias speciosa, blooming, butterflies, creek milkweed, Cupido amyntula, flowers, Greek milkweed, in bloom, native, pink wildflowers, Red Milkweed Beetle, showy butterfly weed, Showy Milkweed, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus, Western Tailed-Blue, wildflower, wildflowers|

I missed out on photographing Showy Milkweed in bloom in the lower elevations of northern Utah but not at the higher elevations of the Wasatch Mountains.

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Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird Sipping Nectar From A Lanceleaf Figwort

By Mia McPherson|July 30th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Broad-tailed Hummingbird, hummingbird, hummingbirds, Lanceleaf Figwort, male, nectaring, Scrophularia lanceolata, Selasphorus platycercus, sipping, summer, wildflower|

Just a short post today with a photo of a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird getting nectar from an unknown wildflower, or at least it is unknown to me.

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Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly Resting On Black Twinberry Honeysuckle

By Mia McPherson|July 29th, 2019|Categories: Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers, Wildlife|Tags: American Black Bear, Argynnis cybele, Argynnis cybele letona, Black twinberry honeysuckle, butterflies, butterfly, fritillary, fritillary butterfly, Great Spangled Fritillary, Lonicera involucrata, Speyeria|

I'm confident in my North American bird ID abilities but when it comes to Fritillary butterfly species ID in the Wasatch Mountains I feel stymied a lot of the time.

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Wild Roses in Bloom in Northern Utah

By Mia McPherson|July 1st, 2019|Categories: Box Elder County, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: bloom, blooming, introduced, native, naturalized, pink wildflowers, Rosa woodsii, rose, rose bush, roses, wild rose, wild roses, wildflowers, Wood’s Roses|

The wild roses, like many of the other wildflowers, don't bloom for long so I am happy that I took the time to photograph individual blossoms and the top of one of the rose bushes this year

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Dame’s Rocket – Invasive Biennial From Eurasia

By Mia McPherson|June 28th, 2019|Categories: Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: damask-violet, dame's gilliflower, Dame's Rocket, dame's-violet, dames-wort, Hesperis matronalis, invasive, mother-of-the-evening, mustard family, night-scented gilliflower, nonnative, perennial, pink flowers, purple flowers, queen's gilliflower, rogue's gilliflower, summer lilac, sweet rocket, white flowers, winter gilliflower|

What I didn't know at the time that I photographed the flowering Dame's Rocket was that it is a prohibited plant in Utah.

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Dew Drops And Blooming Mountain Bluebells

By Mia McPherson|June 15th, 2019|Categories: Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: blooming, blue wildflowers, bluebell, Bluebells, borage family, dew drops, Mertensia ciliata, Mountain Bluebells, pink wildflowers, purple flowers, Streamside Bluebells, Tall Fringed Bluebells, wildflowers|

Last week I saw several clumps of blooming Mountain Bluebells that were dripping with dew drops from rains that fell overnight and I felt that I had to stop and take photos of them. I know they don't bloom for long.

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Adult Green-tailed Towhee Perched In A Golden Currant Bush

By Mia McPherson|June 14th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Morgan County, Shrubs, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, blooming, Buffalo Currant, Clove Currant, currant, currants, flowering shrub, Golden Currant, Green-tailed Towhee, Missouri Currant, perched, Pipilo chlorurus, Ribes aureum, sparrow, sparrows, towhee, towhees, yellow flowers|

I truly wish that I had been able to photograph this adult Green-tailed Towhee in this Golden Currant bush while is was in full bloom because that would have been gorgeous with all the tiny yellow flowers.

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Wildflower Season Has Started In Northern Utah – Lewis’s Flax

By Mia McPherson|May 14th, 2019|Categories: Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: blue wildflowers, Lewis flax, Lewis's flax, Linum lewisii, Prairie Flax, shade, Wild Blue Flax, wildflowers|

Everywhere I go in the lower elevations of northern Utah I can see wildflowers blooming now.

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Male Red-tailed Hawk With Yellow Wildflowers

By Mia McPherson|May 10th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, cliff face, hawks, Hawks of Utah, lichen, male, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, rocks, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

What is better than photographing a male Red-tailed Hawk? Photographing the hawk with blooming wildflowers, in this case Gray's Biscuitroot.

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