adult – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Rufous Red-tailed Hawk Female Memories

By Mia McPherson|January 28th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Box Elder County, buteo, Buteo jamaicensis, cliff, cliff face, desert, female, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, resting, rufous, shrub, stretch, stretching, Utah|

This morning I wanted to share a few photos of a stunning rufous Red-tailed Hawk female that I photographed over a period of a couple of years.

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Leucistic Canada Goose

By Mia McPherson|January 26th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Leucistic, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, Canada Goose, geese, goose, head, leucism, leucistic, odd plumage, partial leucism, Partially leucistic, plumage variation, pond, water, waterfowl, white head, white-headed, winter|

I didn't see any American Robins feeding on crabapples yesterday but I did find a leucistic Canada Goose at my local pond.

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Winter American Robins

By Mia McPherson|January 25th, 2021|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Robin, crabapple, crabapples, perched, robin, robins, snow, standing, thrush, thrushes, treem branches, Turdus migratorius, winter|

There is a skiff of snow on the ground again this morning and it has reminded me that I should look for winter American Robins feeding on crabapples today.

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Canada Goose Portrait

By Mia McPherson|January 22nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, close up, geese, goose, pond, portrait, relaxed, resting, waterfowl, winter|

Today I wanted to share this simple Canada Goose portrait. I took this portrait three years ago today at a pond close to where I live in Salt Lake City.

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Adult American Coot Bathing

By Mia McPherson|January 18th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, bath, bathing, cold, coot, coots, Fulica americana, gruiformes, icy, pond, splashing, water, winter|

Three days ago I photographed this adult American Coot bathing on a sunny afternoon at a pond close to where I live in Salt Lake City.

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Urban Raptor Photography

By Mia McPherson|January 17th, 2021|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Cooper’s Hawks, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: accipiter, Accipiters, adult, Astur cooperii, Bald Eagle, bird, birds of prey, branches, breakfast, Cooper’s Hawk, eagle, eagles, eating, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, hawk, home, living room, low light, neighborhood, raptor photography, raptors, tree, urban, window, winter|

When I first moved to Utah in 2009 I never expected to be able to do urban raptor photography from my living room window.

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Winter Common Mergansers

By Mia McPherson|January 16th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, close up, Common Merganser, Definitive Basic Plumage, diving ducks, drake, drinking, duck, ducks, female, first winter, hen, immature, merganser, mergansers, Mergus merganser, pond, Salt Lake County, swimming, Utah, water, white patches, winter, young|

Yesterday and the day before I was able to observe and photograph winter Common Mergansers at my local pond on both sunny afternoons.

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Photographing Winter Birds

By Mia McPherson|January 15th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Bald Eagles, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Canvasbacks, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great-tailed Grackles, Mallards, Pied-billed Grebes, Redheads, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, Anas platyrhynchos, Aythya americana, Aythya valisineria, Bald Eagle, birds of prey, Black-crowned Night Heron, breeding plumage, Bucephala clangula, Canvasback, chase, close up, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, coot, coots, dabbling ducks, dicks, displaying, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, eagle, eagles, female, fight, fighting, first winter, flight, flying, food, frisky, Fulica americana, goldeneye, goldeneyes, grackle, grackles, Great-tailed Grackle, grebe, grebes, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, heron, herons, immature, male, mallards, marsh, merganser, mergansers, Mergus merganser, night heron, night herons, Nycticorax nycticorax, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, pond, portrait, prey, Quiscalus mexicanus, raptors, Redhead, redheads, swimming, wading birds, water, waterfowl, weather loach, winter, young|

I spent a couple of hours yesterday photographing winter birds at Farmington Bay WMA and closer to home in the morning and afternoon.

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California Gull On Ice

By Mia McPherson|January 14th, 2021|Categories: Birds, California Gulls, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, authentic, authenticity, California Gull, close up, gull, gulls, handout, ice, Larus californicus, nonbreeding plumage, pond, profile, thin ice, Willow Pond, winter|

I went down to my local pond yesterday afternoon where the first bird I photographed was an adult California Gull standing on thin ice.

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Male American Kestrel Perched On A Sign

By Mia McPherson|January 13th, 2021|Categories: American Kestrels, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, falcon, falcons, interpretive sign, kestrel, kestrels, male, perched, sign, sky, winter|

At the end of my trip to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on January 6th the last bird I photographed was an adult male American Kestrel.

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Where is Our Snow?

By Mia McPherson|January 12th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Ring-billed Gulls, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, clouds, gull, gulls, head on, high key, Larus delawarensis, mountains, Ring-billed Gull, sky, snow, snowy, whiteout, winter|

It is wintertime here in the Salt Lake Valley of northern Utah but given the lack of snow if it weren't for the cold temps you might not know that.

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Common Raven On Ice

By Mia McPherson|January 10th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Ravens, Utah|Tags: adult, Common Raven, corvids, Corvus corax, fascinating, ice, intelligent, marsh, mimic speech, pairs, raven, ravens, small in frame, tools, winter|

Last week when I visited Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I photographed several birds on the frozen marsh including a Common Raven on ice.

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My First Rough-legged Hawk of 2021

By Mia McPherson|January 8th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, East Canyon, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, male, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, winter|

Two days ago I photographed my first Rough-legged Hawk of 2021 at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. Or was it two?

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Brown Pelicans And Memories

By Mia McPherson|January 6th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: adult, Brown Pelican, clouds, feeding, flight, flock, flying, foraging, Gulf of Mexico, Laughing Gull, Pelecanus occidentalis, pelican, pelicans, skimmer, skimmers, sky, splashing, tern, terns, water, winter|

Eleven years ago this morning I had an amazing time photographing flocks of Brown Pelicans plunge feeding in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Pileated Woodpecker – The 2021 ABA Bird of The Year

By Mia McPherson|January 5th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Hillsborough County, Lettuce Lake Regional Park, Pileated Woodpeckers, Pinellas County|Tags: ABA Bird of the Year, adult, American Birding Association, Australian Pines, branch, Dryocopus pileatus, female, male, perched, Pileated Woodpecker, woodpecker, woodpeckers|

The American Birding Association has selected the Pileated Woodpecker as their Bird of the Year for 2021 and I think it is an excellent choice.

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Winter American Herring Gulls In Utah

By Mia McPherson|January 3rd, 2021|Categories: American Herring Gulls, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, American Herring Gull, close up, flight, flying, gull, gulls, immature, Larus smithsonianus, marsh, portrait, sky, subadult, water, winter, young|

Winter Herring Gulls have arrived in northern Utah and I am excited that I will have opportunities to photograph this gull species again.

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European Starling – My First Of Year Bird 2021

By Mia McPherson|January 2nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, European Starlings, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, bill, bill color, breeding plumage, calls, European Starling, in between, nonbreeding, pond, recording, starling, starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, water, winter, winter plumage|

The first bird I saw in 2021 was a European Starling perched on a power line on the road to my local grocery store about 8:15 am yesterday morning.

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Happy New Year’s Day 2021

By Mia McPherson|January 1st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Pied-billed Grebes, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, bathing, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, first bird, flight, flying, fog, geese, goose, grebe, grebes, low light, New Year's Day, photographed, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, pond, seen, splashing, sunny, trees, urban, water, waterfowl, winter|

It is a chilly 29°F where I live in northern Utah on New Year's Day 2021 and from my living room window I can see that it is foggy outside.

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Second Winter Black-crowned Night Heron

By Mia McPherson|December 30th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, Black-crowned Night Heron, first winter, heron, herons, immature, juvenile, marsh, night heron, night herons, Nycticorax nycticorax, Second Basic Plumage, Second Prebasic Molt, second winter, snow, snowy, sub-adult, wading birds, winter, young|

Yesterday morning at Farmington Bay I found and photographed a second winter Black-crowned Night Heron at the edge of the frozen marsh.

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Which Bird Do These Feet Belong To?

By Mia McPherson|December 27th, 2020|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, close up, coot, coots, feet, Fulica americana, gruiformes, patrol, snow, snowy, walking, winter|

What we can see are greenish, lobed feet and a dark, rounded body. With just those two identification features can you guess which bird these feet belong to?

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Five Bird Photos From Christmas Day 2020

By Mia McPherson|December 26th, 2020|Categories: American Kestrels, Bald Eagles, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, American Kestrel, Ardea herodias, Bald Eagle, birds of prey, branches, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, Christmas Day, close up, eagle, eales, Falco sparverius, falcon, falcons, Falcons of Utah, field, first winter, Great Blue Heron, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, heron, herons, immature, lift off, lifting off, male, marsh, mountains, perched, pole, portrait, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, sky, take off, taking off, tree, wading birds, wooden post, young|

Much to my delight I was able to photograph some birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning.

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Christmas Day Bird Photos Thru The Years

By Mia McPherson|December 25th, 2020|Categories: Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Golden Eagles, Long-eared Owls, Pied-billed Grebes, Pinellas County, Red-tailed Hawks, Roseate Spoonbills, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Bald Eagle, Christmas Day, close up, Common Merganser, crayfish, eagle, eagles, first year, foggy, Golden Eagle, grebes, haek, hawks, immature, landing Bear River, Long-eared Owl, oel, owls, Pied-billed Grebe, portrait, Red-tailed Hawk, Roseate Spoonbill, snow, snow storm, snowy, spoonbill, wading birds, winter, young|

Today I wanted to share some of the Christmas Day bird photos I have taken through the years out in the field and close to home.

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Spring And Summer With A Belted Kingfisher Family

By Mia McPherson|December 23rd, 2020|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Actitis macularia, adult, Barn Swallow, Belted Kingfisher, bill defect, canyon, chick, creek, defensive, defensive behavior, defensive posture, female, fish, kingfisher, kingfishers, male, Megaceryle alcyon, mountains, perch, perched, prey, shaking, Spotted Sandpiper, stream, Summit County, swallow, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, wildflowers|

I was totally unaware on that April morning that I would be photographing a Belted Kingfisher family for several months.

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Great Blue Heron Resting On A Goose Nest

By Mia McPherson|December 22nd, 2020|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, common, goose nest, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, human made, ice, man made, marsh, nest, resting, wading birds, water, wetlands, winter|

When I found this Great Blue Heron resting on a man made goose nest yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA I knew I wanted to photograph it.

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Northern Shovelers Feeding On Glover Pond

By Mia McPherson|December 21st, 2020|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Shovelers, Utah, Video|Tags: adult, circling, dabbling ducks, duck, ducks, feeding, Glover Pond, Northern Shoveler, pond, shoveler, shovelers, Spatula clypeata, video, water, waterfowl, whirling|

Early in December while at Farmington Bay WMA I was able to photograph and take videos of Northern Shovelers feeding on Glover Pond.

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Canada Geese On The Wing In Front Of The Snowy Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|December 18th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, flight, flying, geese, goose, mountains, on the wing, pair, snow, snow covered, snowy, urban, Wasatch Mountains, waterfowl, winter|

I love to photograph birds on the wing. It doesn't matter if my subject is as small as a hummingbird, as large as an eagle, as slow as a gliding pelican, or as fast as a stooping falcon as long as it is a bird.

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Serious Looking Ring-billed Gull On The Wing

By Mia McPherson|December 17th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Ring-billed Gulls, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, clouds, flight, flying, gull, gulls, Larus delawarensis, on the wing, Ring-billed Gull, serious, sky, winter|

I love photographing gulls. Whether they are feeding, resting, preening, fighting, calling, or in flight gulls are one of my favorite bird species to have in my viewfinder.

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Wild Utah Mink Tests Positive For Coronavirus

By Mia McPherson|December 15th, 2020|Categories: American Badgers, American Mink, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Long-tailed Weasels, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: 2020, adult, American Badger, American Mink, badger, badgers, burrow, coronavirus, Covid-19, creek, fog, grasses, Long-tailed Weasel, mammals, marsh, mink, minks, mustelid, mustelids, Neogale frenata, Neovison vison, one-eared, rocks, shore, shoreline, standing, Taxidea taxus, vegetation, water, weasel, weasels, winter coat|

I'm concerned for our wild American Mink and have begun to wonder of the coronavirus could be passed to the other native mustelids here in Utah.

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Still Life – Great Blue Heron And Its Reflection

By Mia McPherson|December 14th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, frost, frozen, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, ice, marsh, reflections, shore, still life, vegetation, wading birds, water, wetlands, winter|

Great Blue Herons are very patient hunters and there are times when they are hunting that they move so slowly that it is barely perceptible.

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Drake Common Goldeneye With Pigment Issues On His Bill

By Mia McPherson|December 13th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, bill, breeding plumage, Bucephala clangula, Common Goldeneye, Definitive Alternate Plumage, Definitive Basic Plumage, diving ducks, drake, fighting, flapping, goldeneye, goldeneyes, lack of pigment, male, nonbreeding plumage, odd colored bill, pigment isses, pond, preening, Salt Lake County, settling, swimming, Utah, water, waterfowl, white on bill, wind, windy, wings, winter|

When I got back home and uploaded the images I took of the drake Common Goldeneye I could see that his bill had pigment issues and that it wasn't a white feather stuck on his bill.

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