bluebird – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Tired of the Rain & Wishing for Bluebird Skies

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-29T05:59:18-05:00April 27th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Burr Trail, Clark County, Idaho, Mountain Bluebirds, Targhee National Forest, Utah|Tags: adult, aspen, bluebird, bluebird skies, bluebirds, forest, males, Mountain Bluebird, perched, rain, Sialia currucoides, trees|

The gray skies are getting old and I'm suffering from cabin fever and wishing for some bright bluebird skies to get out to photograph birds and to be able to relax and soak in nature.

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Mountain Bluebird – Blue on Blue

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-29T06:04:04-05:00January 29th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Mountain Bluebirds, Utah, Wayne County|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebird sky, bluebirds, bright blue, fence post, high desert, lake, males, Mountain Bluebird, perched, sagebrush steppe, Sialia currucoides, spring|

This photo of a male Mountain Bluebird in Wayne County, Utah made me smile when I thought about the location where it was created because it is so wild and beautiful up there.

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Juvenile Mountain Bluebird on the way to Gravelly Range

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T19:39:18-05:00July 17th, 2016|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Gravelly Range, Madison County, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds|Tags: bluebird, bluebirds, gravel road, immature, juvenile, Montana sky, Mountain Bluebird, perched, road, scenery, Sialia currucoides, young|

I was also delighted to photograph this juvenile Mountain Bluebird on the way to Gravelly Range early in the morning.

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Mountain Bluebird Plumage Development Stages

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-29T05:54:43-05:00March 24th, 2016|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Clark County, Idaho, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Targhee National Forest, Utah, Wayne County|Tags: adult, aspen, bluebird, bluebirds, female, fence, fledged, forest, high desert habitat, immature, juvenal plumage, juvenile, juveniles, male, molting, Mountain Bluebird, nesting cavity, perched, plumage development, plumage development stages, plumage phases, plumage stages, Sialia currucoides, thrush, thrushes, wire fence, young|

These images from different times of the year show Mountain Bluebird plumage development stages from not long after fledging to adulthood.

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Western Bluebirds in Tooele County

By Mia McPherson|2023-02-24T07:00:09-06:00February 25th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Western Bluebirds|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebirds, desert, female, fence, fence post, foothills, front view, male, migrating, migration, perched, rare, rarity, Sialia mexicana, sky, uncommon, Western Bluebird|

Seeing these uncommon Western Bluebirds in Tooele County in the Stansbury Mountain Range yesterday is part of why I love bird photography so much.

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Mountain Bluebird chick in Montana

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T19:26:16-05:00January 16th, 2016|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: bluebird, bluebirds, chick, fence, juvenile, Mountain Bluebird, perched, Sialia currucoides, spring, valley, young|

This young Mountain Bluebird chick was photographed last summer at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Montana.

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Black and Blue All Over With Just a Splash of Red

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T19:20:19-05:00May 4th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Clark County, Idaho, Mountain Bluebirds, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Targhee National Forest|Tags: adult, aspen, bluebird, bluebirds, forest, Mountain Bluebird, nesting cavity, nesting tree, nuthatch, nuthatches, Populus tremuloides, Quaking Aspen, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Sialia currucoides, Sitta canadensis, spring|

Well, it was another fun morning at the Magical Sapsucker Tree and today the cast was joined by a pair of Mountain Bluebirds who seem dead set on taking over the Northern Flicker cavity.

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Greater Sage-Grouse and One Stunning Mountain Bluebird

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-29T09:24:15-05:00March 29th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Greater Sage-Grouse, Mountain Bluebirds, Utah, Wayne County|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebirds, Centrocercus urophasianus, fence, flag, Greater Sage-Grouse, grouse, lek, leks, mating display, Mountain Bluebird, perched, sage-grouse, Sialia currucoides, upland game birds|

I was stunned and amazed to find not just one Greater Sage-Grouse leks but TWO!

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Mercur Canyon Mountain Bluebird

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T18:49:03-05:00January 8th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Mercur Canyon, Mountain Bluebirds, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, bird photography, bluebird, bluebirds, canyon, juniper, male, Mountain Bluebird, mountains, perched, Sialia currucoides, thrush, thrushes|

Yesterday while looking for birds to photograph I was enchanted by this Mercur Canyon Mountain Bluebird male while in Tooele County, Utah.

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Mountain Bluebird female – Hopping into Monday

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-24T03:48:10-05:00July 7th, 2014|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebirds, female, fence post, hopping, leaping, lift off, lifting off, Mountain Bluebird, Sialia currucoides, summer, take off, taking off, thrushes, valley, wooden post|

Some times when I am photographing I capture my subjects in funny poses and I think I did exactly that with this Mountain Bluebird female.

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The San Rafael Swell – BLM Keep Oil and Gas drilling out and keep the wilderness intact

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T18:40:16-05:00November 4th, 2013|Categories: Rattlesnakes, San Rafael Swell area, The Wedge, Utah|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebirds, Bureau of Land Management, Crotalus oreganus concolor, Emery County, Midget Faded Rattlesnake, Mountain Bluebird, nature, Sialia currucoides, wilderness preservation, wildlife|

More environmental studies are needed before these lands in the San Rafael Swell are leased, before a well is drilled. Before it is too late to save a species from extinction.

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Juvenile Mountain Bluebird in Montana

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T18:36:06-05:00July 31st, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: bluebird, bluebirds, character, covered, fledgling, immature, juvenile, lichen, Mountain Bluebird, perched, Sialia currucoides, texture, young|

Last month and this month I wrote about Mountain Bluebirds in several posts that included images of adult males and females, today I am posting one image of the many fledglings I saw last week.

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The Amazing Legacy of the Bluebird Man

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T18:24:42-05:00July 13th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Capitol Reef National Park, Centennial Valley, Conservation, Downy Woodpeckers, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Tree Swallows, Utah|Tags: adult, Al Larson, bluebird, bluebird trails, bluebirds, branch, cavity nesters, conservation, Downy Woodpecker, Dryobates pubescens, female, fence rail, juvenile, Mountain Bluebird, nature, nest box, nesting box, nesting material, prey, secondary cavity nesters, Sialia currucoides, swallow, swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, The Bluebird Man, Tree Swallow, wooden rail, woodpecker, woodpeckers, young|

I want to thank Neil Paprocki for sharing information about Al Larson and the upcoming film The Bluebird Man, I have learned a lot from the web site and through my interview with Neil and I am all for learning more about the wonderful natural world around me.

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Mountain Bluebird Tribute to Fathers

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T17:57:17-05:00June 16th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Fremont County, Idaho, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebirds, cavity nesters, fence post, male, Mountain Bluebird, photography, prey, Sialia currucoides, spring, thrush, thrushes, valley, wind, wooden post|

Yesterday my post focused on female Mountain Bluebirds and today I am presenting males in honor of Father's Day. I was blessed to have two fathers, one who died when I was very young and later in my second Dad came into my life.

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Female Mountain Bluebirds in Montana

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T17:21:54-05:00June 15th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebirds, female, fence post, grasslands, Mountain Bluebird, nest box, nesting season, open canyons, prey, Sialia currucoides, spring, valley, wooden post|

There were Mountain Bluebirds everywhere I looked on my recent trip to Montana where flashes of their brilliant blue plumage were a delight to my eyes.

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Shades of Blue – Wildflowers, Birds, Sky and Sea

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T16:54:41-05:00April 17th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Honeymoon Island State Park, Lazuli Buntings, Little Blue Herons, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, San Rafael Swell area, St. Thomas, USVI, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: Ardea herodias, blue, Blue-eyed Grass, bluebird, bluebirds, blues, bunting, buntings, dunes, Egretta caerulea, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, Lazuli Bunting, Little Blue Heron, Magens Bay, Mountain Bluebirds, Passerina amoena, Saint Thomas, sand dune, Sialia currucoides, Sisyrinchium angustifolium, Unites States Virgin Islands|

Last week I was Thinking Pink so this week I thought I would focus on the shades of blues found in wildflowers, birds, the sky and seas.

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Mountain Bluebird Male

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T17:08:50-05:00March 21st, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebirds, fence post, male, migration, Mountain Bluebird, north, perched, Sialia currucoides, thrush, thrushes, valley, wooden post|

How blue can blue be? I think Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoide) males are a wonderful example of just how blue a bird can be.

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