defensive – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Fun Photographing A Road-Crossing Crawdad At Sequoyah NWR

By Mia McPherson|2024-02-20T15:39:17-06:00August 8th, 2023|Categories: Crawdads, Oklahoma, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: adult, bottomland hardwood forests, bottomlands, crawdad, crawdads, crayfish, defensive, Mudbug, mudbugs, road, Steve Creek, wildlife photographer|

Some experiences in the field almost feel like tall tales when I try to write about them. This road-crossing crawdad story from Sequoyah NWR is one of those.

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Snowy Egret Photos – Farmington Bay Opening Day

By Mia McPherson|2021-09-17T08:40:38-05:00September 17th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: adult, behavior, chasing, Covid, dashing, defensive, egret, egrets, Egretta thula, fight, fighting, flight, flying, hair style, head on, landing, lift off, lifting off, marsh, Snowy Egret, summer, take off, taking off, tip toe, tiptoe, wading birds, water, wetlands, wing tip, wingtip, wooden pole|

Yesterday was kind of an opening day at Farmington Bay and the Snowy Egret show was the highlight of the day.

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Immature And Adult Male Belted Kingfisher Images

By Mia McPherson|2021-07-09T05:55:11-05:00July 9th, 2021|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Belted Kingfisher, branch, calling, calm, canyon, defensive, excited, immature, kingfisher, kingfishers, male, Megaceryle alcyon, mountains, perched, riparian habitat, settling, summer, young|

Three days ago I was delighted to have both an immature and an adult male Belted Kingfisher in my viewfinder as I sat next to a creek in the mountains.

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Spring And Summer With A Belted Kingfisher Family

By Mia McPherson|2021-05-10T04:32:52-05:00December 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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MacGillivray’s Warblers In The Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|2021-05-15T09:43:20-05:00June 7th, 2020|Categories: Birds, MacGillivray's Warblers, Morgan County, Song Sparrows, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, breeding season, canyon, defensive, Geothlypis tolmiei, Golden Currant, MacGillivray's Warbler, male, Melospiza melodia, mountains, nesting season, perched, Ribes aureum, serviceberry, Song Sparrow, sparrow, sparrows, Utah Serviceberry, warbler, warblers, wood-warblers|

Despite the difficulties I have finding and photographing MacGillivray's Warblers I will keep trying to take better images of them.

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Tree Swallow Defending Its Nest Photo In Memory Of A Great Friend

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-25T06:19:04-05:00July 7th, 2015|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Tree Swallows|Tags: adult, defensive, flight, flying, great friend, in memory, male, nest box, Rohn McKee, spring, swallow, swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, Tree Swallow, valley|

I'm posting this Tree Swallow image that was taken at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in memory of a great friend, Rohn McKee.

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Foraging Solitary Sandpiper in Montana

By Mia McPherson|2021-02-15T08:24:29-06:00August 3rd, 2014|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Solitary Sandpipers|Tags: adult, defensive, foraging, pond, sandpiper, sandpipers, shorebirds, Solitary Sandpiper, summer, Tringa solitaria, water|

On my recent trip to Idaho and Montana I was delighted to photograph a foraging Solitary Sandpiper in a farm pond in Beaverhead County, MT.

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One Willet’s defense of its young

By Mia McPherson|2021-04-25T10:41:35-05:00July 16th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Davis County, Utah, Willets|Tags: adult, aerial defense, alarmed, Bird behavior, Black-billed Magpie, calling, chicks, defense, defensive, flight, flying, grasses, Great Salt Lake, juveniles, magpie, magpies, perched, Pica hudsonia, prairie grasses, predators, response, sandpipers, shorebirds, threat, Tringa semipalmata, Tringa semipalmata inornata, wildlife, Willet, willets, young|

Yesterday I observed an adult Willet defending its young from a group of Black-billed Magpies that were near the Willet's chicks.

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Friday Photos – Northern Mockingbird

By Mia McPherson|2024-04-01T13:30:39-05:00July 15th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Northern Mockingbirds, Utah|Tags: adult, Artemisia tridentata, Big Sagebrush, biting gnats, defensive, mimids, Mimus polyglottos, mockingbird, mockingbirds, nest, Northern Mockingbird, perching bird, sage, sagebrush, ticked off|

A Loggerhead Shrike flew into a sagebrush and right after that I could hear a bird that sounded upset. The upset bird was this Northern Mockingbird.

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