down – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

First Of Season Common Goldeneye

By Mia McPherson|2023-11-28T04:33:03-06:00November 28th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Bucephala clangula, close up, Common Goldeneye, diving ducks, down, drake, duck, ducks, goldeneye, goldeneyes, male, park, pond, portrait, settling, urban, water, winter|

Three days ago, I found my first-of-season Common Goldeneye drake at my local pond. I didn't have my camera with me, so I wasn't able to photograph him.

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Female Yellow Warbler Working On Her Nest

By Mia McPherson|2022-06-01T05:01:56-05:00June 1st, 2022|Categories: Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Yellow Warblers|Tags: adult, Canada Thistle, canyon, Cirsium arvense, down, female, Lettuce from hell thistle, mountains, nest, nesting, nesting materials, riparian habitat, Setophaga petechia, spring, thistle, warbler, warblers, willow, willow thicket, willows, wood-warbler, wood-warblers, Yellow Warbler|

Last week I spent a few moments photographing a female Yellow Warbler working on building her nest high in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Four Winter Ring-billed Gull Images

By Mia McPherson|2022-01-17T05:48:06-06:00January 17th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Ring-billed Gulls, Utah|Tags: adult, calm, down, gull, gulls, ice, ice shelf, icy, Larus delawarensis, looking, marsh, nonbreeding plumage, paddling, Ring-billed Gull, standing, water, wetland, winter, year round|

Last week I was just as excited to take Ring-billed Gull images as I was to take photos of a delightful Horned Grebe on the marsh at Bear River MBR.

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Messy Orange-crowned Warbler Plus Canada Thistles

By Mia McPherson|2021-08-07T07:30:26-05:00August 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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Western Kingbird Attempting To Take Over A Bullock’s Oriole Nest

By Mia McPherson|2022-11-14T05:32:15-06:00June 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Bullock's Orioles, Utah, Western Kingbirds|Tags: adult, behavior, Bullock's Oriole, Celtis reticulata, desert, down, entering, female, Icterus bullockii, interactions, kingbird, kingbirds, nest, nest take over, Netleaf Hackberry, oriole, orioles, spring, Tyrannus verticalis, tyrant flycatchers, Western Kingbird|

At times I see some odd things in the field and two days ago that was what appeared to be a Western Kingbird attempting to take over a Bullock's Oriole nest.

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One Funny Snowy Egret Photo

By Mia McPherson|2021-05-21T04:20:38-05:00September 26th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: close up, down, duckweed, egret, egrets, Egretta thula, fall, fish, foraging, freshwater marsh, funny, gulping, head, hunting, marsh, mode, model, morning light, portrait, pre-migration, prey, Snowy Egret, sparkling, specular highlights, upside down, wading birds, water, wetland|

September is a marvelous time for photographing Snowy Egrets in the freshwater marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake.

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