First Spring – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Urban Double-crested Cormorant Photos In Spring

By Mia McPherson|2024-04-08T08:39:42-05:00April 9th, 2024|Categories: Birds, Double-crested Cormorants, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, checking, cormorant, cormorants, Double-crested Cormorant, First Spring, flock, immature, Nannopterum auritus, out, park, pond, Salt Lake County, spring, urban, Utah, water, waterbirds|

While looking at my Common Loon photos from last spring, I came across these Double-crested Cormorant photos that I took at the same time last year.

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Immature Red-tailed Hawk In Spring At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-24T04:51:56-05:00March 24th, 2024|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: Bear River, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, First Spring, grass, grasses, ground, hawk, hawks, immature, ranchlands, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, river, spring, young|

About two years ago, I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk near the Bear River, on my way out of the auto tour loop of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Cooper’s Hawk – Nearly Hidden And In Plain Sight

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-17T04:56:08-05:00March 17th, 2024|Categories: Birds, Cooper’s Hawks, Morgan County, Salt Lake County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: accipiter, Accipiter cooperii, Accipiters, autumn, branches, canyon, Cooper’s Hawk, cryptic plumage, distance, fall, fence, First Spring, hatch year, hawk, hawks, hidden, immature, Morgan County, mountains, perched, plain, raptors, resting, Salt Lake County, sight, tree, trees, urban, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, winter, wooden fence, woodlands, young|

Two days ago, while I was photographing some Rock Squirrels, I saw a beautiful immature Cooper's Hawk fly in and land in a tangle of trees near the squirrels.

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Bird Talk: American White Pelicans

By Mia McPherson|2023-12-11T06:21:22-06:00December 11th, 2023|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Bird ID, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, American White Pelican, bird talk, clouds, First Spring, flight, flying, immature, marsh, mountains, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, pelican, pelicans, sky, spring, sub-adult, wetlands, winter|

My subject today is about bird talk: American White Pelicans, my friend Adonis, and his recent first trip back East, and to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

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Common Merganser Portrait With Water Droplets

By Mia McPherson|2023-05-31T09:32:08-05:00May 31st, 2023|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: bow wave, close up, Common Merganser spring, diving ducks, droplets, duck, ducks, First Spring, immature, merganser, mergansers, Mergus merganser, park, pond, portrait, urban, water|

A simple portrait of a Common Merganser, featuring water droplets and a bow wave, is what I wanted to share this morning. The photo was taken at my local pond.

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Female Great-tailed Grackle Iris Variation

By Mia McPherson|2023-04-23T04:45:59-05:00April 23rd, 2023|Categories: Birds, Great-tailed Grackles, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, blackbirds, close up, eye, eyes, female, First Spring, grackle, grackles, Great-tailed Grackle, iris, park, portrait, Quiscalus mexicanus, Salt Lake County, spring, urban, Utah, variation|

While I photographed Common Loons at my local park this month I also took some female Great-tailed Grackle images and today I am sharing two of them.

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Subadult Peregrine Falcon

By Mia McPherson|2021-05-24T05:52:59-05:00May 24th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Peregrine Falcons, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult plumage, birds of prey, calling, desert, Falco peregrinus, falcon, falcons, fence post, First Spring, flight, flying, foothills, immature, juvenal plumage, lift off, lifting off, molt, molting, Peregrine Falcon, raptors, second year bird, sky, spring, sub-adult, subadult, take off, taking off, wooden post, young|

Last week before I found the Rock Wren I wrote about I also found a subadult Peregrine Falcon perched on a wooden post in the West Desert.

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Sunrise with a Long-billed Curlew In A Florida Lagoon

By Mia McPherson|2022-06-05T15:03:18-05:00May 27th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Long-billed Curlews, Pinellas County|Tags: beach, coastal, curlew, curlews, dunes, early morning light, female, First Spring, immature, lagoon, Long-billed Curlew, north beach, Numenius americanus, sand, shorebirds, water|

I will say that my favorite and most memorable times photographing Long-billed Curlews happened while I was still living in Florida well away from their breeding grounds.

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Portrait Of A First Spring Male Northern Harrier In Northern Utah

By Mia McPherson|2021-04-10T07:31:43-05:00November 28th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: birds, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, eye contact, First Spring, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, male, Northern Harrier, perched, portrait, raptors, sub-adult|

It isn't often that I am able to be close enough to a Northern Harrier to take a portrait of one, in fact I can only think of one time that I've been that fortunate and that was in May of 2016.

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First Spring Male Lazuli Bunting Singing in A Chokecherry Tree

By Mia McPherson|2021-06-01T04:09:48-05:00June 5th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Lazuli Buntings, Morgan County, Utah|Tags: bunting, buntings, Chokecherry, First Spring, immature, Lazuli Bunting, male, Passerina amoena, Prunus virginiana, singing, spring|

That sighting with my Mom made me hope that I would see more Lazuli Buntings in the canyons, yesterday morning that hope was fulfilled when I spotted a first spring male fly into a blooming Chokecherry tree.

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Two Months of Photographing a Cooperative Northern Harrier

By Mia McPherson|2021-04-10T07:23:32-05:00May 13th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, cooperative, fence post, First Spring, frame filling, harrier, harriers, hatched, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, male, Marsh hawk, mobile blind, molt, Northern Harrier, perched, photographing, plumage, post, preen, primaries, raptors, secondaries, spring, tame, wooden post, young|

There was a very cooperative first spring male Northern Harrier in a location where I photographed Short-eared Owls last year in northern Utah and for two months I could reliably see and photograph it frequently.

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An Intriguing and Very Tame Northern Harrier

By Mia McPherson|2021-04-10T07:29:08-05:00May 28th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, First Spring, goofy, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, male, Marsh hawk, molt, Northern Harrier, perched, plumage, preening, raptors, rousing, tame, young|

While I have been photographing Short-eared Owls in northern Utah I have come across this intriguing and very tame Northern Harrier over and over in the same location.

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First Spring Red-winged Blackbird Males

By Mia McPherson|2021-06-20T03:43:47-05:00April 9th, 2016|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-winged Blackbirds, Utah|Tags: Agelaius phoeniceus, blackbird, blackbirds, Definitive Basic Plumage, First Spring, immature, juvenile, male, Red-winged Blackbird, singing|

Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph several first spring Red-winged Blackbird males.

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First Spring Northern Harrier in Box Elder County

By Mia McPherson|2021-04-10T07:36:03-05:00April 7th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, fence post, First Spring, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, immature, juvenile, male, Northern Harrier, raptor, rousing, sub-adult, wooden post|

I was able to take quite a few images of a very cooperative first spring Northern Harrier that was perched on an old post next to the road in Box Elder County.

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