flowering – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Blooming Common Mullein Images

By Mia McPherson|August 2nd, 2021|Categories: Hunt's Bumble Bees, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: bloom, blooming, Bombus huntii, bumble bee, bumble bees, canyon, Common Mullein, flight, flowering, flying, Hunt's Bumble Bee, mountains, mullein, mulliens, nectaring, non-native, nonnative, riparian habitat, summer, Verbascum thapsus, wildlflowers, yellow wildflowers|

Two days ago in between taking Willow Flycatcher photos in the Wasatch Mountains I took blooming Common Mullein images because they were nearby.

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Blooming Blue Elderberry

By Mia McPherson|July 17th, 2021|Categories: Blue Elderberry, Summit County, Trees, Shrubs and Flowers, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: blooming, blossoms, Blue Elderberry, canyon, drought, drought conditions, elderberries, elderberry, flowering, flowering shrub, flowering tree, mountains, Sambucus cerulea, Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea, summer, white wildflowers|

Blue Elderberry shrubs are blooming right now high in the Wasatch Mountains. Two days ago I took a few photos of the elderberry blossoms.

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Two-tailed Swallowtail And Showy Milkweed

By Mia McPherson|July 14th, 2021|Categories: Morgan County, Two-tailed Swallowtails, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, Asclepias speciosa, bee, blooming, butterflies, butterfly, canyon, flowering, forest, male, milkweed, milkweeds, mountains, native, nectaring, Papilio multicaudata, pink wildflowers, Showy Milkweed, swallowtail, swallowtails, Two-tailed Swallowtail, wildflowers|

When I returned home and could view my images on a large screen I was able to identify this swallowtail butterfly as a male Two-tailed Swallowtail.

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Surprise Pine Siskin

By Mia McPherson|July 8th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Pine Siskins, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, bee, bees, blooming, canyon, Carduelis pinus, Carduus nutans, finch, finches, flowering, mountains, Musk Thistle, nonnative, Pine Siskin, pink wildflowers, purple wildflowers, siskin, siskins, thistle, thistles, wildflowers|

Yesterday morning I was high in the Wasatch Mountains photographing bees on a Musk Thistle when a Pine Siskin landed on the flower.

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Gray Catbird Searching For Berries

By Mia McPherson|June 30th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Gray Catbirds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, berries, berry, Black twinberry honeysuckle, blooming, canyon, catbird, catbirds, Dumetella carolinensis, excited, flashing, flowering, fruit, fruits, Gray Catbird, honeysuckle, honeysuckles, Lonicera involucrata, mountains, native, perched, riparian habitat, stick, summer, tail, Wasatch Mountains, wildflower, willows, yellow wildflower|

Yesterday morning I spent part of my time in the Wasatch Mountains focused on a Gray Catbird searching for ripe honeysuckle berries.

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Blooming Lewis’s Flax

By Mia McPherson|June 6th, 2021|Categories: Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: bee, beetle, blooming, blooms, blue wildflowers, desert, drought, flax, flowering, Lewis's flax, Linum lewisii, mountains, prolonged drought conditions, sky island mountains, wildflowers|

I wanted to follow my post about a blue bird with blue wildflowers so here are some photos I took last week of Lewis’s Flax which are also known as Wild Blue Flax.

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Great Blue Heron and Mountain Goldenbanner

By Mia McPherson|June 2nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Great Blue Herons, Morgan County, Small in the frame, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, blooming, blooms, canyon, Filamentous algae, flowering, grasses, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, Mountain Goldenbanner, mountain meadow, Mountain Thermopsis, mountains, pond, spring, Thermopsis montana, wading birds, water, wildflowers, willows, yellow wildflowers|

Yesterday I wrote about a Golden Eagle in the Wasatch Mountains. Today I am writing about "golden" again. Blooming Mountain Goldenbanner and a Great Blue Heron.

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Bluebells, Currants, Warblers And A Duck

By Mia McPherson|May 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Mallards, Morgan County, Northern Yellow Warblers, Shrubs, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, alpine, Anas platyrhynchos, bath, bathing, beaver damage, bloom, blooming, blossoms, blue wildflowers, branch, branches, canyon, creek, creekside, currant, currants, dabbling ducks, drake, duck, ducks, female, flowering, flowers, fork, Golden Currant, male, Mallard, mallards, Mertensia ciliata, Mountain Bluebells, mountains, perched, pink wildflowers, purple wildflowers, Ribes aureum, riparian zone, Setophaga aestiva, shrub, singing, spring, stump, tapestry, warbler, warblers, water, water droplets, wildflowers, Yellow Warbler, yellow wildflowers|

I spent my morning up in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday and came home with photos of bluebells, currants, warblers, and a duck.

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Pink Wildflowers: Showy Milkweed Buds & Blooms

By Mia McPherson|July 21st, 2020|Categories: Morgan County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Asclepias speciosa, blooming, blooms, blossoms, buds, canyon, flower buds, flowering, leaves, milkweed, milkweeds, mountains, native, pink wildflowers, Showy Milkweed, wildflowers|

Once again I missed out on photographing Showy Milkweed at the lower elevations of northern Utah but I made up for it by photographing some of these spectacular pink wildflowers high in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday.

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Blooming Chokecherry Trees In Utah’s Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|June 8th, 2020|Categories: Summit County, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: blooms, blossoms, chokecherries, Chokecherry, flowering, flowering tree, flowers, fruit tree, native, Prunus virginiana, spring, tree|

I am not just a bird photographer. I am also a student of nature each and every time I venture into the field because being out there teaches me something new on practically every journey.

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Serviceberries Are Blooming In The Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|May 24th, 2020|Categories: Morgan County, Shrubs, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Amelanchier, Amelanchier alnifolia, bloom, blooming, cold snap, flowering, flowering shrub, fruit production, in bloom, migration, serviceberries, serviceberry, Western Serviceberry, white flowers|

What got me so excited was seeing how many serviceberries there were blooming on the slopes of the mountains and how thick the blossoms were on each of the shrubs.

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Female MacGillivray’s Warbler Perched In A Blooming Serviceberry

By Mia McPherson|May 4th, 2020|Categories: Birds, MacGillivray's Warblers, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, blooming, canyon, female, flowering, flowering tree, flowers, Geothlypis tolmiei, hidden, MacGillivray's Warbler, mountains, serviceberry, shy, spring, Utah Serviceberry, warbler, warblers, wood-warbler, wood-warblers|

This female MacGillivray’s Warbler popped into view briefly two years ago high in the Wasatch Mountains and even though she never came out into the open I enjoyed how she was surrounded by the white blooms of a Utah Serviceberry.

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Wax Currants, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds And Their Favorite Perches

By Mia McPherson|April 27th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Summit County, Tooele County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, West Desert|Tags: adult, bloom, blooming, blossoms, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, canyons, currant, currants, favorite perch, flowering, flowering shrub, flowers, hummingbird, hummingbirds, male, mountains, Ribes cereum, Selasphorus platycercus, shrub, Wax Currant|

In just a matter of days Wax Currants will start to bloom in some of the lower elevations of the mountains that aren't far from where I live and that has me excited.

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Photographing Blooming Glacier Lilies

By Mia McPherson|April 21st, 2020|Categories: Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: alpine, bloom, blooming, canyons, Dogtooth Fawn Lily, Dogtooth Violet, Erythronium grandiflorum, flowering, flowers, Glacier Lily, lilies, lily, mountains, wildflower, Yellow Avalanche Lily, yellow wildflower|

I enjoyed my journey to photograph the Glacier Lilies yesterday, it was quiet, peaceful and very relaxing. No news, no negativity, and not thinking about what a mess our world is in helped me to de-stress.

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Photographing Cedar Waxwings In The Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|January 17th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Cedar Waxwings, Morgan County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, background, blooming, blooms, blossoms, Bombycilla cedrorum, branch, canyon, Cedar Waxwing, close up, flowering, flowers, green, hawthorn, leaves, mountains, perched, photograph, photographing, portrait, spring, summer, trees, Wasatch Mountains, waxwing, waxwings|

For a couple of years now I have enjoyed photographing Cedar Waxwings high up in the Wasatch Mountains from spring through the tail end of autumn.

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Green-tailed Towhees Are Returning For Their Breeding Season

By Mia McPherson|April 29th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Summit County, Utah|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, breeding season, canyon, flowering, flowers, forest, Green-tailed Towhee, mountains, Pipilo chlorurus, shrub, singing, sparrow, sparrows, towhee, towhees, Utah Serviceberry|

When mom and I found this adult Green-tailed Towhee singing while perched on a blooming Utah Serviceberry of course we had to stop and take its photo!

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Autumn Yellow-rumped Warblers Are On the Move

By Mia McPherson|September 21st, 2018|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah, Yellow-rumped Warblers|Tags: Audubon's, autumn, bloom, blooming, close up, desert island, fall, flowering, migration, nonbreeding plumage, perched, rabbitbrush, Setophaga coronata, warbler, warblers, wildflowers, wood-warblers, yellow wildflowers, Yellow-rumped Warbler|

I've been spotting more and more Yellow-rumped Warblers over the past 10 to 14 days and I am excited because I have been expecting them to start showing up in my viewfinder.

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Rocky Mountain Bee Plant Plus a Bee in Flight

By Mia McPherson|September 5th, 2018|Categories: Box Elder County, Honey Bees, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: anthers, Apis, bee, blooming, blooms, blossoms, Cleomella serrulata, close up, flight, flowering, flying, green pollen, honey bee, pink wildflowers, pollen, pollen basket, purple wildflowers, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, wildflowers|

On Sunday I was up in Box Elder County looking for birds but I also felt I had to stop and take some images of Rocky Mountain Bee Plants that were blooming along side the road.

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Mountain Goldenbanner In The Wasatch Mountains – Yellow Wildflowers

By Mia McPherson|June 7th, 2018|Categories: Morgan County, Mountain Goldenbanner, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: alpine, bloom, blooming, Buckbean, close up, creek, False Lupine, flowering, Golden pea, montane, Montane golden-banner, Mountain Goldenbanner, Mountain Goldenpea, Mountain Thermopsis, pea family, riparian, Thermopsis montana, wildflowers, yellow wildflower|

Three days ago there was some Mountain Goldenbanner blooming next to a creek in the canyons of the Wasatch Mountains and I simply had to take some photos of these bright yellow wildflowers.

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Green-tailed Towhee Singing In A Mountain Canyon

By Mia McPherson|May 25th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Summit County, Utah|Tags: adult, branch, canyon, courtship display, flowering, flowers, forest, Green-tailed Towhee, male, mountains, Pipilo chlorurus, serviceberry, shrub, singing, sparrow, sparrows, spring, towhee, towhees|

I had fun yesterday morning photographing a male Green-tailed Towhee singing in a mountain canyon, this was a bird I heard before I spotted him perched on a flowering branch.

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Streambank Globemallow – Pretty in Pink

By Mia McPherson|July 17th, 2017|Categories: Clark County, Idaho, Wildflowers|Tags: bloom, blooming, flowering, Iliamna rivularis, Malvaceae, Mountain globemallow, pink, pink wildflowers, Streambank Globemallow, Streambank wild hollyhock, Wild hollyhock, wildflowers|

Streambank Globemallow has a few common names including Wild Hollyhock, Mountain Hollyhock, Mountain Globemallow and Streambank Wild Hollyhock

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Wasatch Mountain Range Yellow Warbler

By Mia McPherson|June 5th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Northern Yellow Warblers, Utah|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, blooming, canyon, flowering, flowering shrub, mountains, perched, riparian area, riparian zone, Setophaga aestiva, spring, Utah Serviceberry, warbler, warblers, Yellow Warbler|

Last week while I was photographing a handsome Green-tailed Towhee in the Wasatch Mountains a bright Yellow Warbler caught my eyes when it landed on a flowering shrub.

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Green-tailed Towhee Singing in the Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|June 1st, 2017|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Morgan County, Utah|Tags: adult, branch, canyon, close up, flowering, flowering shrub, flowers, Green-tailed Towhee, head tilt, leafy, male, mountains, perched, Pipilo chlorurus, portrait, sagebrush, serviceberry, shrub, singing, sparrow, sparrows, towhee, towhees, white flowers|

One good bird can make the the day when photographing birds in the field, yesterday that bird was a male Green-tailed Towhee I spotted perched on a shrub in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains.

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