gathering – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Nesting Lark Sparrow Photos

By Mia McPherson|2021-05-22T04:54:46-05:00May 22nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Lark Sparrows, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, Artemisia tridentata, barbed wire, Big Sagebrush, bill, Chondestes grammacus, desert, fence, foothills, gathering, grass, grasses, Lark Sparrow, mountains, nesting material, nesting materials, sage, sagebrush, sparrow, sparrows|

One of the first birds I heard singing three days ago in the West Desert of Tooele County was a Lark Sparrow perched on top of a sagebrush.

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Tree Swallows Have Returned

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-25T07:54:11-05:00March 23rd, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Idaho, Modoc Creek, Summit County, Targhee National Forest, Tree Swallows, Uinta Mountains, Uinta National Forest, Utah|Tags: adult, aspen, flock, forest, gathering, low light, male, marsh, migration, mountains, nest, nest boxes, nesting cavity, perched, phragmites, spring, swallow, swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, Tree Swallow, wetlands|

A little birdie told me that Tree Swallows returned to the marshes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge about the middle of this month.

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Nesting Mountain Bluebirds And Other Woodland Birds

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-29T08:28:24-05:00April 30th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Chipping Sparrows, House Wrens, Mountain Bluebirds, Yellow-rumped Warblers|Tags: adult, aspen, bird finding tip, bluebird, bluebirds, branch, breeding plumage, breeding season, canyon, Chipping Sparrow, clod, close up, dirt, forest, forest edge, gathering, House Wren, instincts, looking up, male, mate, Mountain Bluebird, mountains, nesting cavity, nesting materials, perched, photographic rut, portrait, regal, road, Setophaga coronata, shadow, Sialia currucoides, singing, sparrow, sparrows, Spizella passerina, spring, thrushes, trees, Troglodytes aedon, warbler, warblers, wren, wrens, Yellow-rumped Warbler|

Yesterday I had a blast photographing a pair of Mountain Bluebirds at a natural nesting cavity at the edge of a forest along with some other woodland birds.

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Photographing Winter Redheads in Northern Utah

By Mia McPherson|2023-12-17T11:58:27-06:00January 16th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Redheads, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: close up, courting pair, courtship behaviors, diving ducks, drake, drakes, duck, ducks, female, females, gathering, hen, hens, male, males, photograph, photographing, pond, Redhead, redheads, silvery, water, waterfowl, winter|

Yesterday I watched and photographed the Redhead drakes exhibiting Kinked-neck and Head-throw displays but once again they were too far away to get the high quality images I am seeking.

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Spring Gathering Of Tree Swallows At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-25T07:24:34-05:00April 9th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tree Swallows, Utah|Tags: adult, flock, gathering, marsh, phragmites, spring, squabbling, stand, swallow, swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, Tree Swallow|

Tree Swallows were the most numerous of the swallows I saw and at the far northwest part of the auto tour route I found bunches of them resting in a stand of phragmites so I decided to get out, set up my tripod and photograph them from across the water.

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Bird Gatherings – Pied-billed Grebes, Great Egrets And More

By Mia McPherson|2022-10-02T10:22:10-05:00January 30th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Egrets, Pied-billed Grebes, Utah|Tags: Ardea alba, egret, egrets, flight, gathering, Great Egret, grebe, grebes, inversion, matsh, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, skewer, wading birds, water, water dance, wedge, winter|

It is winter here but the birds know that spring is around the corner and more gatherings like the ones I saw two days ago will happen again and I hope I am able to slow down and enjoy it.

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