insect – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Cicada Exuvia: Just a Shell Of Its Former Self

By Mia McPherson|2023-06-29T12:40:00-05:00June 29th, 2023|Categories: Arkansas, Cicadas, Sebastian County|Tags: Cicada, cicadas, driftwood, exoskeleton, exuvia, feeder, insect, insects, metamorphosis, nymph, shed outer covering, shell, summer|

Two days ago I found a Cicada exuvia or exoskeleton attached to a driftwood suet feeder. The cicada had emerged sometime during the night to begin its life anew.

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Roadside Western Honey Bee and Rubber Rabbitbrush

By Mia McPherson|2022-09-25T03:40:15-05:00September 25th, 2022|Categories: Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Honey Bees, Rubber Rabbitbrush, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: Apis mellifera, bee, bees, bloom, blooming, blossoms, Ericameria nauseosa, flowering, honey bee, honey bees, insect, native, nonnative, rabbitbrush, rabbitbrushes, roadside, Rubber Rabbitbrush, Western Honey Bee, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

I wanted to share this photo of a roadside Western Honey Bee in a Rubber Rabbitbrush this morning because when I look at it I think of fall.

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House Wren With Insect Prey

By Mia McPherson|2022-06-30T04:22:03-05:00June 30th, 2022|Categories: Birds, House Wrens, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch County|Tags: adult, bill, branch, branches, canyon, ethics, House Wren, insect, mountains, nesting birds, nestlings, perched, prey, summer, Troglodytes aedon, wren, wrens, young|

Four days ago I stopped briefly where I knew that there was a House Wren nest and was delighted to see an adult with insect prey for its young in its bill.

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Spring Chipping Sparrow Images

By Mia McPherson|2022-05-15T04:25:09-05:00May 15th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Chipping Sparrows, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, Artemisia tridentata, Big Sagebrush, bill, breeding plumage, Chipping Sparrow, forest, insect, mountains, perched, sage, sagebrush, sky island mountains, sparrow, sparrows, Spizella passerina, spring|

Two days ago I had a Chipping Sparrow in breeding plumage perched on sage at the edge of a forest in my viewfinder for a few seconds.

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Uinta Ground Squirrel And An Ant

By Mia McPherson|2021-05-18T05:12:22-05:00May 18th, 2021|Categories: Summit County, Uinta Ground Squirrels, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, ant, eating, grass, grasses, ground squirrel, ground squirrels, insect, spring, squirrel, squirrels, Uinta Ground Squirrel, Urocitellus armatus|

Last week while up in the Wasatch Mountains I took a series of close up images of this Uinta Ground Squirrel plus an ant on its right front leg.

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Photographing White-crowned Sparrows At Farmington Bay

By Mia McPherson|2021-11-06T03:41:32-05:00September 30th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: adult, insect, midge, morning light, perched, photograph, photographing, phragmites, phrags, sparrow, sparrows, White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys|

When autumn arrives White-crowned Sparrows are one of the sparrow species that I look forward to photographing at Farmington Bay WMA each year as they move down to lower elevations.

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