lift off – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Ferruginous Hawk in Tooele County, Utah

By Mia McPherson|2021-09-23T18:28:22-05:00February 8th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, balanced, birds of prey, Buteo regalis, Buteos, desert, fall, feathered legs, fence post, Ferruginous Hawk, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, lift off, light morph, perched, sky, Tooele County, Utah, west desert, wing lift|

There aren't many people in the west desert of Utah thus the raptors and other birds that live there are not habituated to people so they are very skittish even when using a mobile blind.

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Red-breasted Merganser Lifting Off

By Mia McPherson|2023-12-04T05:55:50-06:00February 1st, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Red-breasted Mergansers|Tags: coastal, lagoon, lift off, merganser, mergansers, Mergus serrator, nonbreeding plumage, Red-breasted Merganser, sand, take off, waterfowl|

The weather outside hasn't been good for bird photography today but since I am always behind on editing I thought I'd process this Red-breasted Merganser image that I took in Florida a few years ago.

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Friday Photos – Yes, another Rough-legged Hawk

By Mia McPherson|2021-11-06T10:44:22-05:00December 9th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, desert island, flight, flying, hawks, immature, lift off, light morph, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, young|

I can relate to the hawk in a way, just like it doesn't always get the prey it is intent on, I don't always get the shots I want.

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More Rough-legged Hawks

By Mia McPherson|2021-11-06T10:56:21-05:00November 20th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, flight, hawks, immature, lift off, light morph, natural habitat, perched, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, Stansbury Mountains, young|

I have been very pleased to add so many images of Rough-legged Hawks to my portfolio in just the past week and hopefully these Roughies will stick around until late February of next year so there will be many more opportunities.

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Ferruginous Hawk – A Regal Raptor

By Mia McPherson|2021-09-23T19:01:14-05:00November 7th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, birds of prey, Buteo regalis, Buteos, desert, fall, Ferruginous Hawk, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, lift off, light morph, raptors, sky, west desert|

Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawks found in North America, the "regalis" in the latin name means "kingly" or "regal" and I have to agree with those descriptions.

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Turd Birds; errr… I mean Sage Thrashers

By Mia McPherson|2022-03-13T09:06:35-05:00October 22nd, 2011|Categories: Davis County, Frustrations in bird photography, Humor, Sage Thrashers, Shrubs, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, blooming, brush, close, flight, frustrations in bird photography, hidden, humor, lift off, Oreoscoptes montanus, rabbitbrush, Sage Thrasher, thrasher, thrashers, turd birds|

I can't acquire focus on the Lunatic Sage Thrashers because they don't ever stay still long enough, they race around willy-nilly until dizziness forces me to stop watching them. Think Ricochet Rabbit.

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Northern Shovelers blasting off

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-28T05:00:48-05:00February 11th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Northern Shovelers, Utah|Tags: adult, Antelope Island Causeway, back lit, bird photography, blast off, blasting off, chaos, dabbling ducks, duck, ducks, flight, flying, Great Salt Lake, hypersaline lake, lake, lift off, Northern Shoveler, shoveler, shovelers, Spatula clypeata, take off, winter|

This morning when we had almost reached Antelope Island I spotted a huge flock of Northern Shovelers blasting off from the water

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