portrait – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Four Immature Red-tailed Hawk Portraits

By Mia McPherson|2022-02-12T05:16:20-06:00February 12th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, close up, hawk, hawks, head on, hunting, immature, looking, perched, portrait, prey, ranchlands, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Utah, wooden post, young|

Two days ago I was able to take a nice series of immature Red-tailed Hawk portraits on my most recent trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Immature Light Morph Rough-legged Hawk Portraits

By Mia McPherson|2022-02-08T05:14:04-06:00February 8th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Rough-legged Hawks|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, frost, frosty, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, light morph, marsh, perched, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, subadult, wetlands, winter, young|

I had five minutes of bird bliss yesterday morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when I was able to take immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk portraits.

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Light Morph Male Rough-legged Hawk Winter Site Fidelity

By Mia McPherson|2022-02-05T05:47:55-06:00February 5th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, birds of prey, Box Elder County, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, light morph, male, marsh, one way sign, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, sign, site fidelity, territorial site fidelity, Utah, wetlands, winter|

I have been photographing a light morph male Rough-legged Hawk on or near a One Way sign at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge frequently this winter.

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Three California Gull Photos

By Mia McPherson|2022-01-28T02:47:56-06:00January 19th, 2022|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, California Gulls, Davis County, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, California Gull, close up, Definitive Alternate Plumage, desert island, Erodium cicutarium, gape, grass, grasses, gull, gulls, Larus californicus, near breeding plumage, orbital ring, portrait, Redstem Filaree, resting, urban, wildflowers, winter|

While taking a short break yesterday morning I went down to my local pond for a few minutes and took a few California Gull photos while I was there.

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Bear River MBR Common Raven Photos

By Mia McPherson|2022-01-15T05:23:15-06:00January 15th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Ravens, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, Common Raven, corvids, Corvus corax, frost, frozen, head, ice, marsh, pair, played, portrait, raven, ravens, shaggy throat, wetland, wing tips, winter|

Earlier this week as I drove slowly around the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I was able to take a short series of Common Raven photos as they played on the ice.

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Adult Male Rough-legged Hawk Portraits

By Mia McPherson|2022-01-12T06:24:21-06:00January 12th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, dawn, funny, goofy, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, head on, left, light morph, male, marsh, portrait, raptors, right, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, wetlands, winter|

For eleven minutes yesterday morning this Rough-legged Hawk was my main point of focus as I took hundreds of photos of him at Bear River MBR.

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Riverbank Red-tailed Hawk Dining Al Fresco

By Mia McPherson|2024-01-08T03:21:56-06:00January 9th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: al fresco, bank, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteos, close up, dining, eating, first winter, grass, grasses, Great Blue Heron, hawk, hawks, ice, immature, portrait, prey, raptors, river, river bank, riverbank, Utah, wetlands, winter, young|

Yesterday morning I photographed an immature Red-tailed Hawk dining al fresco on the bank of the Bear River on my way back to I-15 to head home.

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One Very Cooperative Male Rough-legged Hawk

By Mia McPherson|2022-01-06T03:56:07-06:00January 3rd, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, blue sky, Box Elder County, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, frost, frosted, frosty, hawk, hawks, light morph, male, marsh, perched, plastic marker, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, stretching, Tamarisk, tree, Utah, wetlands, wings, winter|

For the second year in a row the first bird I photographed in the New Year was a Rough-legged Hawk and both were photographed at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Canada Goose In Flight – My First Bird Sighting Of 2022

By Mia McPherson|2022-01-02T05:20:56-06:00January 2nd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, close up, eye, flight, flying, geese, goose, landing, mountains, portrait, skimming, small in frame, snow, snowy, staring, tree, urban, Wasatch Mountains, water, waterfowl, winter|

The first bird that I could positively identify seeing for 2022 was a Canada Goose flying away from my local pond yesterday morning.

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Male Rough-legged Hawk – The First Bird I Photographed in 2021

By Mia McPherson|2021-12-30T06:19:54-06:00December 30th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, male, marsh, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, wetlands, winter|

The first bird I photographed in 2021 was this adult male Rough-legged Hawk perched above the wetlands at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Christmas Day Birds 2021

By Mia McPherson|2021-12-26T05:18:25-06:00December 26th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Birds, California Gulls, Common Goldeneyes, Great Blue Herons, Great-tailed Grackles, Mallards, Rough-legged Hawks|Tags: adult, American Coot, Anas platyrhynchos, Ardea herodias, breeding plumage, Bucephala clangula, Buteo lagopus, California Gull, calling, Christmas, Christmas Day, close up, Common Goldeneye, coot, coots, crawdad, crayfish, dabbling ducks, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, eating, female, first winter, flight, flying, foraging, Fulica americana, goldeneye, goldeneyes, grackle, grackles, grass, gray sky, Great Blue Heron, Great-tailed Grackle, gull, gulls, hawk, hawks, heron, herons, hovering, Icterids, immature, Larus californicus, low light, male, Mallard, mallards, marsh, nonbreeding plumage, open bill, pond, portrait, Quiscalus mexicanus, rails, Rough-legged Hawk, splashing, urban, wading birds, water, water droplets, wetlands, winter, young|

I did get out to find and photograph birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA and then later in the morning I found more closer to home.

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Happy Winter Solstice 2021!

By Mia McPherson|2023-12-21T03:07:02-06:00December 21st, 2021|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Robin, close up, crabapple, foraging, fruit, Malus, Northern Hemisphere, portrait, robin, robins, sky, snow, Solstice, thrush, thrushes, Turdus migratorius, urban, winter, Yuletide|

Happy Solstice and Yuletide! Hello Winter! Happy return to the light!

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Focusing On Fall Wild Turkey Tom Photos

By Mia McPherson|2021-11-15T05:16:16-06:00November 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, behavior, close up, desert, displaying, face off, facing off, fall, male, Meleagris gallopavo, portrait, ranchlands, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland game birds, Wild Turkey|

Yesterday morning the first birds I focused on taking photos of were Wild Turkey toms as they displayed for each other on desert ranchlands in northern Utah.

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Immature Black-billed Magpie Portrait At Sunrise

By Mia McPherson|2021-11-09T05:52:48-06:00November 9th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Davis County, Utah|Tags: autumn, Black-billed Magpie, close up, corvids, desert island, fall, hatch year, immature, iris, magpie, magpies, Pica hudsonia, portrait, sunrise, young|

I was looking through my archives yesterday when I came across this immature Black-billed Magpie portrait taken at sunrise on Antelope Island State Park.

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White-faced Ibis Close Up

By Mia McPherson|2021-10-21T05:15:23-05:00October 21st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, White-faced Ibises|Tags: adult, autumn, close up, fall, ibis, ibises, marsh, migratory, mobile blind, nonbreeding plumage, Plegadis chihi, portrait, red eyes, wading birds, water, wetlands, White-faced Ibis|

I'd almost forgotten about this White-faced Ibis close up photo that I took at the end of last month in the wetlands of Farmington Bay WMA.

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Autumn Wild Turkey Hen Portrait

By Mia McPherson|2021-10-11T05:47:59-05:00October 11th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: Acer negundo, autumn, Box Elder, canyon, close up, fall, fall colors, female, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, portrait, shadows, Stansbury Mountains, turkey, turkeys, upland game birds, Wild Turkey|

I found this Wild Turkey hen last autumn as she walked out of the shadows of the forest and into the bright morning light.

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Young Red Fox In A Meadow

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-13T13:44:19-05:00August 3rd, 2021|Categories: Morgan County, Red Foxes, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: alpine meadow, canyon, close up, forest edge, fox, foxes, grasses, immature, meadow, mountains, portrait, Red Fox, summer, Vulpes vulpes, young|

One year ago this morning I had a relaxing experience photographing a young Red Fox in an alpine meadow high in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Adult American Robin Portrait – Photos Can Transport Us To Another Place And Time

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-10T13:06:34-05:00June 27th, 2021|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, American Robin, canyon, close up, forest, mountains, portrait, robin, robins, summer, thrush, thrushes, Turdus migratorius|

One of the birds I photographed on the June morning was this American Robin that was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of it.

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Spring Black-crowned Night Heron Butt Shot

By Mia McPherson|2022-04-29T04:28:12-05:00May 5th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, Black-crowned Night Heron, butt shot, close up, flight, flying, heron, herons, marsh, night heron, night herons, Nycticorax nycticorax, phragmites, phrags, portrait, reflections, wading birds, water, wetlands, winter|

Some photos just make me laugh and this spring Black-crowned Night Heron butt shot image does just that.

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Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Portrait

By Mia McPherson|2021-04-15T05:15:03-05:00April 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, Buteo swainsoni, Buteos, close up, dark moprh, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, migration, portrait, raptors, spring, Swainson's Hawk|

I have shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and since today is the four year anniversary of me finding it I thought I would share one more.

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Spring Male Ring-necked Pheasant Portraits

By Mia McPherson|2021-04-08T05:25:18-05:00April 8th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Ring-necked Pheasants, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, early morning light, farm, male, Phasianus colchicus, pheasant, pheasants, portrait, ranch, Ring-necked Pheasant, spring, upland game birds, valley|

I was tickled to be able to take a nice series of male Ring-necked Pheasant portraits yesterday morning in early morning light in Box Elder County, Utah.

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Spring Sage Thrasher Portrait

By Mia McPherson|2022-05-27T06:25:25-05:00April 2nd, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Sage Thrashers, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, early morning light, mimids, Oreoscoptes montanus, portrait, Sage Thrasher, spring, thrasher, thrashers|

The second bird I photographed yesterday morning on Antelope Island State Park was an adult Sage Thrasher in gorgeous early morning light.

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Finding Greater Sage-Grouse Away From Their Leks

By Mia McPherson|2023-03-16T06:30:34-05:00March 26th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Dixie National Forest, Greater Sage-Grouse, Utah|Tags: adult, Aquarius Plateau, Centrocercus urophasianus, close up, Greater Sage-Grouse, grouse, habitat, lek, male, portrait, sage-grouse, sagebrush steppe, spring, upland game birds|

Finding Greater Sage-Grouse away from their leks isn't easy. It takes sharp eyes, keen observation skills, plus knowing what to look for.

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Winter American Coot Portraits

By Mia McPherson|2021-02-18T05:34:24-06:00February 18th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, close up, coot, coots, Fulica americana, pond, portrait, snow, snowy, winter|

After an extremely snowy night and morning I was able to get out yesterday afternoon and take some wintry American Coot portraits close to home.

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Snowy Spotted Towhee Portrait

By Mia McPherson|2024-04-05T05:17:58-05:00February 15th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Spotted Towhees, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, male, Pipilo maculatus, portrait, snow, snowy, sparrow, sparrows, Spotted Towhee, towhee, towhees, urban, winter|

There was about 2 1/2 inches of white stuff on the ground yesterday morning which allowed me to take this snowy Spotted Towhee portrait close to home.

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Golden Eagle Flying Over A Hill On Antelope Island

By Mia McPherson|2023-11-12T09:36:18-06:00February 9th, 2021|Categories: American Bison, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Golden Eagles, Utah|Tags: adult, American Bison, Aquila chrysaetos, birds of prey, Bison, Bison bison, buffalo, bull, close up, clouds, eagle, eagles, flight, flying, Golden Eagle, grass, grasses, Great Salt Lake, hill, lake, male, portrait, raptors, sky, water, winter|

It has been a couple of years since I have found a Golden Eagle on Antelope Island so when I spotted an adult on a grassy hill yesterday I was excited.

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It’s Superb Owl Sunday!

By Mia McPherson|2021-02-07T05:22:33-06:00February 7th, 2021|Categories: Barn Owls, Birds, Great Horned Owls, Short-eared Owls|Tags: adult, Asio flammeus, Athene cunicularia, autumn, Barn Owl, birds of prey, Bubo virginianus, Burrowing Owl, close up, desert, fledgling, flight, Great Horned Owl, immature, juvenile, lift off, marshes, owl, owls, Owls of Utah, perched, portrait, raptors, Short-eared Owl, snow, Tamarisk, Tyto alba, white out, winter, young|

It is Superb Owl Sunday so I wanted to share four of the owls that I see most frequently. Barn, Burrowing, Great Horned and Short-eared Owls are the owls that I photograph most often here in northern Utah.

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Canada Goose Portrait

By Mia McPherson|2024-02-13T06:37:33-06:00January 22nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, close up, geese, goose, pond, portrait, relaxed, resting, waterfowl, winter|

Today I wanted to share this simple Canada Goose portrait. I took this portrait three years ago today at a pond close to where I live in Salt Lake City.

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Photographing Winter Birds

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-13T06:24:03-05:00January 15th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Bald Eagles, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Canvasbacks, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great-tailed Grackles, Mallards, Pied-billed Grebes, Redheads, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, Anas platyrhynchos, Aythya americana, Aythya valisineria, Bald Eagle, birds of prey, Black-crowned Night Heron, breeding plumage, Bucephala clangula, Canvasback, chase, close up, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, coot, coots, dabbling ducks, dicks, displaying, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, eagle, eagles, female, fight, fighting, first winter, flight, flying, food, frisky, Fulica americana, goldeneye, goldeneyes, grackle, grackles, Great-tailed Grackle, grebe, grebes, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, heron, herons, immature, male, mallards, marsh, merganser, mergansers, Mergus merganser, night heron, night herons, Nycticorax nycticorax, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, pond, portrait, prey, Quiscalus mexicanus, raptors, Redhead, redheads, swimming, wading birds, water, waterfowl, weather loach, winter, young|

I spent a couple of hours yesterday photographing winter birds at Farmington Bay WMA and closer to home in the morning and afternoon.

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Winter Herring Gulls In Utah

By Mia McPherson|2021-01-03T07:51:23-06:00January 3rd, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Herring Gulls, Utah|Tags: adult, close up, flight, flying, gull, gulls, Herring Gull, immature, Larus argentatus, marsh, portrait, sky, subadult, water, winter, young|

Winter Herring Gulls have arrived in northern Utah and I am excited that I will have opportunities to photograph this gull species again.

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