saliva – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Rough-legged Hawk On A Snowy Day At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By Mia McPherson|2021-11-06T07:15:34-05:00September 14th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, beak, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, hawks, Hawks of Utah, head on, high key, low light, male, marsh, open, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, saliva, snow storm, stare, wetlands, winter|

I didn't see or photograph as many Rough-legged Hawks last winter as I have in previous years but I did have a close up, extraordinary experience with one who was expelling a pellet on a snowy, foggy day at Bear River MBR.

Sage Thrasher With Fragrant Sumac Berry In Mid Air In Dawn’s Golden Light

By Mia McPherson|2021-03-07T10:12:12-06:00October 2nd, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Sage Thrashers, Utah|Tags: adult, berry, desert, Fragrant Sumac, golden light, mid air, Oreoscoptes montanus, Promontory, Rhus aromatica, Sage Thrasher, saliva, swallowed, thrasher, thrashers|

The Sage Thrasher seemed like it was bathed in golden light when suddenly I saw that it had a sumac berry which it tossed it into the air and proceeded to swallow it whole.

An adult Black-billed Magpie Portrait

By Mia McPherson|2021-03-25T07:19:49-05:00December 30th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Davis County, Utah|Tags: adult, bill, Black-billed Magpie, calling, close up, corvids, magpie, magpies, open, Pica hudsonia, portrait, saliva, salivary glands, sky|

It isn't often that I am able to take a Black-billed Magpie portrait so when a magpie flies in close enough to me I will jump at the opportunity.