sky – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Western Bluebirds in Tooele County, Utah

By Mia McPherson|February 25th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Western Bluebirds|Tags: adult, bluebird, bluebirds, canyons, desert, female, fence, fence post, foothills, front view, male, migrating, migration, perched, rare, rarity, Sialia mexicana, sky, sky island mountains, thrush, thrushes, uncommon, Western Bluebird, winter|

Seeing these uncommon Western Bluebirds in Tooele County in the Stansbury Mountain Range yesterday is part of why I love bird photography so much.

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Female Belted Kingfisher and Her Rattling Call

By Mia McPherson|February 24th, 2016|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Belted Kingfisher, branches, call, female, fishing, Jordan River, kingfisher, kingfishers, Megaceryle alcyon, perched, pond, sky, territory, trees|

Yesterday I had my first opportunity to photograph a nearby female Belted Kingfisher in Salt Lake County, Utah and I had fun getting to know her.

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Portraits Of An Adult Black-billed Magpie

By Mia McPherson|January 28th, 2016|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Davis County, Utah|Tags: adult, Black-billed Magpie, close up, magpie, magpies, Pica hudsonia, portrait, portraits, sky|

I only have a few portraits of an adult Black-billed Magpie and yesterday I was able to add several of them to my portfolio.

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Northern Harrier in Flight over Farmington Bay

By Mia McPherson|January 23rd, 2016|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, female, flight, flying, harrier, harriers, hawks, Hawks of Utah, hen, Northern Harrier, open ground, raptors, sky, snow|

I spent a little bit of time yesterday morning photographing a few birds including this Northern Harrier in flight over Farmington Bay WMA.

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A Constellation of European Starlings and a Bison

By Mia McPherson|January 9th, 2016|Categories: American Bison, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, European Starlings, Utah|Tags: adult, American Bison, autumn, Bison bison, buffalo, close up, constellation, desert island, European Starling, fall, flight, flock, flying, Murmuration, portrait, sky, starling, starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, winter|

I'm quite used to seeings birds and bison in close proximity on Antelope Island State Park not just during the warmer months but during the winter too.

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An adult Black-billed Magpie Portrait

By Mia McPherson|December 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.

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Juvenile Northern Harrier In Flight Over Farmington Bay

By Mia McPherson|December 24th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, breezy, Circus hudsonius, clouds, flight, flying, harrier, harriers, hawks, immature, juvenile, marsh, Northern Harrier, on the wing, open water, raptors, sky, winter, young|

I was able to take a few frames of this juvenile Northern Harrier in flight as it flew over some open water.

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Ring-billed Gulls in Flight in Varying Light

By Mia McPherson|December 23rd, 2015|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ring-billed Gulls, Utah|Tags: adult, clear sky, cloudy, flight, flying, gull, gulls, Larus delawarensis, marsh, on the wing, Ring-billed Gull, sky, water, wetlands, winter|

Over the past week I have been able to photograph several Ring-billed Gulls in flight in varying light and like the way they turned out.

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Sunset Paints the Sky at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

By Mia McPherson|December 8th, 2015|Categories: Beaverhead County, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: clouds, colorful, Connected, horizon, lake, Lower Lake, marsh, mountains, painted sky, reflections, refuge, sky, sunset, valley, vibrant colors, water, wetlands|

The are times when I feel that the sunset paints the sky with vibrant colors and although the earth seems muted at twilight its still anchors me.

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Red-tailed Hawks Do Perch On Wires

By Mia McPherson|November 11th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah, Utah County|Tags: adult, autumn, behavior, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, desert, fall, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, Jerry Liguori, perched on wires, ranchlands, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, sky, wires, young|

There are always exceptions. So yes, Red-tailed Hawks do sit on wires and that is one rule of birding to discount.

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Male American Kestrel Taking Off From A Nest Box

By Mia McPherson|October 28th, 2015|Categories: American Kestrels, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, American Kestrel, autumn, birds of prey, Falco sparverius, falcon, falcons, fall, kestrel, kestrels, male, marsh, nest box, raptor, sky, wetlands|

I photographed this male American Kestrel a few days ago at Farmington Bay WMA as it flew out of a nest box.

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An Osprey And A Whiting Over Fort De Soto

By Mia McPherson|October 20th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Ospreys, Pinellas County|Tags: clouds, coastal habitat, coastal island, fish, Fish Hawk, flight, flying, Osprey, ospreys, Pandion haliaetus, prey, raptor, raptors, sky, spring, Whiting|

This Osprey image was taken in April of 2009 at Fort De Soto's north beach. I had been photographing smaller birds that were close to me when I noticed the Osprey flying in with a whiting.

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American Pipits

By Mia McPherson|September 27th, 2015|Categories: American Pipits, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County|Tags: American Pipit, Anthus rubescens, migration, perched, pipit, pipits, rock pile, rocks, sky, song birds, songbirds, spring migration, Water Pipits|

American Pipits were known for a long time as Water Pipits because they feed at the edge of tundra puddles and wet alpine meadows.

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Lovely September Afternoon at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

By Mia McPherson|September 8th, 2015|Categories: Beaverhead County, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: autumn, clouds, color, Lower Lake, marsh, mountains, refuge, sky, unwinding, water, wetlands|

I am camping in one of my favorite locations in the world right now, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana.

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Great Horned Owl Chick On Honeymoon Island State Park

By Mia McPherson|August 28th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Florida, Great Horned Owls, Honeymoon Island State Park, Pinellas County|Tags: birds of prey, Bubo virginianus, chick, fledgling, Great Horned Owl, immature, juvenile, key, nest, owl, owlet, owls, sky, snag, tree, winter, young|

I spent about three months in 2008 watching a Great Horned Owl nest on Honeymoon Island State Park in Florida from hatching until this young owl fledged.

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An Assortment of Birds from Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge This Week

By Mia McPherson|July 26th, 2015|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Mourning Doves, Northern Pintails, Sandhill Cranes, Utah|Tags: adult, American White Pelican, Anas acuta, Antigone canadensis, barbed wire, crane, cranes, dove, doves, duck, ducks, eclipse plumage, field, flight, flying, immature, Mourning Dove, Northern Pintail, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, pelican, pelicans, perched, pintail, pintails, Sandhill Crane, sky, sunrise, water, Zenaida macroura|

Yesterday I posted a juvenile Wilson's Phalarope and today I am posting an assortment of others birds I photographed the same day at Bear River NWR.

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Immature Sandwich Tern In Flight

By Mia McPherson|July 18th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Sandwich Terns|Tags: coastal, flight, flying, Gulf Coast, immature, Sandwich Tern, sky, summer, tern, terns, Thalasseus sandvicensis, young|

I processed an older image of a juvenile Sandwich Tern in flight from my Florida archives to post this morning.

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Sky Line Drive and Wasatch Mountain Journeys

By Mia McPherson|July 16th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Dusky Grouse, Green-tailed Towhees, Moose, Sky Line Drive, Bountiful Canyon, Uinta National Forest, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Alces alces, alpine meadow, calf, canyons, cow, Dendragapus obscurus, Dusky Grouse, female, gravel, Green-tailed Towhee, grouse, Moose, mountains, Pipilo chlorurus, road, serviceberry, singing, sky, sparrow, sparrows, towhee, towhees, upland terrestrial birds, wildlife, wildlife photography|

I might need to go wandering up the canyons and Sky Line Drive soon just to see what birds and creatures I can find.

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Killdeer in Flight Over Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By Mia McPherson|May 30th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Killdeer, Utah|Tags: adult, Charadrius vociferus, difficult, flight, flying, Killdeer, marsh, marshes, medium sized, plover, plovers, refuge, shorebirds, sky, wetlands|

I have found trying to capture a Killdeer in flight a difficult endeavor because they fly fast and are hard to track but yesterday I did just that.

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Red-shouldered Hawk at Myakka River State Park, Florida

By Mia McPherson|March 24th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Florida, Myakka River State Park, Red-shouldered Hawks, Sarasota County|Tags: adult, birds of prey, branch, Buteo lineatus, flight, flying, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Florida, lift off, perched, raptors, Red-shouldered Hawk, sky, swamp, tree, winter|

In January of 2009 I went to Myakka River State Park with three of my bird photography friends and the raptor highlight of the day was this Red-shouldered Hawk.

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Female Northern Harrier In Flight

By Mia McPherson|March 17th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, female, flight, flying, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, hen, Northern Harrier, raptors, sky, winter|

But... things seem to be leveling out now much like this female Northern Harrier in flight that I photographed along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park in northern Utah in mid January.

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Double-crested Cormorant coming in for a landing

By Mia McPherson|March 9th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Double-crested Cormorants, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park|Tags: coast, coastal, cormorant, cormorants, Double-crested Cormorant, flight, flying, Gulf of Mexico, landing, landing pose, molt, molting, Nannopterum auritus, Pinellas County, sky|

I'm glad the Double-crested Cormorant didn't decide to relive itself as it came in to land or I might have been wearing white-wash!

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Close Up Of A Singing Western Meadowlark

By Mia McPherson|February 23rd, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: adult, close up, desert island, meadowlark, meadowlarks, portrait, singing, sky, Sturnella neglecta, Western Meadowlark, winter|

It was chilly yesterday on Antelope Island but the Western Meadowlarks were singing from perches on rocks and on top of sagebrush.

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Great Egrets In Varying Light Conditions

By Mia McPherson|February 22nd, 2015|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Egrets|Tags: adult, Ardea alba, bird photography, coastal, egret, egrets, flight, Great Egret, lagoon, landing, morning light, Pinellas County, pre-dawn light, predawn light, sky, stormy, stormy skies, stump, wading bird, wading birds|

The best light can be fleeting though so it is always best to photograph as much as you can during the "golden hours".

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American White Pelicans In The Spotlight

By Mia McPherson|February 8th, 2015|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: adult, American White Pelican, flight, flying, marsh, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, pelican, pelicans, river, sky, water, white pelicans|

So, since the temperatures have been so much warmer than normal I wouldn't be surprised to see American White Pelicans any day now.

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Northern Harrier Searching For Prey Along The Antelope Island Causeway

By Mia McPherson|January 24th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: Circus hudsonius, coursing, flight, flying, harrier, harriers, hawks, hunting, Marsh hawk, mudflats, Northern Harrier, photographing, prey, raptor, sky, voles, winter|

Three days ago I had fun photographing a Northern Harrier searching for prey along the Antelope Island Causeway

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Western Meadowlark And Kingfisher Catching Some Sunshine

By Mia McPherson|January 16th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: Belted Kingfisher, bird photography, Davis County, kingfisher, kingfishers, meadowlark, meadowlarks, Megaceryle alcyon, morning light, perched, post, sage, sagebrush, sky, Sturnella neglecta, Western Meadowlark, wooden post|

It was lovely to see the sunshine yesterday and to have the Western Meadowlark and Belted Kingfisher in my viewfinder.

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I am in love with this world

By Mia McPherson|December 14th, 2014|Categories: Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: autumn, clouds, desert, fall, foothills, John Burroughs, junipers, moon, mountains, peaks, quote, sage, sagebrush, sky, sky island mountains, snow, trees|

I too have nestled lovingly into this world and climbed its mountains, roamed its forests and sailed its waters.

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Rough-legged Hawk On A Gray Day

By Mia McPherson|December 13th, 2014|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, flight, flying, gray day, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, light morph, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, winter, young|

The day in 2011 when I photographed this Rough-legged Hawk was gray but it didn't really bother me to capture this handsome bird in low light.

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Immature Northern Harrier On The Wing

By Mia McPherson|December 12th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, female, flight, flying, harrier, harriers, hawks, immature, marsh, Marsh hawk, Northern Harrier, raptors, sky, wetlands|

So I missed out on seeing the Northern Harriers, Bald Eagles and American Kestrels at Farmington Bay WMA this morning but decided to post an older image of an immature Northern Harrier on the wing.

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