sky – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Colorful Twilight Sky

By Mia McPherson|2021-09-12T05:45:49-05:00September 12th, 2021|Categories: Beaverhead County, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: beauty, clouds, colorful, evening, fence, grasses, lake, light, marsh, mountains, pastels, peaceful, relaxed, sky, summer, sunset, twilight, valley, vivid, wetlands|

I don't have much to say today and all I really wanted to do was share this photo of a colorful twilight I took at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge about 6 years ago.

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Summer Dragonflies And Butterflies At Bear River MBR

By Mia McPherson|2021-09-29T10:46:39-05:00August 26th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Blue-eyed Darner Dragonflies, Box Elder County, Clouded Sulphur Butterflies, Purplish Copper Butterflies, Utah|Tags: adult, bloom, blooming, Blue-eyed Darner, butterflies, butterfly, Clouded Sulphur, Colias philodice, Common Sunflower, copper, coppers, copulating, dragonflies, dragonfly, female, Helianthus annuus, Lycaena helloides, male, marsh, mating, nectaring, pair, Purplish Copper, Rhionaeschna multicolor, sky, sulphur, sulphurs, summer, sunflower, sunflowers, wetlands, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

Today I am sharing some of the dragonflies and butterflies I've found at Bear River MBR in the summer.

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Remembering Smokeless Days

By Mia McPherson|2021-08-09T05:55:21-05:00August 9th, 2021|Categories: Tooele County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: canyon, clouds, conifers, desert, grasses, juniper, junipers, Juniperus osteosperma, mountains, sage, sagebrush, shadows, sky, sky island mountains, spring, Stansbury Mountains, Utah Juniper|

The photo I shared today isn't of anything special. It is a West Desert mountain range view. That smokeless blue sky though? I'd give so much to see that again here today.

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Poppies, Birds, Trees, Butterflies And A Smoky Haze

By Mia McPherson|2023-08-18T12:13:26-05:00August 5th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Flatbud Prickly Poppy, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, Weidemeyer's Admiral Butterflies, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: Abies concolor, admiral, admirals, adult, Argemone munita, birds of prey, bloom, blooming, branch, Buteo jamaicensis, butterflies, butterfly, cone, cones, creek, dawn, desert, Douglas fir, fir, firs, flowering, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, juvenile, Limenitis weidemeyerii, mountains, native, poppies, poppy, Prickly Poppy, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, puddling, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir, sky, sky island mountains, smoky, smoky haze, summer, tree, trees, Weidemeyer's Admiral, White Fir, white wildflowers, wildflowers, young|

The first time I raised my lens yesterday morning it was for blooming Prickly Poppies that were along the shoulder of the bumpy gravel road.

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Vesper Sparrow Lifting Off

By Mia McPherson|2023-03-07T09:28:30-06:00July 31st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Vesper Sparrows|Tags: adult, desert, Fragrant Sumac, freshwater seep, lift off, lifting off, Poocetes gramineus, Rhus aromatica, seep, sky, smoky, sparrow, sparrows, sumac, summer, take off, taking off, Vesper Sparrow|

While looking through my archives yesterday I came across this image of a Vesper Sparrow I photographed last September near a freshwater seep in Box Elder County.

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Nashville And MacGillivray’s Warblers – A Visual Comparison

By Mia McPherson|2021-07-24T16:21:01-05:00July 24th, 2021|Categories: Birds, MacGillivray's Warblers, Nashville Warblers, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, aphids, canyon, comparison, foraging, Geothlypis tolmiei, ID, identification, Leiothlypis ruficapilla, MacGillivray's Warbler, male, mountains, Nashville Warbler, perched, resting, riparian habitat, sky, summer, versus, warbler, warblers, willow, willow thicket, willows, wood-warblers|

In late summer I see Nashville and MacGillivray’s Warblers in the same locations and habitats foraging for the same food, aphids.

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Utah Is Hot – Cooling Winter Wetland Views

By Mia McPherson|2021-06-16T05:36:02-05:00June 16th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: clouds, gulls, ice, marsh, mountains, record breaking temps, reflections, sky, snow, trees, Wasatch Mountain Range, Wasatch Mountains, water, wetlands, winter|

Utah is hot. It is scorching. Our hottest temps are yet to come and there is no relief in sight for our drought.

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Lark Sparrow In Golden Morning Light

By Mia McPherson|2021-06-04T05:29:30-05:00June 4th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Lark Sparrows, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, Chondestes grammacus, clouds, fence, fence post, fence posts, foothills, golden light, grasses, juniper, junipers, Juniperus osteosperma, Lark Sparrow, mountains, perched, sky, sky island mountains, sparrow, sparrows, spring, Utah Juniper|

Two days ago I photographed this adult Lark Sparrow that I found perched on an old fence post in golden light in the West Desert of Tooele County.

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Recent Birds I’ve Found In The West Desert

By Mia McPherson|2024-02-26T10:14:55-06:00May 31st, 2021|Categories: Birds, House Wrens, Lazuli Buntings, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, Warbling Vireos, West Desert, Western Kingbirds|Tags: adult, barbed wire, basking, branch, bunting, buntings, Buteos, canyon, fence, fence post, foothills, foraging, forest, hawk, hawks, House Wren, juniper, junipers, Juniperus osteosperma, kingbird, kingbirds, Lazuli Bunting, male, mixed deciduous conifer forest, morning, mountains, Passerina amoena, perched, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, sky, sky island mountains, spring, sun, Troglodytes aedon, Tyrannus verticalis, tyrant flycatchers, Utah Juniper, vireo, Vireo gilvus, vireos, Warbling Vireo, warmth, Western Kingbird, wild rose, wooden post, wren, wrens|

Last week I made two trips out to the West Desert and today I am sharing a medley of recent birds that I found while I was out there.

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Violet-green Swallow Photos

By Mia McPherson|2021-05-27T04:56:39-05:00May 27th, 2021|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: adult, alpine forest, branch, branches, canyon, female, flight, flying, forest, guarding, male, mountains, nesting cavity, scuffling, sky, sky island mountains, spring, swallow, swallows, Tachycineta thalassina, Tooele County, tree, trees, tussling, Utah, Violet-green Swallow, west desert|

Yesterday I was able to take the Violet-green Swallow photos that I have been dreaming of since I first moved to Utah in 2009.

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Subadult Peregrine Falcon

By Mia McPherson|2021-05-24T05:52:59-05:00May 24th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Peregrine Falcons, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult plumage, birds of prey, calling, desert, Falco peregrinus, falcon, falcons, fence post, First Spring, flight, flying, foothills, immature, juvenal plumage, lift off, lifting off, molt, molting, Peregrine Falcon, raptors, second year bird, sky, spring, sub-adult, subadult, take off, taking off, wooden post, young|

Last week before I found the Rock Wren I wrote about I also found a subadult Peregrine Falcon perched on a wooden post in the West Desert.

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Resting Ruddy Turnstone

By Mia McPherson|2021-05-17T06:20:46-05:00May 17th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Ruddy Turnstones|Tags: adult, Arenaria interpres, beach, breeding plumage, close up, coast, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, male, resting, Ruddy Turnstone, sand, shorebirds, sky, turnstone, turnstones, water|

Twelve years ago today I was on the beach at Fort De Soto County Park focused on photographing a male Ruddy Turnstone resting on the warm sand with the Gulf behind him.

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Dreaming Of Mountain Bluebirds

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-29T09:15:33-05:00April 24th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Mountain Bluebirds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: bluebird, bluebirds, canyon, female, male, Mountain Bluebird, mountains, Sialia currucoides, sky, sky island mountains, thrush, thrushes, tree, Utah|

I woke up this morning dreaming of Mountain Bluebirds so I thought I would share two images of them from previous springs.

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Spring Swainson’s Hawk In Sage

By Mia McPherson|2021-04-19T05:49:53-05:00April 19th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo swainsoni, Buteos, desert, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, hillside, intermediate morph, nestled, raptors, sage, sagebrush, sky, snuggled, Swainson's Hawk|

The Swainson's Hawk that I spent the most time photographing was snuggled into the top of a sage and he was very calm and confiding.

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Spring Yellow-bellied Marmot Resting

By Mia McPherson|2021-03-29T06:06:03-05:00March 29th, 2021|Categories: Box Elder County, Utah, Yellow-bellied Marmots|Tags: adult, cliff, desert, lichen, lichen covered, marmot, Marmota flaviventris, marmots, resting, rocks, rodent, sky, spring, Yellow-bellied Marmot|

Around the middle of March while photographing nesting hawks I spotted a bit of movement and saw this Yellow-bellied Marmot resting on a cliff.

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Spring Turkey Vulture And A View From The Road

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-20T12:46:31-05:00March 28th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah|Tags: adult, Cathartes aura, clouds, desert, mountains, pole, rocks, rocky outcroppings, sage, sagebrush, sky, spring, thermoregulating, thermoregulation, Turkey Vulture, vulture, vultures, wooden pole|

Yesterday morning I was able to photograph a spring Turkey Vulture warming up in the morning light from a rural road in Box Elder County.

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Pronghorn Buck And West Desert Sky Island Mountains

By Mia McPherson|2021-03-19T05:50:38-05:00March 19th, 2021|Categories: Juab County, Pronghorn, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildlife|Tags: adult, Antilocapra americana, buck, clouds, desert, flats, grasses, male, mountains, Pronghorn, pronghorns, sky, sky island mountains, small in frame, spring|

I found and photographed this Pronghorn buck in Utah's West Desert after photographing birds at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge in April of 2019.

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West Desert Mountains

By Mia McPherson|2021-03-16T06:25:39-05:00March 16th, 2021|Categories: Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: clouds, dirt road, February, landscapes, morning, mountains, road, sky, slopes, snow, snow-topped, winter|

Some days start off the wrong way and when they do I look for things that soothe me. Views of mountains calm me down so today I am sharing a simple view of some West Desert mountains.

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Swan Day in Utah – March 13, 2021

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-20T10:47:45-05:00March 11th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: adult, Cygnus columbianus, flight, flying, ice, icy, marsh, mountains, pair, Promontory Mountains, resting, sidelit, sky, swan, Swan Day, swans, Tundra Swan, waterfowl, winter|

This Saturday, March 13th, is Swan Day here in Utah. It is a day to celebrate these large, white, beautiful birds that spend time here during the winter.

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Common Raven On The Wing

By Mia McPherson|2023-10-25T06:21:25-05:00March 10th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Ravens, Utah|Tags: adult, Common Raven, corvids, Corvus corax, flight, flying, marsh, on the wing, raven, ravens, sky, wetlands, winter|

Earlier this month I had a brief opportunity to photograph a Common Raven on a gate at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on a bright, beautiful morning.

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Sage Thrashers – Time To Listen For Their March Melodies

By Mia McPherson|2021-03-05T05:59:58-06:00March 5th, 2021|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Sage Thrashers, Utah|Tags: adult, branches, desert, mated, mimids, Oreoscoptes montanus, pair, perched, rabbitbrush, Sage Thrasher, sky, summer, thrasher, thrashers|

Sage Thrashers return to northern Utah in March and it is now time for me to start listening for their songs and melodies.

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Female Belted Kingfisher – March Birds I Look For

By Mia McPherson|2021-03-04T06:20:08-06:00March 4th, 2021|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Belted Kingfisher, branch, call, calling, female, kingfisher, kingfishers, Megaceryle alcyon, rattling, sky, tree|

I photographed this female Belted Kingfisher calling from a branch in March of 2017 close to the Jordan River not far from where I live.

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Male Rough-legged Hawk Photos

By Mia McPherson|2022-04-20T21:21:48-05:00February 26th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, background, birds of prey, blue sky, Buteo lagopus, Buteo regalis, Buteos, Ferruginous Hawk, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, light morph, male, mountains, raptors, rock, rocks, Rough-legged Hawk, shadows, sky, snow, snow covered, snowy|

Earlier this week I photographed a light morph, adult male Rough-legged Hawk in the West Desert of Utah with three different backgrounds.

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Tundra Swans On Ice At Farmington Bay WMA

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-20T10:53:17-05:00February 23rd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: Cygnus columbianus, ice, landscape, marsh, morning, mountains, Oquirrh Mountains, sky, snow, snowy, swan, swans, Tundra Swan, waterfowl, winter|

I photographed Tundra Swans on the ice at Farmington Bay WMA that showed the snow covered Oquirrh Mountains in the background last week.

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Ferruginous And Rough-legged Hawk Lift Off Photos

By Mia McPherson|2022-04-20T21:22:12-05:00February 22nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteo regalis, Buteos, feathered legs, feathered tarsi, feet, Ferruginous Hawk, first winter, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, legs, lift off, lifting off, light morph, male, power pole, raptors, rock, rocks, Rough-legged Hawk, sky, take off, taking off, young|

Yesterday morning I was able to take Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawk lift off photos where both of the raptors still had their feet on their perches.

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Adult Golden Eagle Close Up

By Mia McPherson|2023-11-12T07:48:15-06:00February 13th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Golden Eagles, Utah|Tags: adult, Aquila chrysaetos, blue sky, close up, eagle, eagles, flight, fly by, flying, Golden Eagle, raptors, sky, winter|

One year ago this morning spotting and photographing this adult Golden Eagle at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was the highlight of an otherwise crappy day.

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It’s Isn’t Too Early To Spot An American White Pelican

By Mia McPherson|2021-02-10T06:17:50-06:00February 10th, 2021|Categories: American White Pelicans, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: American White Pelican, clouds, flight, flying, immature, marsh, on the wing, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, pelican, pelicans, sky, winter|

February isn't too early in the year to spot an American White Pelican on the wing in northern Utah. In fact I expect them to start showing up right about now.

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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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Winter Great Blue Heron In Flight

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-27T15:19:10-05:00January 31st, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, flight, flying, heron, herons, marsh, mountains, phragmites, phrags, sky, snow, wading birds, wetlands, winter|

I'm keeping it simple today and sharing a single photo of a winter Great Blue Heron in flight over the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Adult Tundra Swan On The Wing

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-20T10:18:58-05:00January 30th, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: adult, clouds, Cygnus columbianus, flight, flying, marsh, on the wing, sky, swan, swans, Tundra Swan, waterfowl, winter|

I've been thinking that I need to hop into my Jeep and head to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to photograph the Tundra Swans before they head north to breed and nest.

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