spring – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Vesper Sparrow Looking Up At The Sky

By Mia McPherson|June 13th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Summit County, Utah, Vesper Sparrows, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, canyon, fence post, mountains, perched, Poocetes gramineus, sagebrush steppe, sparrow, sparrows, spring, Vesper Sparrow, wooden post|

Friday morning I found this Vesper Sparrow perched on an old fence post next to a dusty road with another sparrow singing from the top of a sage about 100 feet away.

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Song Sparrow Eating A Snail

By Mia McPherson|June 12th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Song Sparrows, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, bill, canyon, creek, eating, Escargot, foraging, grasses, insert, Melospiza melodia, mountains, riparian habitat, snail, Song Sparrow, sparrow, sparrows, spring, stones, water|

Photographing a Song Sparrow eating a snail yesterday morning as it foraged in a creek in the Wasatch Mountains was a unique experience for me.

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Say’s Phoebe In Sage

By Mia McPherson|June 11th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Say's Phoebes, Utah|Tags: adult, Artemisia tridentata, Big Sagebrush, desert, eponymous common names, flycatcher, flycatchers, honorific common names, lift off, lifting off, perched, phoebe, phoebes, precariously, sage, sagebrush, Say's Phoebe, Sayornis saya, spring, take off, taking off, tyrant flycatchers|

I think Rufous-bellied Phoebe would be a great name instead of Say's Phoebe, with or without the hyphen. It is certainly more descriptive.

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Adult Savannah Sparrow in Summit County

By Mia McPherson|June 10th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Savannah Sparrows, Summit County, Utah|Tags: adult, farmlands, fence post, Passerculus sandwichensis, pasture, perched, ranchlands, Savannah Sparrow, sparrow, sparrows, spring, valley, wooden post|

Earlier this week I photographed this adult Savannah Sparrow just outside the town of Kamas, Utah before heading up into the Uinta Mountains.

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Female Brown-headed Cowbird And Willow Catkins

By Mia McPherson|June 9th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, brood parasites, Brown-headed Cowbird, canyon, catkins, cowbird, cowbirds, female, interspecific brood parasites, Molothrus ater, mountains, perched, pussywillows, riparian habitat, spring, willow, willows|

Late last month I photographed this female Brown-headed Cowbird surrounded by willow catkins in East Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Uinta Chipmunks In The High Uinta Mountains

By Mia McPherson|June 8th, 2021|Categories: Summit County, Uinta Chipmunks, Uinta Mountains, Uinta National Forest, Utah|Tags: adult, Bald Mountain overlook, boulders, chipmunk, chipmunks, forest, grooming, hidden forest chipmunk, high Uintas, lichen, male, mountains, Neotamias umbrinus, pair, resting, rocks, scenery, spring, tree trunk, Uinta Chipmunk|

I spent yesterday morning traveling Mirror Lake Highway in the Uinta Mountains and came home with a few photos of Uinta Chipmunks.

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Spring Female Black-chinned Hummingbird Photos

By Mia McPherson|June 7th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Archilochus alexandri, Black Twin Berry, Black twinberry honeysuckle, Black-chinned Hummingbird, canyon, feeding, female, honeysuckle, honeysuckles, hovering, hummingbird, hummingbirds, Lonicera involucrata, mountains, nectaring, resting, riparian habitat, spring, willows|

I took my first Black-chinned Hummingbird of the year photos in the middle of May but it wasn't until the end of the month that I took some that I liked.

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Male Belted Kingfisher Photos

By Mia McPherson|June 5th, 2021|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Belted Kingfisher, branch, canyon, creek, favored, fish, kingfisher, kingfishers, male, Megaceryle alcyon, metal post, mountains, perch, perched, prey, spring, yellow wildflowers|

Today I am sharing four male Belted Kingfisher photos that I have taken this spring in the Wasatch Mountains starting with one that I took yesterday morning.

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Lark Sparrow In Golden Morning Light

By Mia McPherson|June 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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Chipping Sparrow With Food For Its Chicks

By Mia McPherson|June 3rd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Chipping Sparrows, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, breeding season, Chipping Sparrow, food, foothills, juniper, Juniperus osteosperma, mountains, perched, prey, sky island mountains, sparrow, sparrows, Spizella passerina, spring, Utah Juniper|

I was photographing a Lark Sparrow when I spotted this Chipping Sparrow with food in its bill fly in and land on a juniper bough.

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Great Blue Heron and Mountain Goldenbanner

By Mia McPherson|June 2nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Great Blue Herons, Morgan County, Small in the frame, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, blooming, blooms, canyon, Filamentous algae, flowering, grasses, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, Mountain Goldenbanner, mountain meadow, Mountain Thermopsis, mountains, pond, spring, Thermopsis montana, wading birds, water, wildflowers, willows, yellow wildflowers|

Yesterday I wrote about a Golden Eagle in the Wasatch Mountains. Today I am writing about "golden" again. Blooming Mountain Goldenbanner and a Great Blue Heron.

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Adult Golden Eagle In Flight In The Wasatch Mountains

By Mia McPherson|June 1st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Golden Eagles, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Aquila chrysaetos, birds of prey, canyon, eagle, eagles, flight, flying, Golden Eagle, mountains, raptor, spring|

The last time I was in the Wasatch Mountains I had a brief window of opportunity to photograph an adult Golden Eagle in flight.

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Recent Birds I’ve Found In The West Desert

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

By Mia McPherson|May 30th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Rock Wrens, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, back view, desert, early morning light, fence post, foothills, gnarly, juniper, Juniperus osteosperma, Rock Wren, Salpinctes obsoletus, singing, sky island mountains, spring, Utah Juniper, wooden post, wren, wrens|

I have been able to take more Rock Wren photos in the West Desert the last two times I have wandered out there.

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Male Western Tanager Close Up Image

By Mia McPherson|May 29th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Western Tanagers|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, close up, fence, foothills, juniper forest, male, mountains, perched, Piranga ludoviciana, sky island mountains, spring, unmistakable, Western Tanager, wire fence|

Two days ago I had the opportunity to photograph a male Western Tanager up close in the foothills of some of the sky island mountains in the West Desert of Utah.

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Female Black-chinned Hummingbird And A Knothole

By Mia McPherson|May 28th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, Archilochus alexandri, behavior, Black-chinned Hummingbird, canyon, female, flight, flying, forest, hummingbird, knothole, mountains, sky island mountains, spring, tree, trees|

Yesterday while out in the sky island mountains of the West Desert I spotted a female Black-chinned Hummingbird repeatedly checking out a knothole in a tree.

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Violet-green Swallow Photos

By Mia McPherson|May 27th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, Violet-green Swallows, West Desert|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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Resting Willow Flycatcher

By Mia McPherson|May 25th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Willow Flycatchers|Tags: adult, branch, canyon, Empidonax traillii, Empids, flycatcher, flycatchers, forest, mountains, perched, resting, riparian habitat, spring, willow, Willow Flycatcher|

The last time I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I heard several "FITZ-bew" calls but didn't see a single Willow Flycatcher out in the open.

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Subadult Peregrine Falcon

By Mia McPherson|May 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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Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers And A Butterfly

By Mia McPherson|May 23rd, 2021|Categories: California Tortoiseshell Butterflies, Shrubs, Tooele County, Trees, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: Abies concolor, aspen, aspens, bloom, blooming, blossoms, butterflies, butterfly, California Tortoiseshell butterfly, cone, cones, currant, currants, Douglas fir, fir, firs, Gray's Biscuitroot, Hydrophyllum occidentale, Lomatium grayi, Nymphalis californica, Populus tremuloides, prunus, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Quaking Aspen, Ribes cereum, shrubs, spring, trees, Wax Currant, Western Chokecherry, Western Waterleaf, White Fir|

On a recent trip to the West Desert sky island mountains in Tooele County I found my lens pointed at trees, shrubs, wildflowers and a butterfly.

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Spring Female Cassin’s Finch

By Mia McPherson|May 21st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Cassin's Finches, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, alpine creek, branches, canyon, Cassin's Finch, creek, creekside, female, finch, finches, Haemorhous cassinii, mountains, paying attention, sky island mountains, spring, willows|

When this female Cassin's Finch landed next to a creek two days ago in the West Desert I was happy to take her photo.

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Singing Rock Wren In The West Desert

By Mia McPherson|May 20th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Rock Wrens, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, back view, clod, desert, dirt, end, foothills, grass, grasses, juniper, junipers, Juniperus osteosperma, perched, rock, Rock Wren, rocks, Salpinctes obsoletus, singing, sky island mountains, spring, tail, Tooele County, Utah, Utah Juniper, west desert, wren, wrens|

Yesterday when I spotted a Rock Wren singing from the top of a juniper in Utah's West Desert I hoped to take a few decent photos of it before it flew away.

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Spring Orange-crowned Warbler

By Mia McPherson|May 19th, 2021|Categories: Orange-crowned Warblers, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, Leiothlypis celata, Orange-crowned Warbler, perched, spring, Utah Serviceberry, warbler, warblers, wood-warblers|

I was happy to spot and photograph my first of season Orange-crowned Warbler yesterday morning high in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Uinta Ground Squirrel And An Ant

By Mia McPherson|May 18th, 2021|Categories: Summit County, Uinta Ground Squirrels, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, ant, eating, grass, grasses, ground squirrel, ground squirrels, insect, spring, squirrel, squirrels, Uinta Ground Squirrel, Urocitellus armatus|

Last week while up in the Wasatch Mountains I took a series of close up images of this Uinta Ground Squirrel plus an ant on its right front leg.

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Bluebells, Currants, Warblers And A Duck

By Mia McPherson|May 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Mallards, Morgan County, Northern Yellow Warblers, Shrubs, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildflowers|Tags: adult, alpine, Anas platyrhynchos, bath, bathing, beaver damage, bloom, blooming, blossoms, blue wildflowers, branch, branches, canyon, creek, creekside, currant, currants, dabbling ducks, drake, duck, ducks, female, flowering, flowers, fork, Golden Currant, male, Mallard, mallards, Mertensia ciliata, Mountain Bluebells, mountains, perched, pink wildflowers, purple wildflowers, Ribes aureum, riparian zone, Setophaga aestiva, shrub, singing, spring, stump, tapestry, warbler, warblers, water, water droplets, wildflowers, Yellow Warbler, yellow wildflowers|

I spent my morning up in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday and came home with photos of bluebells, currants, warblers, and a duck.

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Springtime Vesper Sparrow Images

By Mia McPherson|May 13th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Summit County, Utah, Vesper Sparrows, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, back view, canyon, close up, grass, grasses, leaning, metal post, mountains, perched, Poocetes gramineus, post, rock, sage, sagebrush, shoulder, singing, sparrow, sparrows, spring, Summit County, Utah, Vesper Sparrow, Wasatch Mountains|

Yesterday morning I heard my first Vesper Sparrow of spring singing high in the Wasatch Mountains. I was enchanted and thrilled at the same time.

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Male Belted Kingfisher And Pussy Willows

By Mia McPherson|May 10th, 2021|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, alert, background, Belted Kingfisher, branch, canyon, catkins, creek, kingfisher, kingfishers, male, Megaceryle alcyon, mountains, perched, pussy willows, spring, well weathered, willows|

Saturday morning I was delighted when a male Belted Kingfisher flew in and perched in front of pussy willow catkins high in the Wasatch Mountains.

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Spring Yellow Warbler Joy

By Mia McPherson|May 9th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Northern Yellow Warblers, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, branch, canyon, male, mountains, perched, Setophaga aestiva, spring, warbler, warblers, willow, willows, wood-warblers, Yellow Warbler|

I took my first of year Yellow Warbler photos in the Wasatch Mountains when I drove up into the mountains on Friday morning.

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My First Of Season Spotted Sandpiper Photos

By Mia McPherson|May 8th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Spotted Sandpipers, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: Actitis macularia, adult, breeding plumage, calling, canyon, creek, Definitive Alternate Plumage, Definitive Basic Plumage, mountains, nonbreeding plumage, perched, sandpiper, sandpipers, shorebirds, Spotted Sandpiper, spring, stump, water|

I took my first of season Spotted Sandpiper photos yesterday morning high in the Wasatch Mountains as I sat in my Jeep next to a creek.

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Spring Barn Swallow Photos

By Mia McPherson|May 7th, 2021|Categories: Barn Swallows, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: adult, Barn Swallow, close up, Hirundo rustica, marsh, morning, perched, phragmites, phrags, resting, spring, swallow, swallows, wetlands|

This morning I wanted to share two Barn Swallow photos that I took two mornings ago on the north side of the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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