squinting

Spring Male Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

By Mia McPherson|2022-05-14T06:39:43-05:00May 14th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: adult, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, branch, branches, breeding plumage, curious, desert, flowering tree, gnatcatcher, gnatcatchers, juniper woodland, junipers, looking, male, mountains, perched, Polioptila caerulea, singing, sky island mountains, spring, squinting, tree|

I was thrilled to find and photograph a male Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in spring breeding plumage yesterday at the edge of a juniper woodland in Tooele County.

Short-eared Owl Preening Session

By Mia McPherson|2021-03-03T16:07:08-06:00May 30th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Short-eared Owls, Utah|Tags: adult, Asio flammeus, auditory canal, birds of prey, contorted, ear canal, eyes, male, owls, Owls of Utah, preening, preening gland, Short-eared Owl, squinting, talons, uropygial gland|

I was able to see and photograph a long Short-eared Owl preening session where I could see the owl's ear canal, uropygial gland and some extremely interesting and twisted poses.