{"id":119420,"date":"2023-12-31T05:05:45","date_gmt":"2023-12-31T12:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=119420"},"modified":"2024-01-08T04:03:30","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T11:03:30","slug":"2023-thats-a-wrap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/31\/2023-thats-a-wrap\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 – That’s A Wrap"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m breaking from my own tradition this year and simply calling 2023 a wrap. Typically, I share photos from each month of the year and write about my journeys.<\/p>\n

\"SnowySnowy American Robin checking me out<\/span><\/p>\n

2023 has been tough for me personally, but I’ve survived it.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\nThe first birds I saw in 2023 were American Robins. A flock of about 50 of them flew over my head not long after dawn on New Year’s Day. Most years, I see American Crows or Canada Geese first. Seeing those robins was special for me in 2023.<\/p>\n

In May, I started a personal journey. I flew from Utah to Virginia because my mom was placed in hospice, and I went back home to help her transition. Thankfully, I had a support system in place, and I was mom’s support system. I deeply appreciate every person that helped my through the journey of saying goodbye to my mom.<\/p>\n

I am also glad that I didn’t have to deal with drama from certain family members. I know 100% I could have handled it; I am grateful that I wasn’t forced to.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"SingingSinging male Indigo Bunting at Sequoyah NWR<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the highlights included spending time with my niece, Kristal, and her daughter Wren in Virginia. Seeing the familiar countryside of Virginia was a balm during my rough time.<\/p>\n

I didn’t have my bird gear with me to take photos, but I enjoyed seeing Eastern birds again, smelling tidewater, and watching sunsets over the York River. Seeing so much of the color green was a visual treat.<\/p>\n

Spending time with my oldest son, William, and his wife, Lisa, in Texas was also incredibly special to me.<\/p>\n

Then, I spent time in Arkansas and Oklahoma with my dear friend and fellow photographer, Steve Creek<\/span><\/a>, and his dog, Rosie. I rested and recovered while I was there. In addition to that, Steve loaned me his Canon R7, and I was able to photograph the amazing birds and wildlife of his part of the country. I had a marvelous time with Steve and Rosie. <\/p>\n

I didn’t know that when I spoke to my mom from Steve’s deck the morning I left to head back to Utah, it would be the last time I would speak to her, and she would speak back to me. After that time, Mom just wasn’t Mom anymore. She passed away just a few days later.<\/p>\n

Since I have been back in Utah, I have enjoyed being out in the field with the birds and wildlife here.<\/p>\n

The effects of climate change here in northern Utah seem even more stark than they had been before my trip back east. I work harder to find fewer birds now. Birds that should be abundant, aren’t. The Great Salt Lake is still dying even after record-breaking snowfall amounts last winter. It’s sad, terribly sad.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what 2024 will bring but I know 2023 was a mixed bag of joy, pain, and personal growth.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. So long 2023, that’s a wrap.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my bird photos in their galleries.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m breaking from my own tradition this year and simply calling 2023 a wrap. Typically, I share photos from each month of the year and write about my journeys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456,27,13046],"tags":[4004,2427,14023,13985,13984,4053,6530,12124,13048,4062,13047,4104,6642,5199,4179,4050,4328,165,3844,4881,1048,8018,373],"class_list":["post-119420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-robins","category-avian","category-indigo-buntings","tag-adult","tag-american-robin","tag-arkansas-river","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-bottomlands","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-bunting","tag-checking","tag-indigo-bunting","tag-male","tag-passerina-cyanea","tag-perched","tag-robin","tag-robins","tag-singing-2","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-spring","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-turdus-migratorius","tag-urban","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/indigo-bunting-singing-mia-mcpherson-0368.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-v48","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":142648,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/05\/spring-morning-bird-songs\/","url_meta":{"origin":119420,"position":0},"title":"Spring Morning Bird Songs","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, in between storms, I sat outside and listened to bird songs. I decided to make a short recording and share photos of the birds I heard.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Squawking adult Blue Jay close up, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-jay-arkansas-colorful-mia-mcpherson-4852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-jay-arkansas-colorful-mia-mcpherson-4852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-jay-arkansas-colorful-mia-mcpherson-4852.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-jay-arkansas-colorful-mia-mcpherson-4852.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104120,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/11\/my-great-two-bunting-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":119420,"position":1},"title":"My Great Two Bunting Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last week I headed up into the Wasatch Mountains to look for birds in cooler temps and had a great time photographing two bunting species before 8 am.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Inquisitive adult male Lazuli Bunting, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3912.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3912.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3912.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3912.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":76602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/31\/2020-photographic-year-in-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":119420,"position":2},"title":"2020 Photographic Year In Review","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my 2020 photographic year in review. I'm selecting some of my favorite photos from 2020 and a few that just make me happy to see them.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Golden Eagle in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128229,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/04\/indigo-bunting-male-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":119420,"position":3},"title":"Indigo Bunting Male At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This image shows a male Indigo Bunting singing on a wild grapevine in the morning. It was taken taken earlier this week at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Indigo Bunting singing on a wild grapevine, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/indigo-bunting-male-sequoyah-grapevine-mia-mcpherson-3892.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/indigo-bunting-male-sequoyah-grapevine-mia-mcpherson-3892.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/indigo-bunting-male-sequoyah-grapevine-mia-mcpherson-3892.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/indigo-bunting-male-sequoyah-grapevine-mia-mcpherson-3892.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53502,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/08\/10\/birds-more-birds-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":119420,"position":4},"title":"Birds & More Birds in The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In the past week I have photographed so many birds in a Wasatch Mountain canyon that I thought I would share a group of them in a photo gallery.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Yellow Warbler and Serviceberry bush up close, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-1852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-1852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-1852.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-1852.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17150,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/17\/winter-american-robin-turdus-migratorius\/","url_meta":{"origin":119420,"position":5},"title":"Winter American Robin – Turdus migratorius","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Personally, I love to see American Robins any time of the year and to watch them searching for prey. Common? Yes, but delightful too.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter American Robin, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-perched-mia-mcpherson-9101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-perched-mia-mcpherson-9101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-perched-mia-mcpherson-9101.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-perched-mia-mcpherson-9101.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}