{"id":128539,"date":"2024-05-17T02:58:15","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T07:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=128539"},"modified":"2025-07-13T17:55:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T22:55:24","slug":"my-mom-would-have-been-92-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/17\/my-mom-would-have-been-92-today\/","title":{"rendered":"My Mom Would Have Been 92 Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

My mom would have been 92 today. I miss her terribly, but she is with me in so many ways. She was also with me when I went to Tishomingo NWR<\/span><\/a> last Saturday.<\/p>\n

Mom loved nature.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

She had loved it her whole life. We very much had that in common. In her later years, mom said she enjoyed her love of nature through my photos and what I wrote about my journeys into the field and my travels since I left Virginia in 2001.<\/p>\n

\"Red-shoulderedRed-shouldered Hawk chicks in their nest at Tishomingo NWR \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/320, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As I drove along one of the roads at the refuge I looked north and spotted a nest in a sycamore tree. Then I saw three little pairs of dark eyes looking at me.<\/p>\n

I was very certain that I had found a Red-shouldered Hawk nest but I knew it could also be a Red-tailed Hawk nest. I’d seen at least two at the refuge flying high in the sky.<\/p>\n

I took a few photos and left the nestlings to drive down the road. Later in the morning when I thought the light might be a little better, I returned to the nest, parked on the side of the road, and took more images of the young birds in the nest.<\/p>\n

*Although this isn’t what I consider a high quality image of the chicks in the nest, it is likely the best I will be able to take at this location. There are thick trees to the east and west and the nesting tree has a heavy canopy. Because of that, the lighting is tricky.<\/em><\/p>\n

What I hoped was that if I waited a few minutes an adult hawk might fly in with some food. I was a good distance from the nest, and felt confident that an adult would appear to feed their chicks.<\/p>\n

\"HeartHeart shaped natural spotlight on a tree trunk at Tishomingo NWR \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/250, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While I was waiting, I took photos of an adult male Painted Bunting, Downy Woodpecker, male Red-bellied Woodpecker, and a flycatcher I couldn’t identify. My eyes were soaking up the wonderful, lush green colors everywhere that I looked.<\/p>\n

Then, I saw a heart-shaped natural spotlight on one of the trees and smiled. Had my mom been with me in person, she would have seen it too. Mom was<\/em> with me, in my mind and heart. This heart reminded me of her on the morning before Mother’s Day.<\/p>\n

Just seconds after I took this image, an adult Red-shouldered Hawk flew in to the nest, dropped off food for the chicks, and flew off into the forest. I’d made the right call on which buteo species this nest belonged to.<\/p>\n

I’m glad I went back to the nest a second time. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been 100% certain the chicks were Red-shouldered Hawks, and I would have missed seeing the heart-shaped spotlight on a tree trunk.<\/p>\n

A heart-shaped sign. Mom is still with me. Happy Birthday, Mom. Love you.<\/p>\n

This is my first of two posts today. The second one will be along shortly.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

See more of my miscellaneous images in a gallery here<\/span><\/a>. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my wildflower, shrub and tree photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My mom would have been 92 today. I miss her terribly, but she is with me in so many ways. She was also with me when I went to Tishomingo NWR last Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128536,"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":[27,13450,10893,13973,882,15021],"tags":[13506,6479,2663,13985,4219,2497,4068,10494,13452,5370,4033,4169,13536,15035,4067,4071,6583,4204,4302,6905,4075,9437,13505,13451,153,4218,1994,9852,165,13507,4427,10660,12949,4193],"class_list":["post-128539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-eastern-cottonwood","category-miscellaneous","category-oklahoma","category-red-shouldered-hawks","category-tishomingo-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-american-sycamore","tag-babies","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-buteo-lineatus","tag-buteos","tag-chicks","tag-cottonwood","tag-eastern-cottonwood","tag-forest","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-heart","tag-heart-shape","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-leaves","tag-light","tag-native","tag-natural","tag-nest","tag-nestling","tag-platanus-occidentalis","tag-populus-deltoides","tag-raptors","tag-red-shouldered-hawk","tag-shadow","tag-spotlight","tag-spring","tag-sycamore","tag-tree","tag-tree-trunk","tag-trunk","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/heart-spotlight-tree-tishomingo-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9600.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xrd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":167596,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/26\/red-shouldered-hawk-in-a-snow-storm-in-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":128539,"position":0},"title":"Red-shouldered Hawk In A Snow Storm In Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the first birds I photographed during recent Winter Storm Fern was an adult Red-shouldered Hawk in a tree across the street while it was snowing hard.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Red-shouldered Hawk in a snow storm in Oklahoma, Sequoyah County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-shouldered-hawk-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-4654.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-shouldered-hawk-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-4654.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Hawk in front of the Wasatch Mountains, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-fall-mountains-mia-mcpherson-3657.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-fall-mountains-mia-mcpherson-3657.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-fall-mountains-mia-mcpherson-3657.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-fall-mountains-mia-mcpherson-3657.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"There are five recognized subspecies of Red-shouldered Hawks with the Florida Red-shouldered Hawks having the palest heads and plumage. I believe this Red-shouldered Hawk adult is from the Florida race, Buteo lineatus extimus.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Red-shouldered Hawk perched in a pine tree at Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/red-shouldered-hawk-adult-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-0164.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/red-shouldered-hawk-adult-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-0164.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/red-shouldered-hawk-adult-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-0164.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19501,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/05\/a-red-shouldered-hawk-surveying-fort-de-sotos-north-beach\/","url_meta":{"origin":128539,"position":4},"title":"Red-shouldered Hawk Surveying Fort De Soto’s North Beach","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This Red-shouldered Hawk was just a few feet away from a tidal lagoon and just yards away from the Gulf when I photographed it in November of 2008.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Red-shouldered Hawk, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, 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