{"id":143220,"date":"2025-05-02T02:40:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T07:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=143220"},"modified":"2025-07-07T12:48:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:48:21","slug":"milestone-ten-years-of-daily-stories-from-the-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/02\/milestone-ten-years-of-daily-stories-from-the-field\/","title":{"rendered":"Milestone: Ten Years Of Daily Stories From The Field"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today marks ten years, which is 3,653 days, of sharing the authentic stories behind my images every single day without missing a beat.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Short-eared Owl on desert ranchlands, Box Elder County, Utah<\/span><\/p>\n

Every single day since May 2, 2015, I\u2019ve written and shared something here. Most days it\u2019s been joyful, a few days have been heavy.<\/p>\n

Some posts have been long and winding, some were just a quick note and a photo. But my streak held.<\/p>\n

I started writing back in 2010, and by 2012 I was posting almost daily. I\u2019d had a solid three-year streak going, until May 1, 2015, when I missed a post.<\/p>\n

Not because I forgot. I was out in the wilderness of Montana, photographing, and didn\u2019t have a strong enough signal to publish.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Raven chicks relaxing in their nest, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana<\/span><\/p>\n

That was the only break. The very next day, May 2, 2015, I started again. And I haven\u2019t missed a day since.<\/p>\n

Over the past decade I\u2019ve written about everything from conservation and behavior to tree blossoms and beetles.<\/p>\n

While birds are my passion, I\u2019ve also shared moments with moose, moths, wildflowers, wasps, and whatever else I saw through my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

From hummingbirds the size of thimbles to raptors and American White Pelicans, if it had feathers and flew, or if it didn\u2019t, I was likely out there, trying to see, learn, and share something about it.<\/p>\n

And through all of it, every word, every photo, every single day, my mom was my biggest supporter. She read my posts, cheered me on, encouraged me to keep going even on the hard days.<\/p>\n

I lost her in July of 2023, and there hasn\u2019t been a day since when I haven\u2019t thought about how much she would have loved a particular post, smiled at a photo, or asked me for information about my subjects.<\/p>\n

My ten year streak is dedicated to my mom.<\/p>\n

\"MountainMountain Bluebells in May, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah<\/span><\/p>\n

Ten years is a long time to show up for anything, especially something that doesn\u2019t come with a paycheck or a deadline.<\/p>\n

But nature always has something to offer. And writing here has become part of my rhythm, like my morning cup of coffee, breathing, or bird song at dawn.<\/p>\n

That said, this will be the last post in my daily streak. I’m moving my site to a new server and I just plain need a break. It feels like the right moment to ease up a bit.<\/p>\n

My site is huge, it will take a day or two to get it moved.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m okay, no worries there! I\u2019ll still be posting, just not every day. Maybe a few times a week, maybe more, maybe less.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see. I just wanted you all to know what\u2019s going on, and to say thank you, for reading, for caring, for being supportive, and for coming along on this ride.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Be sure to check out my bird<\/span><\/a> and flora<\/span><\/a> galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today marks ten years, which is 3,653 days, of sharing the authentic stories behind my images every single day without missing a beat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143224,"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":[27,219,12082,13915,130],"tags":[4114,2663,6098,7155,11286,4134,4068,1544,5237,4257,4098,6518,4067,4071,10139,7602,10136,13920,4075,3967,4455,294,11852,4751,2732,13711,5300,3971,165,4193],"class_list":["post-143220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-ravens","category-milestone","category-mountain-bluebells","category-short-eared-owls","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-blooming","tag-blue-wildflowers","tag-bluebells","tag-chick","tag-chicks","tag-common-raven","tag-conifer","tag-corvus-corax","tag-desert","tag-flowering","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-mertensia-ciliata","tag-milestone","tag-mountain-bluebells","tag-mountain-valley","tag-nest","tag-owl","tag-owlet","tag-owls","tag-ranchlands","tag-raven","tag-ravens","tag-relaxing","tag-roadside","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-spring","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/short-eared-owl-young-mia-mcpherson-3011.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Bg0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40017,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/14\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-parallaxing\/","url_meta":{"origin":143220,"position":0},"title":"Short-eared Owl Fledgling Parallaxing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This Short-eared Owl fledgling spent a lot of time looking at the vehicle on the far side of the road parallaxing with its head tilted or bobbing up and down.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Parallaxing Short-eared Owl fledgling, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-parallaxing-mia-mcpherson-6692.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-parallaxing-mia-mcpherson-6692.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-parallaxing-mia-mcpherson-6692.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-parallaxing-mia-mcpherson-6692.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39745,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/27\/fledgling-short-eared-owl-in-tumbleweeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":143220,"position":1},"title":"Fledgling Short-eared Owl in Tumbleweeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"How could I resist taking images of a fledgling Short-eared Owl in tumbleweeds? I just couldn't.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Short-eared Owl with Tumbleweeds, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4390.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4390.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4390.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4390.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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because they follow their main prey which is voles and if the vole population is low the Short-eared Owl density will also be low.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl chick in early morning light, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-road-side-mia-mcpherson-2797.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-road-side-mia-mcpherson-2797.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-road-side-mia-mcpherson-2797.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This image shows a Short-eared Owl nictitating membrane that is partially exposed. 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