{"id":62109,"date":"2019-12-16T06:11:15","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T13:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=62109"},"modified":"2026-02-02T05:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T11:45:24","slug":"i-should-have-listened-to-my-instincts-yesterday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/16\/i-should-have-listened-to-my-instincts-yesterday\/","title":{"rendered":"I Should Have Listened To My Instincts Yesterday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Radar\/Satellite

Radar\/Satellite Imagery December 15, 2019, 8:55 a.m.<\/p><\/div>\n

When I woke up yesterday morning at 3:50 a.m. the radar\/satellite imagery showed clouds all over northern Utah and given the bad case of cabin fever I have it was pretty disappointing to see all of those clouds. But I noticed that the clouds looked thinner further north so I decided to check the hourly forecast for Brigham City and saw that it said “partly cloudy” until after 10 a.m..<\/p>\n

I was very tempted to head north because it feels like it has been a long, long time since I was actually out in the field with the birds, listening to the quiet, feeling the peacefulness that nature provides, and shutting out the news of our country and the world.<\/p>\n

But I didn’t pack up my gear to go, instead I let negative thoughts keep me home.<\/p>\n

\"Traffic

Traffic cam – Northern Utah – 8:49 a.m.<\/p><\/div>\n

By 8:49 a.m. the light looked beautiful up north on the traffic cams and I berated myself for not listening to my instincts, for not packing up my gear, and heading to the birds and the good light.<\/p>\n

Later in the day my friend and fellow bird photographer April Olson, who comments here frequently posted some of the lovely photos she took at Bear River MBR yesterday morning on Facebook and I felt like kicking myself in the butt for not heading up there. Repeatedly. Hard.<\/p>\n

I might have taken some wonderful photos of birds in nice light yesterday if I had only listened to my instincts and gone out to look for birds.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Barn Owl in flight over the flats at Farmington Bay \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

As a bird photographer I am always looking for good light, light that makes the birds in my photographs look great, healthy and alive. Light that makes their feathers and colors glow. Light that makes their eyes shine.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Short-eared Owl on a foggy, snowy morning \u2013 Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

But yesterday morning I forgot that some of the images in my portfolio that are among my all<\/em> time favorites were taken in low light, foggy, or snowy conditions and that those photos have a mood to them that images of birds taken in better light just don’t have.<\/p>\n

So if I had gone up north and the light hadn’t gotten as good as it did I still might have taken some wonderful photos of birds yesterday.<\/p>\n

Lesson learned. I’ll listen more carefully to my instincts and push away those negative thoughts.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I might have taken some wonderful photos of birds in nice light yesterday if I had only listened to my instincts and gone out to look for birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[129,511,27,1022,697,130,26],"tags":[3985,4114,2663,5490,5672,4052,4175,3984,8136,156,4099,3967,294,4353,3971,4050,4328,49,373],"class_list":["post-62109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barn-owls","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-short-eared-owls","category-utah","tag-barn-owl","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-daylight","tag-flats","tag-flight","tag-fog","tag-foggy","tag-instincts","tag-low-light-2","tag-morning-light","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-tyto-furcata","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/short-eared-owl-snow-fog-winter-mia-mcpherson-4425.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-g9L","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":79015,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/07\/its-superb-owl-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":62109,"position":0},"title":"It’s Superb Owl Sunday!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It is Superb Owl Sunday so I wanted to share four of the owls that I see most frequently. Barn, Burrowing, Great Horned and Short-eared Owls are the owls that I photograph most often here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Short-eared Owl resting in front of sage, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-0758.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-0758.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-0758.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-0758.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39708,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/24\/northern-utah-short-eared-owl-chicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":62109,"position":2},"title":"Northern Utah Short-eared Owl Chicks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It felt amazing to be alone with these northern Utah Short-eared Owl chicks for a few brief moments yesterday.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl chick in front of sage, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-chick-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2817.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-chick-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-chick-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2817.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-storm-clouds-mia-mcpherson-1630.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-storm-clouds-mia-mcpherson-1630.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-storm-clouds-mia-mcpherson-1630.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-storm-clouds-mia-mcpherson-1630.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15443,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/07\/24\/posts-from-the-past-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":62109,"position":4},"title":"Posts from the Past – Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am focusing on older posts that have owls in them starting with Great Horned Owls.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Great Horned Owls with their eyes on the Montana sky, Glacier County\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mia-mcpherson-montana-1949.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mia-mcpherson-montana-1949.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mia-mcpherson-montana-1949.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37862,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/04\/northern-utah-short-eared-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":62109,"position":5},"title":"Northern Utah Short-eared Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday it was the northern Utah Short-eared Owls that made me so very glad that I am a bird photographer and that for a little while I am part of their world.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tumbleweeds with Short-eared Owl, Box Elder County, 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