{"id":69293,"date":"2020-05-02T06:05:03","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T12:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=69293"},"modified":"2025-06-15T13:53:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T18:53:41","slug":"it-has-been-five-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/02\/it-has-been-five-years\/","title":{"rendered":"It Has Been Five Years…"},"content":{"rendered":"

It Has Been Five Years…<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Male<\/p>\n

Since I Have Missed A Day Posting Here At On The Wing Photography.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

That is one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven posts about birds, wildlife, flowers and the incredible scenery I see out in the field. That 1827 days includes 2 days for the leap years we have had during this five year period. I missed posting on May 2, 2015 because I was in the wilderness in Montana and must have had a very poor connection to the internet that morning and couldn’t post a thing.<\/p>\n

I started my blog more than 10 years ago and at first I only posted sporadically. By February of 2012 I was sharing my photos and the stories behind them daily. Sometimes more than once a day. I guess I have had a lot to say about my obsessive passion for birds in the 3,255 posts I have written thus far.<\/p>\n

I’ve learned so much in the past five years from my trips into the field, from my subjects, from nature, and from you, my faithful viewers. I’ve also learned that I have strengths that I didn’t know that I had.<\/p>\n

Knowing that this special anniversary of sorts was upcoming has made me think about where I want to go from here. In addition to that going through the travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus the past few months has given me time to reflect, to question and to dissect my motives for doing what I do and how I have done it. And I wonder some more.<\/p>\n

Is it time for a change?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Is it time to do something different? Do I want to continue my daily posts that are more often than not rushed because I am usually getting ready to head out into the field soon after I hit the button to publish or do I want to post less often but publish posts that are more in depth and if so what do I want to focus on? Do I want to focus more on conservation and the effects of climate change? Share more info on how I get the photos that I do? How I find the birds I photograph? Or continue as I have been by sharing the simple stories behind the images?<\/p>\n

I’ve been photographing birds a long time and I am not about to give them up. My passion for them only grows stronger and I have reached a stage in my life where my desire to spend more time with each species has increased. I feel a desire to know them on a deeper level which means I can’t rush, I need to slow down.<\/p>\n

I’m not just a bird photographer, I am also a birdwatcher. I don’t keep the lists that traditional birders do so I wouldn’t call myself a birder but I do have quite a bit of knowledge about my subjects stored inside my brain. I don’t mean just their names or how to identify them by sight or sound. I know them and I want to know more.<\/p>\n

My sincere thanks go out to all of you who have commented here and supported me since I began sharing my images and the stories behind them on my site.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Short-eared Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That is one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven posts about birds, wildlife, flowers and the incredible scenery I see out in the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148683,"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":[1513,27,223,12082,12,608,130],"tags":[4004,4114,4254,4109,4062,7176,7602,4069,3967,294,4156,3971,165,5434],"class_list":["post-69293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-milestone","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","category-short-eared-owls","tag-adult","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-golden-light","tag-grasses","tag-male","tag-meadow","tag-milestone","tag-mountains","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-resting","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-spring","tag-valley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-marshes-mia-mcpherson-0404.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-i1D","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":143220,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/02\/milestone-ten-years-of-daily-stories-from-the-field\/","url_meta":{"origin":69293,"position":0},"title":"Milestone: 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