Chukar with Black Mustard

I know, my title sounds like a recipe title or an entree from a fancy restaurant.  Couldn’t resist…

I’ve been photographing Chukars on Antelope Island for several years now and I’m often pleasantly surprised by the lovely backgrounds the island provides.  Since these birds like to perch on the boulders that are common on the island they are often separated from their backgrounds by enough distance to provide a pleasing out of focus backdrop of earth tones from the dried grasses.

 

Canon 7D, 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4

But until recently the background has never included attractive flowers that I recall.  What a treat it was to find this bird immediately after we got on the island just as the sun was peeking over the mountains to the east which made for some some nice warm light and for the bird to choose a perch with such a pleasant background.  In this case the flowers are Black Mustard (named for the seed color – not the color of the flower, obviously – thanks for the flower ID Mia!).   I liked the calling pose in this full frame shot.

 

 

Canon 7D, 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4

And to make things even better this bird cooperated for quite a while – providing a variety of head turns and poses to take advantage of the light and the setting.

Chukars like to perch on, and call from, boulders.  That can be a problem because most of the rocks on the north end of the island where these birds are most accessible are made of Tintic Quartzite, an almost white mineral that is very difficult to photograph without blowing out the whites.  Warm early morning light helps to mitigate that issue but even then you have to be quite careful with exposure.

 

 

Canon 7D, 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4

After a while the Chukar apparently tired of that boulder and walked to the right edge of the rock…

 

 

Canon 7D, 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4,

looked for a clear place to land on the  ground (these birds are reluctant to fly, preferring to walk or run)

 

 

Canon 7D, 1/800, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4

and slowly disappeared into the dried grasses so common on the island.   I thought I’d seen the last of this bird.

 

 

Canon 7D, 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4

Not so!  The same Chukar quickly hopped up onto an adjacent boulder and continued to pose and call.  How considerate of him/her to provide a new setting for me with the flowers even closer in the background and a little less out of focus – and a new perch too.   Just for variety… 

 

 

Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4

After several interesting poses on the new perch the Chukar eventually ambled off into the grass. 

Most bird photographers are keenly aware of how rare it is to find such a cooperative wild avian subject.  As you may have noticed from my techs I was so close that I even had to remove my teleconverter to get the bird in the frame.  I thoroughly enjoyed my session with this Chukar.

Good bird!

Ron