instead of yet another semi-tame Chukar on Antelope Island. Plus my first of year Swainson’s Hawks.
The vast majority of the Chukars I’ve photographed over the years have been on Antelope Island where they’re acclimated to people and traffic and often easily approachable. I do see ‘wild’ Chukars occasionally in some of the remote areas of northern Utah I frequent but those birds tend to be incredibly spooky and camera shy.
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 400, Canon R-5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
So early yesterday morning in a remote area of Box Elder County I was both surprised and excited when this Chukar behaved very differently. As I approached ‘him” he actually stayed on his rocky elevated perch and allowed me to take a few (very few) photos before jumping down and disappearing into the vegetation. He wasn’t particularly close but still… I find that kind of behavior almost unheard of in wild Chukars.
As a bonus his lichen-encrusted perch was natural and attractive, he was in flattering side light and he posed nicely for me.
Shooting with my full frame Canon R-5 I was able to get a perspective that showed most of the lichen-encrusted boulder the Chukar was on and more of its habitat, including the sagebrush in front of the boulder (this photo is uncropped). To get this perspective with my previous camera I’d have had to go through the hassle and inconvenience of removing my teleconverter. With the R-5’s 45 MP file size I still had plenty of detail to crop in for the first photo above.
Yesterday was slow for bird photography but better for bird and critter sightings. I’ve heard a few calling Willets recently but yesterday was my first sighting of one this year (I got only distant photos). I saw Northern Harriers Sky Dancing again (no photos) and I spent a while photographing an adorable family of Yellow-bellied Marmots – their four pups were the youngest I’ve ever seen out of their den.
But I was most excited to see my first of year Swainson’s Hawks. I saw at least three of them but was only able to get a few photos of mediocre quality.
It was a good morning, despite the short supply of cooperative avian subjects.
Ron
A perfectly posed (and poised) chukar. And lichen. What a wonderful start to the day. The hawk is a bonus.
It sounds as if you had a most excellent day yesterday, which is lovely.
EC, At first I was disappointed to find so few cooperative birds but all in all I can’t (or at least shouldn’t) complain.
Photos of Chukars are always a good way to start the day.
Three Swainson’s Hawks. That would probably be a record in these parts.
I gotta ask: When I zoom in on the second photo on my computer the Chuckar is much less sharp than the cropped photo. Why is that?
Lyle, if I understand the intricacies of your question it’s because online photos are nearly always low resolution for a variety of reasons. For example, my photos are only 900 pixels on the long side so when you zoom in, each pixel or group of pixels contains very little detail. It’s kinda like looking at newsprint through a magnifying glass or microscope – you don’t really see any more detail.
To give you an idea of how much the resolution of my online images is reduced, the high res version of that second photo is 8192 pixels on the long side but here it’s only 900.
The first image and second image above are actually different photos. In reality, in the high res versions of the images, the Chukar is slightly sharper in the second photo than it is in the first but at this resolution it isn’t noticeable.
I am as intrigued by the lichen-encrusted rock as I am by the Chukar. You can take the science teacher out of the classroom…
The Swainson’s Hawk strikes me as regal, although his tail feathers could use a little attention. And I’m looking forward to the marmot pups — for documentary purposes (i.e, your nit-picking be damned). 😉
Who, me? Pick nits? Not a chance.
And I agree about the lichens, Marty.
Ron, I so appreciate your photo sharing and educational content as well!
What can you say about hawks and other soaring birds soaring clockwise and counterclockwise. I just witnessed that phenomenon yesterday, sitting on my deck in the redwood forest of Scotts Valley , California.
Many thanks ❣️
Carolyn Fitz
Ps…I’ve never seen a Chukar before other than your posts! They are gorgeous birds❣️❣️
I don’t know anything about that soaring behavior, Carolyn.
I googled this info to learn more:
Soaring birds have the ability to effortlessly employ air currents to their advantage—clockwise and counterclockwise around an area of low pressure.
How fun is that!
“A good morning…” All anyone can ask for, and just enough.
Agreed.
I think you are having fun with the new camera. If I bought that camera at my age and low tech abilities I would need to spend about six months working with you to really understand and use it well.
Nice shots. I have only once seen a Swainson’s once here.
“I think you are having fun with the new camera”
Everett, I’m having fun but plenty of frustrations too. Not sure I’ll ever completely conquer the learning curve.
Met a guy out today who has one and likes it but admits that at this point he doesn’t know all that much about it – I think he is much more relaxed and not a perfectionist like you ………………
Glad you had such a fine morning, and I think the Chukar “crop ” ( sounds
like harvest-time ! ) is a real classic…….I’m looking forward to seeing marmot
pups as well !
We’ll have to see about the marmot photos, Kris. I haven’t looked at them yet.
Beautiful – both the Chukar and the Hawk. Not having to do a lot of “shuck and jive” to crop or not IS a bonus with the new camera. Sounds like a wonderful morning with a variety of “critters”. Look forward to the Marmot pups. 🙂
Thanks, Judy. I’m finding that the new camera is giving me a lot of flexibility that I didn’t have before.