And another series to show what I was up against while attempting to photograph fighting meadowlarks.
As I mentioned in a previous post, nine days ago many of the male Western Meadowlarks on Antelope Island were fighting over breeding territory. Some of their fights were on the ground but more often they were in midair. I had no luck at all photographing their actual fights because when they were on the ground they were always obstructed by vegetation and when they were fighting in flight they were too hard to keep in frame and in focus.
The first series below is an example of my failure. I’m including it to show what I was up against.
This male has just spotted another male flying aggressively toward him from the upper right.
He took off almost straight up with the apparent intention of challenging the incoming bird in flight.
But this time, at the last second, both meadowlarks jinked. Just before they met in midair the incoming bird turned to his right and flew away while the bird at lower left dived to the ground to the left of the largest sagebrush.
Their quick maneuver was too much for my active focus point, which was unable to stay locked on the bird on the left, so instead it grabbed onto the tip of the sagebrush at lower left. The result was yet another garbage photo of fighting meadowlarks.
But I had better luck when attempting to photograph a single bird taking off in an upward direction to meet his opponent.
Typically the perched bird would take off vertically, or nearly so. For what it’s worth, I really like this photo.
This guy never took his eye off of the incoming meadowlark while he was taking off and…
rising up to…
meet him in mid air.
This is the last shot I got of him that was sharp and without any cut off body parts. I’ve cropped the photo unconventionally to include part of his sagebrush perch at lower left.
The two birds fought briefly in midair but I was twisted in my pickup seat at such an extreme angle I couldn’t keep them in my viewfinder. My bad back was complaining too much. So once again, I missed the fighting shots.
The same thing happened at least three times that morning with meadowlarks fighting in midair. It was fun, exciting and extremely frustrating – all at the same time.
Ron
Good job keeping those two male birds contesting territory in the viewfinder even if they are soft and fuzzy
I love that outta here butt shot. I’m werid!
I also like the photo that you like. Besides the fact that he looks wonderfully etched onto my screen, there’s something ambiguous about his posture that makes it interesting. He could be conducting an orchestra. I also love the second to the last photo. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing of the group, but it makes me feel the effort he puts into forcefully pulling his wings back down to his body. In the picture there’s still some air under the wing before its tightly drawn to the body. At least that’s what I think I’m seeing. I’ve never seen wings caught in that position before.
7134-37 are just superb! Methinks he doth complain too much. I think you’re getting spoiled – keep it up.
Thanks, Burrdoo. I like those shots too.
I, too, like the last photo. He’s become a bullet with a flared tail – “do not mess with me!” It’s neat to see the progression to that state. I like the first two on the ground, as well, the turned head showing his stripes, the flash of yellow, the opening wings and tensing of his legs, the detail of the sagebrush. Lots of visually interesting things to look at!
“He’s become a bullet with a flared tail.”
I like that description, Carolyn. Thanks.
Very interesting set Ron. In the last one he is exclaiming “I’m free.”
Beautiful birds who are so often seen in foliage like that. We had a really strange visit by 3 of them one day. We live on a golf course and one morning there were 3 on the course in front of us. I forget, but maybe it was wet and they were finding worms, but then all of a sudden all 3 – all male – hoped over the fence and were in our backyard. Quickly grabbed my camera and took some shots. A visit that we never saw before nor since.
Thanks, Everett. Meadowlarks on a golf course does seem a little unusual.
WOW! What fun along with pure frustration! 🙂 Like the contrast between stretched out and all tucked up……..
Thanks, Judy.
Wow! Those flight shots are worth all the struggle! Beautiful!!
Glad you like them, Joanne. Thanks.
The level of focused aggression you’ve captured in these shots
is certainly a surprise to me……they remind me of the WWI midair
“dogfights’—isn’t that what they called them—ala Snoopy and
the “red baron” ? But here, the meadowlarks’ postures look very serious, as if fired out of a cannon. What a revelation !
Yup, that’s what they called them, Kris.
And dogfights they were with these meadowlarks. They’d briefly hover directly in front of each other, scratching and biting each other for a second or two. And then make their getaway. Their aerial fights were brief because chubby meadowlarks can’t hover for very long.
I am really enjoying these Meadowlark photos.
Those last four photos really captures the intense focused intent that this fellow has toward the bird out of view.
Agree that the first one of the second phot series is appealing, but I like that last one too. Good thinking about keeping a bit of the sagebrush in frame. It would not have been nearly as kinetic without it.
“but I like that last one too”
You’re the second one to say that, Michael. Maybe I should have included the next shot in the series. I didn’t because I clipped his wing in that one. Woulda, coulda, shoulda…
These are really nice pictures. Especially the last one. It looks like he’s jumping.
Thank you, Jimmy.