Loggerhead Shrike – Sometimes This Is What It Takes To Get The Photo You Want

Yesterday morning on Antelope Island I did something I never do to get the shot. This may be more than you wanted to know but it’s the story behind the photo.

A young Loggerhead Shrike was hunting from bushes on the passenger side (the ‘wrong’ side) of my pickup. ‘He’ repeatedly landed on a bush right next to the road, hunted from there for 15-30 seconds, and then moved on to the next bush down the road. Three separate times I tried to maneuver my pickup on the very narrow road so I could get him in my viewfinder from my driver’s side window but he was having none of it. Each time he took off for the next perch before I could get him in focus.

So I tried a strategy I haven’t even attempted to use for years. I tried to photograph him through my open passenger window while sitting in the driver’s seat.

My lens is much too long and heavy for me to hand hold it while twisting my body to my right while shooting out that window. The interior of the cab is very large (it’s over 5 1/2′ wide from left door panel to right door panel) and my lens caddy is strapped down to the seat right next to me, so I can’t scooch over to get closer to the passenger window so I can rest my lens on it.

All I could do was reach way over and rest the end of my lens on the passenger window opening and then try (“try” is the operative word) to get my eye close enough to the viewfinder to see the shrike. In order to accomplish it I had to severely twist my body and vulnerable back.

 

1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

When I finally managed to do it, this is what I saw through my viewfinder. Most of the time he was looking down while hunting but I got a couple of shots of him looking my way.

But you know me, I wanted the takeoff shot so I had to hold that very uncomfortable position for as long as it took. It took a while.

 

 

1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

But I did get the takeoff shot. He’d spotted potential prey beneath him so he dove downward after it. In the next shot in the burst I lost focus on him and clipped his left wing.

Was it worth it? At this point I’m not sure. I like the takeoff shot but to get it I had to hold a twisted position that caused the metal rods in my back from a fairly recent surgery to poke places that have never been poked before. This morning my back is still tweaked.

It may not have been smart but I got ‘the shot’. I’d have felt much worse about it if I’d missed it.

Ron

 

43 Comments

  1. Nice contorted takeoff shot Ron.

  2. I’m see-sawing back and forth between “wonderful shots!” and “owowowowow!” for your back. I hope that you won’t have any lasting ill effects from getting these superbly stunning shrike shots — or from mowing your lawn after that.

    Hoping the weasels show up on the driver’s side of your truck soon too. šŸ™‚

  3. Loved the pictures, one of my favorite birds. Luckily I see in my narrow back yard because of pond & on my Sable Palm in the Sarasota, FL area.

  4. That first shot is my favorite. Picture perfect comes to mind. In old age deciding whether or not to “go for it” is a frequent conundrum. I know it well. “Hope going for it”, was the right choice in this instance. šŸ˜‰

  5. Brilliant shots and I so understand the ‘necessity’ of taking that risk. But.
    I do hope that the twisting (and following up by mowing the lawn) haven’t done any damage.
    Sometimes we are good at cutting off our noses to spite our faces aren’t we?

  6. Charlotte Norton

    Sensational!

  7. Nice shots, I like the colors too. The Island is so golden right now and the smokey skies make it even more so.
    Be careful with that back, you don’t want a bunch of down time again. Those spur of the moment decisions generally get me into trouble. As I age I can’t tell if I am avoiding them more or or say damn the consequences, when will I get this chance again?

  8. I always enjoy your Loggerhead Shrike photos – maybe because it’s just not a bird I see photos of very often, and almost never see in the wild. Thanks for the efforts to take these, and I hope your back feels better quickly.

    I also got caught up on posts I had missed while I was traveling on vacation. I particularly liked the treatise on beets, and the photos of the Short-eared Owl and the Phalarope. Thanks for all the great posting you do and the wonderful photos you share.

  9. “I tried to photograph him through my open passenger window while sitting in the driverā€™s seat.” Reading this sentence made me cringe! Thought immediately of your back and your heavy lens!
    The shots are excellent – bravo!

  10. From our point of view, these shot were definitely worth it but I sure hope that is the case for you. Great shots of an often elusive subject I find them very camera shy and when they do allow you somewhat closer, they always turn their back to you. At least thatā€™s my luck with them. They are fascinating birds.

  11. Everett F Sanborn

    Whack the back to get the Shrike. Outstanding shots and hopefully worth the effort and strain on the back. I have never seen a Loggerhead in that plumage. The ones here I have seen are strictly black and white. Very interesting.

  12. Great Photos… but do “take care”

  13. I hope your back calms down soon! Lovely captures – this is one of my favorite birds and I have a difficult time photographing them!

    • Thanks, Mary. Shrikes tend to be difficult subjects but this time of year on the island they seem to be a little more approachable. Especially the juvies.

  14. ELLEN BLACKSTONE

    Wow! I love these. And you even get your catch-light in both photos! Yup, definitely worth it, Ron.

  15. Kent Patrick-Riley

    Your description of the ordeal made me ache. Was it worth it?

    Yup. Excellent series.

  16. WELP! Hope the back settles down in short order! I’m sure the surgeon knows you (and others) pretty well and what will likely happen down the line…… šŸ˜‰ Luv the shots of the Shrike tho. šŸ™‚ They are definitely a “different” bird. Glad you didn’t bang up the lens!

    • “Glad you didnā€™t bang up the lens!”

      That’s always a consideration, Judy. I have to be very careful with it.

      One time I got out of my pickup to photograph a bird on “the wrong side” and when I was through I felt the call of nature so I put my camera and lens on the storage box in the back of my pickup while I completed my business. Then I forgot about it and started to drive away with my lens in such a precarious position. If a friend hadn’t noticed and told me about it I’m sure it would have fallen to my pickup bed and been seriously damaged.

  17. David’s comment made me laugh! But cringed at your description of those metal rods twisting! Oh NO! These are beautiful shots, though, and do capture the sense of a young bird learning the ropes. You’ve had another post of a young shrike figuring out how to impale its prey on a thorn. Guess you can’t have too many shrike photos!

    • “Guess you canā€™t have too many shrike photos”

      Carolyn, as far as I’m concerned you can’t. I have a soft spot for shrikes, in part because of their “raptor wannabe” reputation. Which is well deserved.

  18. Great shots – so glad you were successful. “No pain; no gain” certainly does seem to apply in this case.

  19. If it helps at all, I miss seeing shrikes. I appreciate your efforts to get this shot! I hope your tweak settles down.

    • Thanks, Mary. This has been a good year for shrikes on the island after several years of them being mostly missing in action. The improved lake level has made a big positive difference to a variety of species on the island.

  20. Michael McNamara

    Really nice shots! Do really like that first one.

    Something about the look of that bird tells me it is an immature. Yes?

    I think your orthopedic surgeon would have a cardiac event if they knew about all the photographic contortion stress testing that goes on inside that truck of yours.

    • “Something about the look of that bird tells me it is an immature. Yes?”

      Yes, Michael. I called it a “young” shrike but maybe I should have said “juvenile”,

      As far as my surgeon goes, I think he’d give me that wry smile of his, implying “I told you so”.

  21. How many shrike photos do you have? How many back surgeries do you want to have?

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