Sometimes the story of the photo is better than the photo itself.
What I’m about to tell you may be more than you want to know.
Black-billed Magpies in the city, or on Antelope Island, can be fairly tame but elsewhere around here they’re usually nearly impossible to approach. Four days ago, while I was cruising for birds in a remote area of Box Elder County, I spotted multiple family groups of magpies close to the road but each time they noisily flew off before I could get anywhere near them.
After several such encounters with magpies, I realized that I had to pee. After consuming my typical two large travel mugs of coffee and a travel mug of milk to go along with my chocolate donut, a pee stop was inevitable. And overdue.
As I was looking for a secluded spot on the road where I could do my business, I encountered the first of several loosely associated flocks of 150-200 Chukars that were eating insects on the road in front of me (I posted a photo of some of those Chukars two days ago). So I spent the next 15 minutes driving very slowly forward as I attempted to encourage some of the Chukars off the road and into better light so I could photograph them in natural habitat – without success.
By the time my extended exercise in frustration with the Chukars was over, my bladder was about to explode. So I stopped at an appropriate spot on the isolated dirt road, got out and started to relieve myself while I was standing between my open door and the inside of my pickup while my lens was sitting almost within reach on my lens caddy about three feet away.
I’m thinking you can guess what happened next.
Sure enough, while I was standing there taking a leak, I spotted a young magpie flying directly at me. While I was otherwise occupied, I just knew ‘he’ was going to land very close to me and in good light, just out of spite.
1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
And that’s exactly what happened.
He landed so close I knew I’d barely be able to fit him in the frame, even if I did have my lens in my hand. So I decided to finish my business, knowing he’d fly off if I reached for my lens. But he didn’t. I took the time to completely empty my bladder, grab my lens and aim it out the window of my open pickup door while I was still standing on the road.
So here we are, just staring at each other. He allowed me enough time to get 16 photos of him before he flew off, but of course he was way too close for me to get any takeoff or flight shots without cutting off body parts.
I won’t soon forget how frustrating it was to be standing there with the magpie so close and in good light and me with the wrong tool in my hands.
At least I got some shots before he left.
Ron
PS – I anticipate that “Tales From The Field” will become an ongoing, if irregular, feature on Feathered Photography. We’ll see how that goes.
I bet those chuckers are eating spilled grain.
I love “Tales from the Field”! Can’t wait to see more!
René, it may be a while but at some point there should be more of them. Thanks,
Hi Ron,
Your post today made me smile. I hope that your intention to continue this series, even if irregularly, comes to fruition.
Beautiful image of a very elusive bird.
I hope it does too, Jorge. Those kinds of posts may be few and far between but they should happen occasionally.
Still laughing out loud ‘with the wrong tool in my hands’ 🤣😂 YES more ‘Tales from the Field’ please.
“Still laughing out loud ‘with the wrong tool in my hands’ ”
Good. Couldn’t resist. Thanks, Kathleen.
Hilarious! 🙂 At least you got the shot!
Worst I ever had was duck hunting(more like being there so someone else could shoot into my limit). My lily white ass sticking over the edge of a boat with ducks coming in and being told “don’t move, don’t move!” Other hunters actually got a couple of ducks off that one……. 😉
“Crick” down a few inches this morning – still incredibly high for this time of year – obviously LOTS of rain upstream!
Judy, your second paragraph had me guffawing.
I saw the photo you posted of your crick yesterday. Huge difference from other photos I’ve seen.
Thanks for the laugh this morning!
Thanks for enjoying it.
When I first saw the “Tales” I thought for sure it was a play on words and the post would then show a fox tail or mountain lion tail etc.
But a fun post. All we nature photographers probably have bladder stories. I remember a couple times starting to relief myself and suddenly there was a bird right there that I had to get. Envy you your Magpies and wished we had them here.
“All we nature photographers probably have bladder stories.”
That’s a very good point, Everett.
As my good friend Jim DeWitt has to say about situations like this – “The bird gods do like their little jokes.”
Magpie had never seen such human behavior in the wild. He came near for a closer observation. 😎
Actually, that may very well be true to some degree.
“…two large travel mugs of coffee and a travel mug of milk to go along with my chocolate donut…”
Ah, breakfast of champions!
Perhaps the magpie was studying you and your tools as much as you were studying him.
Well written narrative of an entertaining tale. More please!
“Perhaps the magpie was studying you and your tools as much as you were studying him.”
I definitely had that impression. I felt pretty… exposed. Glad you enjoyed it, Michael.
Michael, the line that stuck with me was “… and me with the wrong tool in my hands.”
I have to believe Ron may have typed that with a smile.
I big smile, Mark. But I had to choose my words carefully…