Diurnal Raptors – Page 87 – Feathered Photography

Odd Behavior In A Young Male Northern Harrier

It’s likely that I’m more interested in bird behaviors than some of my readers – if so I hope you’ll bear with me through this post. Even though the light was terrible for photography much of the time, witnessing this odd behavior was a treat for me. As most folks who try to photograph harriers know, they’re generally an elusive quarry and difficult to get close to. Occasionally you may get a close fly-by if you’re lucky but yesterday I had an experience with a harrier that I had never seen before and I’ve spent a lot of time around harriers. Mia and I first found the bird (a young male just transitioning to adult plumage) perched close to the road and as we attempted to get close for some shots it lifted off, just as we expected. I assumed it was long gone as usually happens with these birds but that’s not how it turned out. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As we were preparing to drive further down the road we noticed the harrier coming back and it landed quite close to us again. Very unusual, so we decided to hang around and see how the cards played out. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The harrier began to call. Sometimes it sounded like the typical harrier call that I’ve heard so many times in the past but occasionally this bird sounded different – Mia thought it sounded almost like a parrot. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc It stayed on the same…

Northern Harrier Hunting a Vole

Over the last five years I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time photographing, watching and studying hunting Northern Harriers. When they pounce on their prey the action is usually so far away (or buried in the vegetation) that I don’t get a good look at what’s actually happening. But all that changed with this adult female who was so intent on capturing a vole buried deep in the matted, dried vegetation that she virtually ignored me. What fun to watch! Unlike most other hawks, harriers very often use auditory cues (sound) to locate prey. In fact they have a facial “ruff” or disc much like owls do and its purpose is the same – to funnel sounds to the ears. The feathers that form the disc can be raised in response to noise, essentially enlarging the disc and improving hearing. 1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Harriers often hunt along predictable “pathways” and this one had made several passes by me earlier. However this time she attempted to pounced on something right in front of me – almost certainly it was a vole since they are very nearly the exclusive diet of wintering harriers. 1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc She missed the vole but from her demeanor she could obviously hear it under the mat of vegetation and she became quite agitated in her attempts to get at it. 1/1600, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc She repeatedly rose into the air a couple of feet and pounced back down on the same spot with her…

Just A Shot That I Like… #15 – Rough-legged Hawk Lift Off

Ugly perches have been the bain of my photographic existence lately. When a bird lets me get unusually close it always seems to be on a metal post, sign, hunk of concrete , telephone pole or even a sailboat mast. For that reason I’ve been attempting a lot of take-off shots recently. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Case in point: a few weeks ago this hawk let me get ridiculously close but it was perched on a particularly unattractive metal sign. The light angle was good so I removed my teleconverter and waited to see if it would take-off, fully expecting it to launch away from me as they usually do. What a pleasant surprise when it took off parallel to me and gave me good eye contact at the same time. I particularly like the good detail, the blood on the feet from its last meal and the nice look at those namesake “rough legs”. Ron

Just A Shot That I Like… #14 – Prairie Falcon Warming In The Early Morning Sun

As I’ve mentioned previously in this blog Prairie Falcons have been one of my nemesis birds for a very long time. But recently I had several close up opportunities with the species. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This juvenile falcon had been hunting smaller duck species along the shore of the Great Salt Lake and would occasionally rest on some shoreline rocks. This time I caught it enjoying the warming rays of the sun just minutes after sunrise. Here the warm light has just reached the bird and perch but hadn’t yet hit much of the water in the background. I’ve posted several images of this species recently and perhaps I’ve overdone it but I guess my excitement over finally “conquering” a nemesis just got the best of me… Ron Addendum: A note to any bird photographers who may notice my camera settings for this image and wonder about them. I certainly didn’t need 1/3200 shutter speed for this static image but I had already taken multiple shots of this falcon with more appropriate settings for a perched bird so now that I had enough light I decided to increase my shutter speed in preparation for take-off. But of course the bird took off facing away from me so I deleted those images.

American Kestrel Preening on a Rabbitbrush Perch

American Kestrels are pugnacious and skittish little falcons that are usually difficult to approach. But last week I found a cooperative male warming himself in the early morning sun while perched on rabbitbrush. Though feisty by nature this kestrel looked almost cuddly while all puffed up against the cold and nestled into the bush. 1/2000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I first approached him head-on which gave me some images where bird and perch combined to produce a pyramid shape that I liked. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But then I maneuvered to get a different angle so that at least part of the tail would be visible. In these early shots my camera settings were meant to give me enough shutter speed for the take-off that I fully expected. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 250, 500 f/4 But when he began to groom contentedly I started fiddling with my settings to get shutter speeds and depth of field more appropriate for the situation. Here he is passing one of his tail feathers through his bill in typical preening behavior. 1/1600, f/8, ISO 250, 500 f/4 He gave me a variety of preening poses that I liked. 1/1250, f/8, ISO 250, 500 f/4 Some of the neck feathers are difficult to reach so they go through some strange contortions in an effort to get to them. 1/1600, f/8, ISO 320, 500 f/4 Here the eye was half closed but I was still able to get a catch light. …

Peregrine Falcon Feeding Behavior (graphic)

The Peregrine Falcon has always been a nemesis bird for me. I’ve occasionally seen them far off, either in flight or perched, but have never been able to get close to one. All that changed last week when I spent an incredible half hour very close to a young bird while it was feeding on a female Northern Shoveler. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there was no LIGHT! DAMMITALL! It was heavily overcast with only a bright spot in the clouds to mark the position of the sun. As usual, this kind of situation requires lots of compromises between shutter speed, ISO, depth of field, motion blur, catch lights, ad infinitum… So compromise I did but I still got many feeding behavior images I find interesting. And since one of the primary focuses of this blog is bird behaviors, you guessed it – a blog post… First – a warning. Some of these photos are graphic. Proceed with caution if your sensitivities are fragile. 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As I first approached this falcon it was depluming the duck. At times feathers were flying everywhere but at these shutter speeds and apertures many of those shots ended up in the delete bin. At this point I was still using the 1.4 teleconverter but the bird soon let me approach close enough that I was able to ditch the tc and get slightly more shutter speed. Take visual note of the size of the crop in this image when the falcon has just begun…

Award Winning Image

Maybe it’s a little tacky of me to toot my own horn but I figured that some of my readers might be interested in this and wouldn’t find out any other way. Yesterday Nature Photographers Network announced the 2011 winners of their annual Editor’s Pick Awards and one of my images won first place in the Avian category. I’ll provide several links below for those who may be interested in seeing my winning photograph and those of the other winners. For those who are unfamiliar with Nature Photographers Network (NPN) it is primarily a nature photography critique site which will explain the critiques below the photos. My image. Be sure to click the “view larger photo” option to see the photo in much better detail. The front page of the NPN Online Magazine, which includes a slide show presentation of the First Place winning images in each of the 9 different categories. Be sure to check them out (hold your cursor over the image to temporarily stop the slide show) as there are some wonderful nature photographs in the presentation. The first, second and third place winning images in each of the nine categories, including the critiques given on each photograph. Ron

Just A Shot That I Like… #11, Bald Eagle In A Dramatic Flight Posture

It’s getting to be that time of year again – Bald Eagle time in Utah! As is typical for this season their numbers in the state are increasing every day. Eagle populations in Utah peak in January and February before many of them start heading north again. 1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Though it appears as if this bird was about to snag a fish from the water surface in reality it was simply coming in for a landing on the shore, just out of frame to the lower right. I like the light on the eagle and the overall flight posture. I’m looking forward to freezing my butt off again this winter while photographing these very impressive birds. Ron

Kiting Rough-legged Hawk

Kiting is the ability of some birds to maintain a stable position in the air by using air currents rather than by the flapping of wings or hovering. Last week I had a wonderful opportunity with this young Rough-legged Hawk while it was kiting in the stiff wind rising up from the Antelope Island causeway. The light was good and the bird was cooperative and let me get close – what more could a bird photographer wish for? 1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc It was amazing to see how still in the air this bird could be – often maintaining the same relative position to the ground without significant wing movement for long periods. I swear that if I had been using a tripod I could have focused on the bird, walked away for 10 seconds or so and then returned and snapped the shutter with the hawk still in the frame and without having had to look through the viewfinder or refocus. A bit of a stretch perhaps, but not by a lot. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Much of the time the hawk was hunting – looking down into the grasses for voles. That head position doesn’t provide the eye contact that is photographically desirable but I wanted to include a shot that illustrated hunting posture. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The hawk caught several voles while I was photographing it. In this instance the bird immediately took to the air with the very young vole… …

Just A Shot That I Like… #10 – Prairie Falcon In Flight, With Duck Kill

This morning was cold and very windy out on Antelope Island and most of the birds seemed to have taken refuge from the freezing gale so as we left the island I figured it would be one of those relatively rare days when I had been photographically “skunked”. But as is so often the case, the island had a pleasant last-minute surprise in store for me. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This Prairie Falcon had apparently killed a duck (which I believe to be a Northern Shoveler) and was trying to defend it from two marauding ravens so the falcon decided to haul the shoveler off to a more private and secluded dining area. That turned out to be an unfortunate decision as very soon after this photo was taken a Bald Eagle flew in and forced the falcon to drop the duck. The eagle flew down to the ice, retrieved the duck and nonchalantly flew off with it. The wing and back of the duck are covered with snow/ice crystals. The out of focus lighter “blobs” in the lower background are whitecaps on the Great Salt Lake. This falcon is the same bird I photographed a little over a month ago and posted here. I know that to be the case because the same wing covert is askew in both birds (though it can’t be seen in this image). I’ve now been able to photograph this falcon on four different occasions in the last few weeks. What a treat! Ron

Just A Shot That I Like… #9 – Rough-legged Hawk Taking Off

I was looking down on this Rough-legged Hawk from an elevated road when it decided to take off. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This shot illustrates both the blessing and the curse of using an attached teleconverter. If I hadn’t been using the tc for this image I’d have had two choices: 1), crop so that the hawk was much smaller in the frame which would have reduced the impact of the image or 2), crop so the bird was still this large in the frame which would have significantly reduced image quality and increased noise. So I’m glad I had the tc on for this shot. However, after take-off this roughie unexpectedly flew past me very close and I clipped or cut off many body parts in most of those images. If I hadn’t been using the tc I’d likely have been able to get some pretty spectacular flight shots with this nice background and good light. You just never know… Ron

Just A Shot That I Like… #8 – Prairie Falcon In Warm Light

I’ve tried and failed for a long time to catch a raptor perched on the darker rocks (Farmington Canyon Complex) that are most common on the southern part of Antelope Island. I think these rocks make much more attractive perches than the almost white and difficult to properly expose Tintic Quartzite boulders on the north portion of the island. Last week I finally succeeded with this Prairie Falcon. 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As an added bonus the sun was just coming up over the Wasatch Mountains so the golden light added some warmth to the image which I like. I only got off a handful of shots but at least the bird turned its head into the light before it flew off. Based on bill color I believe it to be a first year bird. Now if I could only get this close to a Peregrine Falcon in good light… Ron

Sometimes the Prey Bites Back

I hope you’ll bear with me but this post will be more about behavior than image quality as I just didn’t have a good light angle for this little drama. As I’ve said elsewhere on this blog, one of my primary goals is to document interesting behaviors and at times that will take priority over the quality of the images. When Rough-legged Hawks dive on prey it can be fairly dramatic. Typically they hover high up over the potential prey for a few moments, then dive fast and at a fairly steep angle. Occasionally they seem to hit the ground so hard that it rattles my teeth, almost making me expect them to bounce on impact. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This morning I watched this hawk hover, then dive. I think you can see from the wing position that this bird was still traveling at a good clip and at a fairly steep angle when it was only a couple of feet from the ground. The prey was on a hill above me and buried in this vegetation so I didn’t see the impact. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Often these attempts at prey are unsuccessful but this time the hawk caught a vole (along with a talon-full of debris). The bird came out of the grasses directly toward me but then turned to its left to give me a side view. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This little vole had a bucket-full of attitude and didn’t want to go down…

Lamenting the Loss of a Favorite Perch

This was a perch I had a love-hate relationship with for almost four years. It was a small, very old and sun-bleached snag along the road down unit 1 at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area. I loved it because American Kestrels liked to use it as a hunting perch, it was close to the road, not too high and it was natural and photogenic. I hated it because it was on the east side of the road (I could only shoot from the road in my vehicle – open the door and the kestrel skedaddles) which meant that I was usually shooting into the sun in the morning which is my favorite time to photograph birds. Back-lit kestrels are generally not a pretty sight… That road down unit 1 is closed for the nesting season (March through September) and I was very disappointed to see on my first trip down the road this fall that the snag was gone. It may have fallen down on its own, been removed by refuge managers (which I doubt) or perhaps it was vandalized – I just don’t know. But I will miss it, as will the kestrels I’m sure. Avian photographers on this continent are well aware of how difficult this species is to get close to – they’re very skittish and almost never allow a close approach for photography. That changes in mid-winter when it’s very cold. They simply are much more reluctant to fly when it’s that frigid and the photographer can occasionally get quite close to them, especially when shooting from a vehicle. But most nature photographers…

A Very Cooperative Rough-legged Hawk

In a previous post I mentioned that I had been encouraged by the number of Rough-legged Hawks (roughies) I’ve been seeing this fall. Well I’m delighted to report that the situation continues to improve. On virtually every photo expedition over the last few weeks I’ve seen several of them and on two recent trips we’ve made about a dozen sightings of different individuals each time. However getting good photos of them is a different story altogether. After a season in the high arctic they’re very unapproachable and even when I have been able to get reasonably close they’re usually perched on an unattractive sign or post and take off away from me. All that changed a few days ago though when we found one very cooperative bird. This species has the most different male and female plumages (sexual dimorphism) of all our buteos and I’m quite sure this is a light phase female. 1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc We first spotted this bird on a low wooden post that resembled a piling and I was pleasantly surprised that it let us approach (in my vehicle) with no signs of nervousness. It was early on a cold, frosty morning and while looking through the viewfinder I assumed that the material on top of the post was spider silk that had collected dew and then frozen. But after looking at the photos at home I wasn’t so sure so the next day I walked over to the post to check it out. Duh – should have known. It was frosted bison fur. This was Antelope Island…

Category: Diurnal Raptors