Diurnal Raptors – Page 89 – Feathered Photography

Raptors Mobbing Raptors

Mobbing is an antipredator behavior where animals mob a predator by cooperatively attacking or harassing it. This behavior is especially common in birds during nesting and rearing of young. Typically, it will be a flock of passerines like Red-winged Blackbirds mobbing a raptor or perhaps a magpie or any other bird they consider to be a threat to their nest or young. In mid-June of this year while Mia and I were on another one of our camping/photo forays to Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge we witnessed a somewhat unusual display of mobbing – raptors mobbing raptors. We had just returned to our camping trailer when Mia noticed this sub-adult Bald Eagle resting on a muskrat mound almost a quarter-mile away across Lower Red Rock Lake – too far away for quality photos (we had marginal light too) but we simply can’t resist training our lenses on a situation like this just to see if something interesting might happen. And this time it did. Canon 7D, 1/800, f/6.3, ISO 500 ev +1.33, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The eagle seemed to be minding its own business and just hanging out for a while on the mound. Canon 7D, 1/640, f/6.3, ISO 500 ev +1.33, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But soon a Short-eared Owl (a male I believe) appeared on the scene and he was not happy with the presence of the eagle. My presumption is that the owl had a nest in the area and it felt the eagle threatened the nest or young. Canon 7D, 1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 800 ev +1.00,…

Northern Harrier Male in Flight

Just a single image of a male Northern Harrier in flight but this shot means a lot to me. Canon 7D, 1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 640, EV – 0.o, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I have many nice harrier images taken during winter around the marshes of the Great Salt Lake but for me this species has been a nemesis bird during spring and summer. Most of our harriers migrate north in early spring and those that stick around become very difficult to approach. For three summers now I’ve been trying mightily to get a decent flight shot of a harrier to no avail. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done some crazy driving (I’m usually shooting from my truck) trying to intersect the flight path of one of these birds only to have it veer off before it got close. As Mia often says – these birds like to “yank my chains”. Then, about three weeks ago, this male apparently forgot to “yank” and flew relatively close to me. I rattled off a burst and got this one image that I like. My techs for the image weren’t ideal but it still worked out and I’m delighted. I guess it doesn’t take much to satisfy this bird photographer sometimes… This post will be a bit of an experiment. I’ll be out of town for a couple of days so I’m preparing the post now and will test the delayed posting feature of WordPress. Hope it works. Ron

Bald Eagles at Farmington Bay

I paid another visit to Farmington yesterday and while I got some nice shots of a few other species I was reminded of the Bald Eagles that were winter residents out there just a few short months ago. I miss them. So when it turned overcast this morning and I couldn’t go out photographing birds I decided to revisit some of the eagle images I got at Farmington three months ago. Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This carp may have been an easy catch for the eagle because the water was quite shallow and the fish was likely stunned (though it did appear to still be alive) by the rotenone used to control these fish at the refuge. Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Both of these images of the eagle with the fish were difficult exposures with the white head facing toward the sun but I liked the action and the good look at the carp. Canon 7D, 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This is one of my better exposures on both the white head and the very dark body and wing plumage in the species. Early morning light certainly helped with that exposure. Canon 7D, 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I like the unusual head turn from this juvenile bird and the Wasatch Mountain background. Canon 7D, 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc (wish I’d had lower ISO in this image…

American Kestrels – What They’ll Eat and What They Won’t.

I’ve always found it fascinating to watch these little falcons eat. A gruesome experience to be sure but so much more interesting than observing a raptor such as an owl who simply swallows its prey whole. And if you watch carefully there’s a whole lot more going on during the process than first meets the eye. Kestrels can be pretty picky eaters. I’ve documented in another post on this blog that they often refuse to eat the intestinal tract of their prey and deliberately discard it. Kestrels, like other raptors, eject pellets of indigestible materials like fur, feathers, chitin and bone. All food that is swallowed first goes to the crop. From there the usable food continues on to the stomach but the indigestibles stay in the crop, are formed into a pellet and regurgitated roughly 23 hours (in the case of kestrels) after the meal was consumed. Canon 7D, 1/800, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500mm f/4, 1.4 tc The kestrels I’ve watched eating voles and mice typically eat the brain, decapitate the rodent, then go for the soft internal protein rich muscles and other organs (discarding the intestines). Since kestrels tear their prey into bite-sized pieces they can pick and choose what they actually swallow. Canon 7D, 1/400, f/8, ISO 640, 500mm f/4, 1.4 tc Pellet expulsion can be difficult and traumatic as I’ve documented elsewhere on this blog with Northern Harriers and I suspect that’s one of the reasons that kestrels try to avoid swallowing as much fur as possible. When opening up the body cavity they often get a beak-full of…

Northern Harrier with Nesting Material

I’ve been photographing Northern Harriers in northern Utah for five years now and until earlier this week I’d only seen this species carrying nesting material once before and wasn’t able to photograph it. Harriers are very common here during winter but most of them head north for the breeding season and those that stay usually build their nests in inaccessible areas of the marsh, so it’s rare for me to see any nesting activities. Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400 Two days ago Mia and I were photographing birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. We were about to call it a day because it was late in the morning and light was no longer optimal when we spotted this harrier flying at a distance. We figured it would veer off before it got close, as they always seem to do out there, but this one kept coming toward us. We were watching it through our lenses and soon noticed that it had nesting material in its beak. Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400 By chance we happened to be at a place on the dirt road that was within 100′ or so of the nest of this bird. It decided to ignore us and come in to complete its delivery. Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400 The nest is apparently in this bed of last year’s dead Phragmites. The dark spots you see in the last three images of this…

Fish Eating Northern Harriers

As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, the winter of 2008 was a particularly brutal one in northern Utah. During January and February there was much more snow than usual and it was bitterly cold. During most winters our Northern Harriers rely primarily on voles as a food supply but in 2008 with the voles under the deep crusty snow our harriers were desperate for food. Birds of North America Online provides extensive information on the dietary habits of harriers. It lists small to medium-sized mammals (primarily rodents), birds, reptiles and frogs as harrier food sources, stating further that the diet of harriers during winter in their northern range (which includes northern Utah) consists of voles “almost exclusively”. I can find no mention of harriers eating fish, ever! Each year in early February some of our wetlands managers treat some of our ponds with rotenone (a chemical that prevents oxygen from being absorbed across fish gill membranes) in an effort to control the invasive and damaging carp that do so much damage to the emergent vegetation which is so vital for waterfowl. So, in 2008 for a few weeks, our desperate and starving harriers began to eat fish! In the three winters since then I have never seen harriers eating fish even though the dead carp are always plentiful after the rotenone kill. 1/1250, 1/1000, ISO 500 Many of the carp are brought to the shores or ice surface by Bald Eagles which makes them available to the harriers who generally cannot retrieve them from the water. 1/1250, f/8, ISO…

Northern Harrier Struggling to Expel a Pellet

Except for owls, all raptors have a crop for excess food storage. The parts of the prey that are indigestible are formed into a pellet in the gizzard and then regurgitated out of the mouth. These pellets contain hair, feathers, exoskeletons and sometimes (in the case of owls especially) the bones of their prey. I’ve noticed with many raptor species that expelling a pellet can be a difficult process, bordering on traumatic. Such was the case with this juvenile male Northern Harrier. I was watching this bird through my lens but not planning on getting any quality photos because the bird was strongly side-lit. But when he began trying to expel a pellet I couldn’t resist clicking away. Because of the side-lighting and relatively soft focus the images are not of high quality but I thought the behavior was interesting enough for a blog post anyway. All of the photos in this series are posted in the order that they were taken. The beginning of the struggle to expel the pellet Here the harrier is shaking his head from side to side to try to dislodge the pellet But with the effort he begins to lose his balance on the perch And almost falls over backward He begins to recover And then falls forward Begins to recover again Still recovering Recovered, but still with the pellet stuck in his mouth And finally the pellet has been expelled. As luck would have it my buffer had filled up and I missed…

Bald Eagle Eating a Fish in Mid-air

I’ve often seen Bald Eagles carrying fish but never one actually consuming the meal while flying. Until yesterday, when I got some photos of the behavior. Thanks to Mia for calling my attention to it or I may have missed the whole thing. Eating carp in flight At first I wondered if this eagle was only killing the carp with a lethal bite as I have seen other raptors do in-flight, but then I remembered that it was already dead when it was picked up by the eagle. These fish were killed by refuge personnel (they use rotenone) in order to prevent damage to the wetlands done by these invasive fish. Falling fish scales The four photos in this sequence are in the order that they happened. Here you can see scales and debris falling from the carp as the eagles very sharp bill does its damage. Part of the head, including gill flap (operculum) being torn off I suspect that the reason this eagle chose to consume at least part of its meal in flight has to do with competition. There weren’t many fish available and lots of hungry gulls and eagles to squabble over them. If an eagle tried to eat a fish on the ice (the ponds were mostly frozen) other birds would usually challenge them for the meal. Even gulls were at times very aggressive toward the eagles. On several occasions I observed gulls biting the tails of the eagles while both were in flight. Perhaps this eagle figured it had…

The Bald Eagle and the Fish Hook

Last week while looking for Golden Eagles to photograph in the Promontory area at the north end of the Great Salt Lake we came across a group of adult and juvenile Bald Eagles feeding on a sheep carcass. The light angle was bad for photography but we couldn’t resist taking a few shots anyway. Bald Eagle with fish hook in bill We were quite close to one adult and when it flew off I instinctively fired off a few shots, despite the poor light. When I got home and looked carefully at those images I could clearly see this gold fish hook embedded in the base of the eagle’s bill. This bird was apparently feeding normally and I suspect that the hook will not cause it significant problems while it’s in Utah for the winter feeding on carrion. However I am concerned that, because of the position of the hook in front of the eyes, the hook will interfere with effective forward vision for fishing after it heads north in March. I hope it falls out or rusts off before that although I’m not sure if “gold” fish hooks rust at all. An internet search shows that fish hooks are an ongoing problem for both Bald Eagles and Ospreys. Ron

Bald Eagle Serendipity

This is another blog post that will be more about the experience of the photographer than about the quality of the images. My good friend Mia and I spent two days this week looking for eagles – both Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles. We found several of each species but it was a frustrating experience – driving large distances (over 500 miles) and then having bad light, bad luck, bad timing and lots of fog. Then, an unexpected surprise! Bald Eagle waiting for us to get home Immediately after getting home I noticed several neighbors down the street looking up in the direction of the large elm tree in my side yard. I ignored them at first but they persisted in staring so I followed their gaze and couldn’t believe what I saw toward the top of the tree – an adult Bald Eagle! I live in suburban Salt Lake City and have never seen an eagle in my neighborhood in almost 25 years. Of course, both Mia and I got out our photo gear and spent the next hour or so photographing the bird. It was challenging to get good images because of the steep angle and the fact that the eagle was buried in the tree with branches in front and all around. There were a few angles where we could get an almost unobstructed look at the bird but even then the background is very busy and there are shadows on the eagle. Wing stretch The eagle was very relaxed in our presence, even…

Northern Harriers Battle over a Mallard

Occasionally we have brutally cold winters here in northern Utah. It’s my opinion that unusually cold temperatures when combined with thick crusted snow gives harriers little access to their staple food around here – voles. Survival then becomes tenuous for the harriers and they’re forced to move on to other food sources like small birds, dead carp and waterfowl. When a large meal like a carp or duck is available many harriers often fight over the food item and they do so with ferocity. During less stressful times of the year I often see these birds skirmish but then it almost seems like a playful interlude that they do simply for “fun”. Not so when it’s very cold and food is scarce – then it’s deadly serious and incredibly interesting to observe and photograph. First, a disclaimer. Some of the photos I’ll present here would wither under the scrutiny of critique because of cut off or clipped wings, missing eyes or heads, lack of catch lights and difficult and rapidly changing lighting conditions. My intent here is to show the behavior with the best images I have but some of them do have obvious flaws. The calm before the storm I didn’t see harriers make this Mallard kill but it was still fresh when I came across this bird on the duck. At first I though I’d simply be photographing the harrier calmly enjoying its meal but I was very mistaken. Thinking about challenging the larger bird for the meal It didn’t take long for other birds to challenge her for the Mallard. Some were timid…

Rough-legged Hawk – Defensive Posture

Most birds are defensive of their territories and space and raptors are certainly no exception. Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers both prey heavily on voles (mice-like rodents) so when a new bird of prey comes in to the established hunting territory of another there are often conflicts, with the established bird attempting to drive off the interloper to avoid competition for food resources. Rough-legged Hawk As I was photographing this Rough-legged hawk sitting peacefully in a tree I noted a definite change in its demeanor so I looked around and spotted a Northern Harrier speeding toward the hawk from my right. I anticipated that the harrier would “buzz” the roughie and since I was much too close to get both birds in the frame when it happened I decided to concentrate on the reaction of the hawk as the interaction occurred. I never did get the harrier in the frame in any of the shots. In the image above, the roughie hasn’t yet seen the harrier coming in (nor have I). The incoming Northern Harrier has been spotted When I noticed this posture change in the roughie I knew something was up, so I looked in the direction the bird was focused on and saw the harrier coming in fast. Beginning to react Here the hawk is beginning to react to the swift and aggressive approach of the harrier by beginning to fluff up. Defensive posture This shot was taken when the harrier, traveling very fast, was closest to the hawk – roughly three…

Northern Harrier Males – “Grey Ghosts”

The degree of sexual dimorphism (the condition in which males and females of a species are morphologically different) in Northern harriers is exceptional among birds of prey. Many raptors are sexually dimorphic in size (see my “Great Horned Owls on the Farm” post) but Northern Harrier males and females are distinctly different in both size and color. Adult female Northern Harrier This bird is a juvenile female, identified by the mostly solid rufous chest and dark eye. The adult female would look much the same but with a streaked breast and a lighter colored eye. By weight, females are about 50% heavier than males. Both sexes have the distinctive white rump patch that is so difficult to photograph without blowing the whites. Adult male Northern Harrier Adult males are gray above, much lighter below and have black wing tips. And their bright yellow eyes are quite distinctive. Adult male hunting Juvenile birds of both sexes resemble the female in plumage color so relatively few adult males are seen and photographed. For this reason mature males have long been referred to as “Grey Ghosts”. Perched adult male Whether perched or in flight many believe the adult male harrier to be one of the most beautiful raptors. Adult male flying past Phragmites Eye color in the males can vary from orange-yellow to lemon yellow. At times they’re so bright that some folks after seeing my images have thought that I had increased their saturation for effect during image processing. I hadn’t and I don’t. …

The Challenges of Photographing Birds in Flight in Low Light

Photographing birds in flight in relatively low light (dusk, dawn, cloudy conditions etc) isn’t easy. In addition to the expected challenge of locking focus onto a fast and often erratically moving target, in low light you have the problem of getting enough shutter speed to get a moving subject sharp. A potential solution to the problem is “opening up” – increasing the size of the aperture, which is the same as reducing the f-number – say as in changing your setting from f/7.1 to f/5.6. This lets more light into the camera in the same amount of time, allowing for an increase in shutter speed to freeze the motion of the bird. Opening up however has another effect – reducing depth of field, so less of your subject is likely to be tack sharp. Another potential solution is to increase ISO. Increasing ISO in digital cameras has the effect of seeming to increase the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor to light so that faster shutter speeds can be used but the downside to increasing ISO is that it can increase digital noise in the image. Sometimes in bird photography fantastic opportunities with birds in flight present themselves in less than ideal light. Your best chance at an acceptable image under those conditions is to understand the interplay between your camera settings – how changing aperture affects shutter speed and depth of field and how changing ISO affects shutter speed and the production of digital noise. Male Northern Harrier, 1/1250 @ f/11, ISO 800 It’s not often I get a…

American Kestrel – The Killing Bite

I have watched American Kestrels consume their prey up close many times. Usually that prey has been a vole but occasionally it’s been a small bird or mouse. But until this day the prey had always been already dead when I arrived on the scene. It was cold and snowy when I spotted this male kestrel with a mouse (I was surprised it wasn’t a vole) that was still very much alive. As a side note I want to add here that this kestrel was not baited. Many photographs are taken of raptors when they’ve been baited by mice (they can be bought at pet stores) that have been provided as an enticement by the photographer. That was not the case here – I do not bait. Male kestrel with live mouse It was obvious that the mouse was alive because it was struggling slightly, its tail was twitching and its eyes were open. In my experience these birds often prefer a more stable perch than this while they eat their meal – something like a fencepost or pole that provides some kind of platform from which to eat. So I didn’t think he would eat the mouse here and I was right. He gave me time for a few quick shots and then flew off to another perch. Kestrel on second perch He didn’t go far however and I was able to approach him again. This next perch was also precarious to eat from because the wind was blowing and both perch and bird were swaying in the breeze. …

Category: Diurnal Raptors