Birds – Page 117 – Feathered Photography

Two Takeoffs From A Male American Kestrel

This first shot may look familiar but all of these photos are new to my blog and there’s a story to tell.

Odds And Ends From Recent Trips To Farmington Bay WMA

Blackbirds, grebes, eagles, assorted ducks and a photographic calamity – bits and pieces of recent shooting forays to Farmington Bay.

Male Northern Harrier Stomping On A Vole

And in this context I do mean stomping. First a brief explanation of the behavior, one I’ve seen multiple times with this species but have only rarely been able to photograph.

My New Favorite White-faced Ibis Flight Shot

Everything isn’t perfect here but the more I look at this image the more it grabs me.

Male American Kestrel Stretching While Turning On His Perch

Yesterday morning I finally found a few interesting birds in good light. I’m presenting this one in two different compositions because I can’t decide which one I prefer.

An Angry, Frustrated And Frightened Barn Swallow

Have you ever accidentally (or on purpose, c’mon – admit it!) had your fingers stuck together by superglue? If so this swallow knows how you felt.

Male Northern Harrier In Flight Against A Favorite Background

I’ve mentioned before how much I like backgrounds like this one. Here’s another example.

Horned Lark In Snow, A Cottontail Rabbit And A Banded Kestrel From Yesterday

I fully expected to be skunked by the lack of birds or poor light or both but this trip to Antelope Island was a little better than I anticipated. We actually had good light until near the end of the morning and we found a few interesting critters.

American White Pelican Counting Coup

Plus why I’m so enamored by the traditions and artifacts of the Plains Indians and their connections to our family farm (yes, I got a little carried away today…).

“Bump In The Road” Postponed – At Least For Now

As of a few minutes ago my surgery has been postponed until an undermined date.

A Bump In The Road For Feathered Photography

Scalpels – photo from the public domain Yup, major back surgery. A double lumbar laminectomy, tentatively scheduled for Monday, five days from today. I still have a hoop or two to jump through before it’s set in stone but at this point it appears to be likely. I’m announcing it now because it’s also likely I won’t post every day, or at all, between now and Monday so I wanted readers to know why. Between all I have to do to prepare for surgery and the crappy weather forecast between now and then, everything is up in the air when it comes to posting to Feathered Photography. And if the surgery actually happens it gets worse after that instead of better. It will be a slow and painful recovery so it’s hard to predict when I’ll be shooting and posting again. If I can wean myself off of the serious pain meds soon after surgery I should be able to drive quickly and that means I can get out with the birds and post to my blog but I’ll have to play that timing by ear. It may be a week or two. Possibly longer but I sure as hell hope not. I’m really dreading this but I’ll admit it’s probably my time to pay the surgical piper. In my 71 years the only surgery I’ve had was a hernia repair in 1966 when I was 19 years old. If you can believe it they were still using ether as an anesthetic back…