Birds – Page 206 – Feathered Photography

Swainson’s Hawk In Flight (and an optical illusion involving the catch light)

Sometimes my eye is fooled by my first or even subsequent glances at an image.

Bear River Cliff Swallows

I don’t believe that I photograph any species more pugnacious than the Cliff Swallow. Their combative nature can lead to some interesting photo opportunities but they’re so darned quick that doing it well is very difficult.

Eureka! Western Grebes Really Do Have Wings

The fully extended wings of Western Grebes are rarely seen by humans for several reasons:

Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk In Flight

You have to get lucky to get good light on a raptor in flight when the sun’s high in the sky.

Western Meadowlark – Goofy Is As Goofy Does

Occasionally a bird gives me a somewhat wacky pose that I enjoy enough to post. This image is one of those.

Mountain Bluebird – An Unusual Take-off From The Nest Hole

It’s surprisingly difficult to anticipate direction of take-off, even as birds leave the entrance to a nest cavity in a tree.

Mating Swainson’s Hawks Sequence

Five days ago I photographed an entire mating sequence of a pair of Swainson’s Hawks in Beaverhead County, Montana.

Northern Flicker Excavating The Nest Cavity

Northern Flickers tend to use existing nest cavities (rather than excavating new ones) more often than other woodpecker species and this bird followed that pattern.

Male Williamson’s Sapsucker – Reunited With An Old Friend?

This may be the same male Williamson’s Sapsucker that I photographed at the nest tree last July.

Bluebird vs Flicker – Conflict Over The Nest Cavity

Tension has been high between several species at the nest cavity tree. When we arrived yesterday morning this male Northern Flicker was inside the cavity and he spent considerable time enlarging the interior but a pair of Mountain Bluebirds took strong exception to his presence.