Birds – Page 248 – Feathered Photography

Rough-legged Hawk In A Frosty Wonderland

During winter, photography in the valley of the Great Salt Lake can be difficult at best due to frequent inversions that trap fog and smog in the low-lying areas and that especially includes the marshes near the lake. These inversions often last for days or even weeks and the fog and smog get progressively worse each day. But the fortunate result for photographers is the thick hoarfrost that blankets everything in the vicinity of the lake if and when the fog burns off during the day.

A Coot In Pursuit Of A Grebe’s Fish

Although the American Coot is almost exclusively a herbivore it will occasionally make an exception and eat animal matter. They’re also well-known for food thievery (kleptoparasitism) and two days ago this Pied-billed Grebe nearly became one of its victims.

A Two Woodpecker Day And The Temptations Of The Clone Tool

I’ve known for years that extremely cold temperatures can make many birds “stickier” – easier to get close to. Two days ago I learned that this maxim also applies to woodpeckers.

A (Fool) Hardy Wilson’s Snipe

I suspect that most folks aren’t accustomed to seeing a Wilson’s Snipe in a setting like this.

Dark Morph Rough-legged Hawk

I’ve only had two reasonably good chances at the dark morph of the Rough-legged Hawk and one of them was a highly unexpected encounter two weeks ago.

A Red-tailed Hawk And Opportunities Missed

Two days ago this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk put on quite a show for me but for a variety of reasons I blew many of the chances I had with it.

Pied-billed Grebe Feeding Behavior And An Invasive Species

Yesterday morning the Pied-billed Grebes at Farmington were having a bit of a feeding frenzy and I was able to capture several instances of interesting feeding behavior.

Rough-legged Hawk Hunting Technique

Like some other buteos, depending on conditions the Rough-legged Hawk may hunt from the air using flapping/gliding flight or from an elevated perch but their tendency to hunt in flight goes up significantly with increasing wind speed. This makes sense because hovering in the wind requires less energy than flapping flight.

My Puritan Ancestor and the Passenger Pigeon

As most everyone knows, the Passenger Pigeon is extinct. So is my great (x 8) grandfather Governor Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts but I recently found a link between those two old birds and as an aficionado of both family history and birds I couldn’t be happier about it.

Juvenile Red-tail Scratching An Itch In Flight

Like young humans, juvenile hawks still have a few lessons to learn.

Northern Harrier Flight Sequence

Eight days ago I photographed a Northern Harrier as it flew toward me at an angle and then banked away. The following day, because of time constraints and computer issues I posted only a single shot of the banking maneuver but now I wish I had posted the entire flight sequence of four images. With your indulgence for posting the same image twice I’ll do just that this morning.

Fledgling Yellow-headed Blackbird Begging For Food

Young Yellow-headed Blackbirds leave the nest long before they can fly, at the very early age of 9 – 12 days. From then until they can fly they spend their time hiding in the dead vegetation near the surface of the water and begging incessantly for food.

This youngster had the begging routine down to a science.

A Blackbird Who Taught Me A Lesson

Back in June of 2008 I still had many lessons to learn about photographing birds. This male Yellow-headed Blackbird was one of my more memorable teachers.

Barn Owl Hunting With A Storm Approaching

Getting light in the eye of a Barn Owl in flight is often a challenge because of their deeply set eyes but when you throw in the dark foreboding skies of an approaching storm it becomes even more difficult.

Grebe Running Across A Pond’s Surface To Protect Its Prized Fish

At first glance Pied-billed Grebes may come across as nondescript, bland little birds without much personality but I’ve found the opposite to often be true. When they’re not resting or grooming they’re active, quite vocal and when they’re feeding in groups they’re often aggressive, even pugnacious. Their kleptoparasitic tendencies can be entertaining to watch in the extreme.

Notice the layer of ice at the bottom of the frame – that ice will come into play later in the sequence.

Category: Birds