Two days ago I found this juvenile White-crowned Sparrow sunning itself in a wild rose-bush at Farmington Bay. It was a cold morning (you can see frost on the perch behind the bird) and due to the frigid temperature the sparrow wasn’t flitting around much so I did a little experimentation with depth of field.
Occasionally during take-off an American Kestrel will put on a show of its considerable acrobatic skills but it happens so fast with these little falcons that many of us don’t really appreciate the coordination and skill involved. Yesterday morning I got one shot that I think demonstrates it pretty well.
I hope you’ll forgive me back to back posts on the same species but there’s a shot that has eluded me for years and yesterday I finally got it.
Last winter Northern Harriers really struggled to survive here in northern Utah. For several months it was bitter cold with a thick layer of snow on the ground which made it close to impossible for our wintering raptors (including Barn Owls) to find and catch their typical prey – voles. So harriers were forced to look for other food sources, including small birds. Songbirds are relatively scarce here that time of year but this harrier got lucky.
Occasionally I run across a bird that just looks, well…. silly. This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was one of them.
Yesterday morning I was able to get my first decent Rough-legged Hawk images of the season. It’s a good thing too because this was the only cooperative bird I found all morning.
In early 2008 I was a frustrated novice photographer. I had recently invested heavily in an expensive “bird lens” and switched over from shooting in JPEG to RAW all in an effort to get high quality shots but it just wasn’t happening. My images were not as sharp as they should be and I couldn’t figure out why.
Due to ongoing copyright infringement issues I’ve recently spent enormous amounts of time registering many thousands of my images with the U.S. Copyright Office. During that process I ran across these American Goldfinch images that I’d essentially forgotten about. They were taken almost exactly 6 years ago (11/18/2007) when I was first learning bird photography.
The Northern Harrier is arguably my favorite subject and I tend to post images of them often. Their dramatic sexual dimorphism in plumage color almost makes it seem as if I’m photographing two different species when I compare adult males to females.
Because of my fondness for raptor take-off shots I work hard at trying to predict what direction they will take off so I can be as prepared as possible. But to say it’s not an exact science is an understatement.
Gadwalls are well-known for stealing food (kleptoparasitism) from American Coots . They eat the same kinds of food (submerged aquatic vegetation), Gadwalls are almost a third bigger than coots and the two species often feed together in mixed flocks so being the bullies on the block, Gadwalls can’t resist taking advantage of the situation.
The Black-crowned Night Heron is the most widespread heron in the world. They are opportunistic feeders that feed on a wide variety of prey and I’ve seen them swallow some amazingly large prey items. I suspect that their rather interesting-looking tongue plays a significant role in their success.
My plan this morning was to make a simple, single image post but with a snowstorm predicted for today I began to reminisce about my last Montana camping venture and decided to take a trip down memory lane with this post. I hoped to make one last visit to Montana before winter set in but I’ve now faced the grim reality that it just isn’t going to happen. These images were all taken in mid-September in and near the Centennial Valley.
Over the years I’ve seen a number of birds with eye problems. Some of them appeared to be infections and others injuries but I’m beginning to notice a pattern of symptoms that looks similar from bird to bird – particularly in raptors. I’ve included two examples here.
When I was teaching high school zoology I was fascinated by the many adaptations of birds for flight. Still am. One of them is a unique muscle arrangement that allows the return stroke of the wing while maintaining aerodynamic stability. I hope you’ll allow me a little change in direction with today’s post as I attempt to explain and illustrate one of the anatomical adaptations of birds for flight.
