Many of the young Loggerhead Shrikes on Antelope Island have now fledged and are learning the ropes. They’re ornery, fun, fierce and fearless. Twice I’ve had one almost fly into my open pickup window, another one very nearly landed on my lens hood sticking out a window and yet another landed on the pickup itself.
Three days ago I had some more fun with Sage Thrashers on Antelope Island. I don’t know why little things like this interest and amuse me. But they do.
Just over six weeks ago I spent some time photographing a mated pair of Ospreys at Flaming Gorge in northeast Utah. At the time they were incubating eggs and they alternated time on the nest. When one of the birds was incubating the other one spent most of its time hunting, eating and preening.
I’m curious about the right half of the tail feathers of the fledgling. They appear to be much lighter in color than the rest of the tail and I’m wondering if there isn’t some leucism going on.
Long-billed Curlews spend most of the late spring and early summer at mid-elevations on Antelope Island while nesting and raising their chicks but by this time of year they begin to bring the youngsters down to the shoreline. That’s where I photographed this lone adult with a single youngster yesterday morning.
The vast majority of my posts are about birds as they are the primary goal of my photography. But I also love other wildlife, including mammals, and when I run across something interesting during my bird forays I try to photograph them. Such was the case two days ago.
These weasels are occasional cannibals which I’ve documented in two previous posts: “Long-tailed Weasel – Efficient Hunter and Cannibal” and “A Cannibalistic Long-tailed Weasel”.
The best fun of the morning was provided by this wasp as it unexpectedly intruded on the personal space of the thrasher. The gaze of the bird locked on to the wasp like radar.
Last summer (these first two photos were taken July 22, 2012) I photographed this mated pair of Red-tailed Hawks in western Montana. On most mornings and some evenings I could almost count on finding them perched in the same old snag and even on the same branch of the dead tree.
Earlier this month on my first Montana camping trip I found the same mated pair on the same perch (male at bottom, female up top).
No great photography this morning but this Chukar just might bring a smile to your face.
There was a glitch this morning when I published my latest post – “A Black-headed Grosbeak, The Canon 7D and a Rookie Mistake” so those of you who get the email notifications and follow the link from the email will only get an error message. Since the email notifications have already gone out I can’t fix them.
But if you go directly to my blog the post is there.
https://featheredphotography.com/blog/2013/06/26/a-black-headed-grosbeak-the-canon-7d-and-a-rookie-mistake/
I apologize for the inconvenience and the confusion. It shouldn’t happen again…
I found this male Black-headed Grosbeak foraging in a tree near a Montana mountain lake on my recent camping trip up there. The setting is a little cluttered but to my eye it’s an attractive clutter.
Though there’s a fair number of Sage Thrashers on Antelope Island they’ve been a difficult quarry for me. Originally called the Mountain Mockingbird, this smallest of the thrasher species is known to be particularly elusive, frequently running on the ground rather than taking flight and their wandering habits during migration have caused them to be poorly studied.
When this parent flew to the nest I was mostly watching and not clicking the shutter. I had no idea that I was about to see something new to me. Suddenly one of the chicks began backing up to the edge of the nest and I figured it was about to defecate over the side. I was wrong.
I often make the observation that one of the reasons I’m a bird photographer rather than a birder is because many of the trappings of traditional birding simply don’t appeal to me – keeping lists, in particular. But I’ll admit that getting a “lifer” rings my bell.
And a lifer I got on this last Montana trip – a Western Wood-Peewee. Several of them, in fact.
Whenever I watch terns in flight I’m struck by their grace, beauty and incredible maneuverability as they cruise over the water surface hunting for small fish.
