Birds – Page 269 – Feathered Photography

A Badger At Eye Level

We just returned a couple of hours ago from an 8 day photo/camping trip in western Montana so this will be a short post since I’m all tuckered out and still have lots to do to catch up on the backlog that built up while I was gone – aggravated by the fact that my laptop Wi-Fi died during the trip. Frustration! 1/1250, f/9, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Yesterday evening we were photographing a family of Swainson’s Hawks while parked next to a small hill. The hill was right next to my truck and the top of it was just about eye level. Suddenly a badger poked its head up out of the grasses, sage and rabbitbrush on top of the hill to check us out. He/she seemed just as curious about us as we were about it. 1/800, f/13, ISO 500, 500 f/4 The extremely low angle made it impossible to get the whole critter in the image but I really liked the eye-level portraits I was able to get anyway. For this shot the badger raised itself slightly and I lifted my lens as high as possible from inside the truck to get as much of the lower body in the image as I could. This was one of our most photographically successful trips to Montana and I hope to post quite a few images (raptors in particular) from our journey in the near future. Ron

Swainson’s Hawk Take-off Sequence

While cruising the back roads of Glacier County, Montana two days ago we came across this Swainson’s Hawk hunting grasshoppers from an old fence post. Hunting is easy now because it’s harvest time up here and the huge grasshoppers are everywhere – as evidenced by the colorful and greasy windshields of almost every vehicle you see. 1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 When the bird seemed about to take off I made one of those split-second decisions that every bird photographer is faced with. Since it looked like the hawk might launch at a 90 degree angle to my position (and stay the same distance from me for the first few flight strokes) I decided to prefocus on the bird and then not attempt to actively maintain focus in flight for fear of having focus lock on to the background instead of the bird. This time it worked… 1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 The bird begins to launch. 1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 The beginning of my burst caught the hawk in one of those dynamic, stretched-out postures that I like. As you can see the bird lost a feather as it took off. 1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 By the next wing stroke it was already to the next fence post. I got several more sharp shots as the bird passed to my left but of course the further it flew the less eye contact I had so the early shots were the best of the bunch. The Swainson’s…

Critters On My Family Farm In Glacier County, Montana

This post is an experiment. I’m on the road right now, visiting the family farm in nw Montana where I grew up. As a result, these images were processed on my laptop so I’m unsure about sharpness, brightness, color and other aspects of processing. I’ve never posted from my laptop before but thought I’d take a chance and see what happens… All three of these images were taken on the farm in the last 24 hours. 1/800, f/11, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc There has been a breeding pair of Great Horned Owls on the farm for many years now, residing in the multiple old barns and granaries. This is the male. 1/1250, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As we came down the hill toward the house this morning I spotted these two White-tail fawns drinking in the creek. It seems to me that they’re pretty young for so late in the year. 1/800, f/11, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The Gray Partridge is common on the farm but extremely difficult to approach. This is as close as I’ve been able to get so far but you can bet I’ll be working to get closer until we leave for home. (I was at f/11 because I was trying to photograph multiple birds as they scurried through the grass). This species used to be called the Hungarian Partridge, so everyone up here has always called them “huns”. So far it’s been a great trip and I hope to have…

Rustic Red-tail

This is another Montana Red-tailed Hawk, photographed in Beaverhead County a few weeks ago. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I tend to like rustic settings like this for raptors in general but particularly for Red-tails because they have adapted so well to our rural habitats. 1/800, f/9, ISO 500, 500 f/4 This hawk was hunting from the post and changed positions on the perch several times to get a better view in different directions. 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Soon the bird went into stretch mode. 1/500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 But eventually it spotted something of interest on the ground (and very close to me) and flew down to investigate. It didn’t find any prey and here it is looking back toward the fence – deciding which fence post to use for its next perch. 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 It chose another near-by post to hunt from but that hunting station didn’t last long because… 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 a very aggressive robin took exception to this new location. 1/500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 The hawk took the bombardment for a short period but eventually took off in apparent exasperation – with the angry robin continuing to buzz the raptor all the way. The more time I spend with raptors the more I realize just how much harassment they get from other bird species. At times they seem to have no peace whatsoever….

A Banner Year For Coyotes On Antelope Island

If you think this coyote looks befuddled, you’re right. 1/1250, f/7.1/, ISO 400, 100-400 @115mm As it crossed the road right in front of me (about two weeks ago) it suddenly stopped in complete bewilderment because it could feel something on the left side of its neck, but when it turned to investigate the young coyote apparently couldn’t see what it was because the object was too close to its head and it was hidden in the crease of the neck. 1/1250, f/7.1/, ISO 400, 100-400 @115mm The offending object was a clump of grass which I could finally see when the coyote was able to nudge the bottom of the clump with its jaw and push it up where it was visible. 1/1650, f/7.1/, ISO 400, 100-400 @115mm The youngster finally got the grass clump pulled away from its fur, held it for a few moments in triumph and then unceremoniously dropped it and continued across the road… 1/800, f/6.3/, ISO 400, 100-400 @180mm where it captured a vole in less than two minutes. 1/640, f/5.6/, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc About a week ago I found this coyote staring at me in the early morning light. I love this warm light in the grassy setting. To me it almost looks like the coyote is smiling at me. 1/640, f/7.1/, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc And on the same morning, about 20 minutes later, another coyote crossed the road in front of me and proceeded to…

Bathing Willet Adult

Several weeks ago I found this adult Willet near the shore of a lake in Beaverhead County in sw Montana. Most of the shorebirds in this remote area of the state aren’t used to people so they’re difficult to approach but this single adult (and a couple of juveniles – likely the offspring of this bird) were very cooperative – which makes me speculate that this adult had migrated from an area where it had become accustomed to humans. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 It spent quite a while feeding on aquatic insects and crustaceans. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 There was a variable breeze blowing and in many of these shots and I liked the effect it had on the water surface. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 Then the Willet began to bathe… 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 and occasionally would even give me direct eye contact. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 As it completed its bath it did a few wing flaps to get rid of some of the water. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 And then a vigorous shake to help dry and rearrange the feathers. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 Then of course there was the post-bath preening. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 And finally a nice wing stretch to complete the bathing ritual. The wing movement scared up some flying insects from the foreground vegetation. Willets appear to be pretty much “plain brown birds” until they…

Some More Burrowing Owls

I simply can’t resist photographing Burrowing Owls. 1/100, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These youngsters often have a balance problem when they try to perch on the relatively unstable sunflowers, which can be a good opportunity for the photographer to get some interesting poses. One of the problems here was that the sun was just coming up and the light was very low as you can see from my very slow shutter speed. Even though this bird fluttered on the perch for quite a while I ended up trashing most of those shots because they just weren’t sharp enough. But the other problem just about drove me batty for a while. For some reason my Canon 7D wouldn’t allow me to adjust my exposure (ev). How very frustrating to have this bird giving me such nice poses while I’m thinking the entire time that I’m over-exposing the shots and can’t do anything about it! It turned out that my exposure for these shots was just right (I’ve done no exposure adjustment in post-processing with this image) but it took me (us) a half hour to figure out what the problem was with my camera. Mia saved the day by downloading the 7D manual to her phone and in the end the problem turned out to be that I had inadvertently switched on the “lock” button on my camera. Sheesh! 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 400, 100-400 @ 300mm I thought some of you might like to “meet” most of the Burrowing Owl family I’ve been photographing this summer. From left to right #3 and #5…

Swainson’s Hawk Take-off

A couple of weeks ago I watched as a couple of juvenile Swainson’s Hawks hunted grasshoppers on the ground in Montana’s Centennial Valley. The birds were often largely obscured by grasses so I waited for take-off. . 1/2000, f 7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In a situation like this it’s usually very difficult to lock and maintain focus on the bird as it takes off because of the closeness of the grasses in the background – typically autofocus tries to lock on to the background elements when they’re this close to the subject. But in this case there was enough contrast between the light-colored grasses and the relatively dark bird that I was able to get 13 images where the bird was sharp and no body parts were clipped. The problem with many of them (as often happens) was that the timing of the wing flaps was synchronized with the burst rate of my Canon 7D and the wing position in many of those shots wasn’t ideal. I wasn’t bothered by the flying insect below the bird for two reasons: 1), it amused me because it almost looks like the bug is taking flying lessons from the hawk and 2), it was natural and it was there. 1/2000, f 7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc When I get similar shots such as these I can’t help comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each. I prefer the better eye contact in the first image but like the wing and tail position and better light under the wing…

Fascinating Folks of the Centennial Valley, Montana – Living and Dead

The Centennial Valley of sw Montana is one of my favorite places on the planet. It has birds galore, lots of wildlife, beautiful scenery and blessed isolation. It’s not an easy place to visit for the casual visitor as one must negotiate many miles of dirt/gravel roads just to get there and then usually contend with wild weather and the utter lack of services – including restaurants, gas stations and motels. In my many trips to the area I’ve had innumerable flat tires, been stuck in bad weather for days on end and taken home hundreds of pounds of mud, rocks and cow poop that attached to the underside of my pickup and camping trailer and had to be hosed off on my driveway. But I love the place! One of the many holds the Centennial Valley has on me is the fascinating history of the region. I’m a huge fan of western history in general – especially that of Utah and Montana and the valley is dotted with abandoned homesteads dating back to the 1890’s. This area had to be one of the most difficult areas in the lower 48 states for settlers to simply survive, much less eke out a living – as evidenced by the fact that there were many more people trying to live in the valley back then than are found there now. The history of the valley is filled with tales of hardship, danger and incredibly interesting characters including indians, trappers, hunters, miners, homesteaders, squatters, cowboys, sheepmen, rustlers and moonshiners. It’s not my purpose to recount the detailed…

Red-tailed Hawk Double Serendipity

One of the frustrations with photographing birds on Antelope Island is the perches. There aren’t many trees on the island so many of the birds perch on the rocks. The rocks on the north end of the island are primarily Tintic Quartzite which is almost white in color, so getting the exposure right when a darker bird is perched on them is problematic. And even when you do get the overall exposure right, those white perches just don’t have a lot of visual appeal for me. The rocks on the southern 2/3 of the island are of a geologic formation called the Farmington Canyon Complex. They’re some of the oldest rocks on earth (2.7 billion years) and they’re significantly darker in color so they make much more aesthetically appealing perches for bird photography. The problem is that most of these rocks are relatively far from the road so I have very few images of birds perched on them. Almost every day we’re on the island (usually several times per week) Mia or I will comment about our frustrations in getting quality shots of birds on these dark and dramatic looking rocks. Last week our luck changed. Not only did we get a bird on those rocks – it was a raptor (yes, I’m a raptor freak), it was in good light and it let us get close for a good long while. And as you’ll see, it even approached us! 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Mia spotted this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk first (she usually does. After all I have to drive…) but…

Moose With A Snoot-full Of Porcupine Quills

This morning we came across this cow moose along the Mirror Lake Highway in Summit County. At first, while looking through our viewfinders, we weren’t sure what was “stuck” to her face. Turns out that this poor critter was the apparent loser in an encounter with a porcupine as she had at least 13 quills embedded in the bulbous part of her nose. She watched us carefully for a few minutes… and then began to lick her snout as if she was either trying to dislodge the quills or simply sooth the pain. At least she was able to eat with no apparent problem. Then she turned toward the road, crossed it right in front of us and went into the shade for a few seconds before ambling off. I’ve got to admit to feeling very badly for this poor animal. I’ve seen farm dogs and horses fall victim to the wrath of porcupines and it isn’t pretty. There was a road-killed porcupine a very short distance from where we found this moose and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same animal that tagged her. Ron

Great Horned Owl Fledglings On The Farm

This morning I met some of my relatives out on Antelope Island and in our conversation the subject of the Great Horned Owls on our family farm in nw Montana (by Glacier NP) came up. I haven’t visited the farm yet this summer and our conversation reminded me of how much I miss the place (and the owls). So I decided to do a post of some images I’ve taken in the past of fledgling GHO’s on the farm. I’ve posted some photos of a couple of these birds in the past but they were different images. The owls have been resident on the farm for many years now and everyone up there loves them and watches out for them. When the youngsters fledge you just never know where they will turn up in the early mornings and evenings. They do a lot of exploring around the old barns, granaries and farm equipment. 1/800, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Sometimes the setting I find them in is both rustic and cluttered with old metal and farm machinery. 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Other times they perch in the openings of old barns and granaries which usually gives me a black background which I like. When there’s no direct sunlight on the wood the color tones are cool. The staple diet of these owls is Richardson’s Ground Squirrels (we’ve always just called them”gophers”). Here you can see fresh gopher blood dripping down the wood from the last meal of one of the owls. …

A Mated Pair Of Red-tailed Hawks

Our recent trip to the Centennial Valley of sw Montana lasted 6 days. On the last morning, only an hour or so before we had to leave, we found these cooperative adult Red-tailed Hawks. I couldn’t believe our luck – warm, early morning light coming from the right direction, a clean natural perch, an interesting and varying background with clouds and blue sky, they allowed us close to them for over 20 minutes and there were two of them! 1/800, f/9, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc When we first found them they were perched together. I strongly suspect they’re a mated pair (though I don’t know that unequivocally) since they’re adults and many Red-tails stay paired year-round. 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc The two birds stayed together on the perch for almost 10 minutes as we photographed them and then one of them flew off. 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc The hawk left behind immediately decided to occupy the vacated perch… 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc and did so for some time. 1/500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc But the bird that flew off landed in a nearby conifer and immediately had to contend with a pair of very aggressive and persistent American Kestrels. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc Soon the kestral-harrassed hawk returned, only to find its preferred perch already occupied. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc There was some…

Great Salt Lake Chukar

I often enjoy elements of incongruity in my images, particularly birds in unexpected settings. Chukars prefer steep, rocky, mountainous and dry terrain so in my experience with them it is atypical to catch them in a photograph with a body of water in the background. When it’s hot, as it is now, these birds drink large amounts of water but of course the Great Salt Lake is much too saline for them to drink from. So they spend nearly all their time higher up on the rocky slopes and drink from the fresh water springs in the area. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc However, there is one thing that draws them to the shore of the lake this time of year – brine flies. Chukars are almost exclusively vegetarians and eat mostly leaves and seeds although they’ll consume insects “occasionally”. But apparently they can’t resist the bounty of hordes of brine flies found along the shore of the lake during July and August (I’ve posted a shot here of a Chukar gorging on these flies) . I found this bird and several others along the shoreline yesterday. While I didn’t actually observe them consuming flies this time I’m confident that it was the flies that attracted them to the shore. Ron

Savannah Sparrow Parasitized By Cowbirds

Brown-headed Cowbirds are well-known for laying their eggs in the nests of other species – brood parasitism. A single cowbird female may lay up to 40 eggs in the nests of other species per season. More than 220 host species have been identified and at least 144 of those species have successfully raised the parasitic cowbird offspring. The physical size of the host species ranges from tiny 10 gram creepers to 150 gram meadowlarks. For a variety of reasons, the young of the parasitic cowbirds are more likely to survive than are those of the host species. The breeding success of the rare Kirtland’s Warbler has been severely reduced by cowbird brood parasitism. 1/1600 f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 On our recent trip to sw Montana we found this Savannah Sparrow bringing food (insects, mostly young grasshoppers) to one of its fledglings on a fence near our campground. 1/1600 f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4 But the fledgling was a cowbird and not a Savannah Sparrow. Cowbirds are more than twice the size of Savannah Sparrows by weight and that difference is obvious here. 1/1600 f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 The cowbird youngster was boisterous and rambunctious when food was brought in. I actually had the impression that the adult sparrow was a little intimidated by the size and hyperactivity of the cowbird chick and the “parent” bird didn’t stick around for long when food was delivered. 1/1600 f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 After the chick swallowed this grasshopper the sparrow gave it another…

Category: Birds