Birds – Page 274 – Feathered Photography

The Timelessness of a Buffalo Chip Perch

The American Bison is a relative newcomer to North America, having migrated from Eurasia over the Bering Straight about 10,000 years ago. As is common knowledge they once roamed in massive herds across most of the continent until commercial hunting and slaughter reduced their numbers to a few hundred by the end of the 19th century. 1/500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Today a herd of approximately 500 animals roams free on Antelope Island and that many large animals produce a lot of poop – commonly referred to as “buffalo chips”. Those chips are all over the island – like small dark islands in a sea of prairie grasses and tiny flowers and they’re tempting perches for a variety of bird species like Horned Larks and Meadowlarks. But this past week I was able to catch some larger birds using them as perches. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In the spring some of the shorebirds and wading birds come up from the shore of the Great Salt Lake to higher ground on the island for their breeding activities – Long-billed Curlews among them. It seems that the added height of only a couple of inches provided by the chip is enough to significantly improve their view of the landscape for potential predators and also to help them keep an eye on other curlews in the area – there’s a lot of fighting and mating activities going on this time of year. To some viewers such a perch may have no aesthetic draw but I’m…

Behaving Badly On Antelope Island

Mia and I spend an inordinate amount of time on Antelope Island photographing birds so naturally we run across a lot of other folks out there enjoying that wonderful place too – hikers, photographers, campers, swimmers, educational groups and everyday sightseers to name a few. Most of the people who visit the island seem to be considerate of others and mindful of the regulations in place that are meant to make a visit to the island an enjoyable experience for all and protect the natural assets of this jewel in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. There are glaring exceptions though and occasionally (all too often) we see folks doing things that leave us shaking our heads in bewilderment. I decided to post about this issue in the hope that it might be a reminder to some of the “fringe element” who may be considering a visit to the island that if you flaunt the rules you may pay a price. Where recognizable, faces have been blurred in these photos. If the image file numbers (seen by passing your cursor over the photo) don’t seem to make logical, sequential sense it’s because I used multiple cameras and lenses for the images. Last Friday morning as we left Bridger Bay Campground we noticed that this guy in a Jeep had decided to go for a cross-country joy ride across the prairie grasses to get a closer look at a couple of bison, despite the fact that they’re nearly always easy to find right next to the road. In the foreground you can see the…

Fighting Curlews And This Photographer’s Rookie Mistake

Occasionally I’ll make a post that illustrates a mistake I’ve made as a photographer in the hope that it will help me to learn from my error and possibly even enlighten some of my viewers who may be bird photographers. Well, last week I made a doozy of a mistake! I had been photographing a pair of Long-billed Curlews on Antelope Island and as per usual for me I was using my 500 f/4 with attached 1.4 tc, which when combined with the crop factor of my Canon 7D gives me an effective focal length of 1120mm. Suddenly a second male unexpectedly flew in to challenge the original male and immediately all hell broke loose. The action was incredibly quick with wings, legs, long bills and tails flailing in every direction and it turns out that I was simply too close to the birds with my lens and tc combination to prevent clipping body parts in most of my images of the fight. I remember thinking I should take off the tc but I was afraid that by the time I had done so the action would be over. That was a mistake – the altercation lasted for several minutes and I had plenty of time to switch. I decided to post some of the series anyway because the tightness on the birds gives an intimate look at some of the details of the squabble but I’ll be the first to admit that I’d trade those details in a heartbeat for having not clipped and cut off body parts. There were no preliminaries. The battle began immediately after…

Bill Deformities

I’m seeing more bill deformities “out there” than I used to and that disturbs me. The latest example was a Sage Thrasher we found on Antelope Island four days ago. This is what a normal bill on a Sage Thrasher looks like. Notice that the upper mandible is slightly longer than the lower one with a curved tip at the terminus and that both mandibles fit together tightly showing no evidence of a gap between them. But in this thrasher the upper mandible is significantly shorter than the lower and the curve of the two mandibles doesn’t match so they don’t fit together well, leaving a gap. This is definitely not a temporary, voluntary position of the bill as I have about a dozen shots of the bird over a period of about a minute that show the same thing. The two mandibles never fit together cleanly and the upper one is definitely shorter. With this head turn you can see the other side. I can only imagine how this would interfere with normal preening as the bird attempts to draw the individual feathers through the bill to lock the barbs together. An extreme crop of the previous image. Notice how the back of the mandibles touch each other and prevent the rest of the bill from coming together because their curves don’t match along the entire length of the bill. At first I thought that the end of the lower mandible looked damaged or eroded but perhaps there’s just something on the bill that…

The Harrier And The Dumpster

Multiple times in the past few years there’s been a Northern Harrier perched on one of the bushes around this gravel parking lot but without exception every time I’ve tried to approach the bird it has flown off before I could get close enough for a quality shot. Frustrating… So earlier this week when I spotted a handsome male on the large darker bush to the right in the photo below I decided to try a different tack. Birds very often seem much less inclined to spook if there’s something between them and the photographer and it doesn’t have to be anything very substantial – even a few twigs will often do. Having something physical between them and a potential threat seems to give them a sense of security. So even though I’ve often cussed this ugly old dumpster over the years (I realize it’s there for a very good reason) I decided to try to put it to good use for my purposes. I slowly drove to the left of the dumpster, turned around and approached the bird with the dumpster between me and the harrier. The harrier obviously knew I was there but with the ugly old hunk of metal between us it didn’t fly off. Then as I got very close to the dumpster I slowly turned to my right just far enough to give me a look at the bird through my lens from my pickup window. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As you can see the harrier was…

The Swainson’s Hawks Are Finally Back

This morning we headed north once again in quest of Golden Eagles. We found a few but they were too far away for decent photographs. The consolation prize was this cooperative Swainson’s Hawk – our first of the season which delighted us. In fact there were two of them, hanging out in the same general area. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 This bird was particularly fond of a couple of telephone poles in northern Box Elder County. Here it is returning to the pole after leaving it for a short and unsuccessful hunting foray. I’m not particularly happy with the wire and insulator but I liked the landing pose. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Sometimes this hawk perched on the top of the pole but one time it landed on the second wire strung below the first one. Here it is taking off from that position with the pole directly out of frame to the left. I like the dynamics of the take-off in contrast to the greater concentration demanded during landing. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 I got a few shots of the hawk in full flight with legs tucked away cleanly. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Another take-off and for this one I had to clone out a small bit of the wire at lower left. Cloning is something I don’t like to do but I do succumb to the temptation occasionally in certain situations. A judgement call… 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 I was…

Caspian Tern In Undignified Flight Pose

This one’s just for fun. Occasionally I just need a little “silly” in my world… 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I had been trying all morning to catch a Caspian or Forster’s Tern with a fish as it emerged from the water when this Caspian decided to give a vigorous shake in flight to rid itself of a huge water load. This was a difficult exposure and I wish I’d had just a bit more shutter speed for the action but liked the goofy flight posture and flying water. Ron

A Recent Potpourri Of Birds From Antelope Island

Antelope Island always has an interesting mix of birds for the photographer and birder. During the winter months raptors are one of the primary attractions for me but soon after the cold months are over they begin to thin out and the migrating spring birds begin to appear. The last several weeks have been in transition with fewer raptors but many migrating species are beginning to show up – in addition to the many year-round residents on the island. With this post I thought I’d present a few shots from the past week or so as a small representation of some of the common birds right now. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Black-billed Magpies are year-round residents of the island and they’re in a nesting frenzy right now which allows for some interesting opportunities for the photographer. This bird is landing on a bush very near its nest. 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Springtime is my favorite season to photograph Chukars because they’re all dolled out in fresh plumage and they’re very approachable when they’re calling from rocks. For much of the rest of the year they spend their time scurrying around in the vegetation and it’s quite difficult to get a clean shot. This one was calling with a lot of enthusiasm! 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Some of the Loggerhead Shrikes also remain on the island year-round but their numbers increase noticeably in spring. 1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc It’s always a treat when the Long-billed Curlews return to…

Just A Shot That I Like #25… Male Short-eared Owl in Flight

This is the male SEO that I had so much fun with at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. 1/1000, f/5.6. ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I like the flight posture and the background formed by the sagebrush flats at bottom and the shaded Centennial Mountains up top. As per usual I was fighting for light up there but despite that I still like the way this turned out. Ron

The Western Kingbird and the Beetle

This will be another behavioral post – yes I am fascinated by interesting behaviors, perhaps overly so… I found this Western Kingbird hunting from a barbed wire perch which is quite typical for the species. It was so focused on its prey that it let me get quite close so I was able to get better detail of the feeding behavior than I normally do. 1/500, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The kingbird has spotted prey on the ground 1/1250, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc so it flew down to retrieve it. In this case it happened to be a beetle. You can see it clinging upside down to the darker diagonal twig just in front of the bird. 1/1250, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Here’s a highly cropped version of the previous image to show the beetle better. 1/1250, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The bird grabbed the beetle but as you can see it had reached “through” the twig to get it 1/1250, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc so it got more than it bargained for. The end of the twig broke off and wedged between the beetles abdomen and the upper mandible. 1/1000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc So it flew back to its wire perch and tried to figure out what to do about the dilemma. It actually spent about 15 seconds just sitting there and staring at what was in its…

Shutter Speed and Take-off Shots

Just a single image today, to illustrate a lesson I’ve learned before but “relearned” yesterday. I shoot lots of birds at take-off, particularly raptors. For those larger subjects relatively slow shutter speeds will usually freeze the motion, even in the wings. Typically, 1/1200 or 1/1600 will do just that. 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, cloned out an OOF sunflower stalk to the right of the bird So yesterday after I’d taken a few perched shots of this shrike I set up for a take-off since it was facing to my right and I figured it would take off in that direction, giving me both good light and a take-off posture that would require relatively little depth of field so f/5.6 would suffice. Then I noticed that I had a shutter speed of 1/3200 and I remember thinking that might be a little excessive and I should dial back to f/ 6.1 for slightly more DOF and less shutter speed. But I knew that if I took a moment to change my settings the bird would choose that instant to launch and I’d miss the shot. So I stuck with my settings. I’m glad I did. Wing motion in these little birds is incredibly fast! Here, even 1/3200 didn’t completely freeze the wings. Don’t get me wrong – a little motion blur in wings of birds in flight isn’t an issue with me and I’m perfectly happy with this image the way it is. But for my tastes I’m glad there’s no more motion blur than there is. Ron

The Return of Long-billed Curlews and Rhyncokinesis

Each day for the past several weeks while on our way out to the island either Mia or I will say to the other “I wonder if we’ll see or hear the curlews this morning”. For both of us the return of the curlews is a sure sign that true spring has finally arrived. And each morning we’ve been disappointed. Until yesterday! We first heard them while waiting for some magpies to return to their nest and then looked up and saw several flying toward us. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 This bird is one of them – a truly unremarkable photograph except for its significance to us. It’s almost like this bird (and its companion) were flying over us to personally announce their return to us. The curlews are back – finally! 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc It wasn’t long before we were able to find several curlews foraging on the ground and they even let us get close. This one is busy preening in the morning sun. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Rhyncokinesis (rhynco – upper beak or bill, kinesis – movement or motion) is the ability of some birds to bend or flex their upper bill. Only cranes, shorebirds, swifts and hummingbirds are known to be capable of doing so. The bill is made of a protein called keratin (like hair or fingernails) and it’s quite a remarkable feat to be able to control its shape to some degree. Notice in the photo above that the shapes…

Western Kingbirds

Yesterday was a slow day on the island, though we did see our first Western Kingbird of the year (I should say that Mia saw it as I missed it – one of the disadvantages of being the driver…). The sighting got me to thinking about these aggressive tyrant flycatchers and reminded me of how much I’ve missed them these last few months so I decided to devote a post to them. They’re called “kingbirds” because of their belligerent behavior and fearless nature. Kingbirds are very aggressive toward other birds and it’s not unusual to see them attacking almost any species – including hawks and American Kestrels. They’re extremely agile in flight and can get away with such seemingly foolish behaviors. 1/800, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In this shot you can see most if the important field marks – pale gray head and breast, darker mask through the eyes, underparts yellow, tail black with white edges and black bill. The sexes are similar. Most folks are unaware that the species has a small orange-red patch on the top of the head but it is nearly always hidden except while performing certain behaviors. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These birds are almost unknown to walk anywhere – virtually all locomotion is by flight. Typically they hunt from elevated perches so they flit from perch to perch looking for insects mostly. When I’m lucky I find them on natural perches like this dried thistle… 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4,…

Just A Shot That I Like…#24 – Western Bluebird Taking Off

I’ve always been a sucker for unusual poses and flight postures. 1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This female Mountain Bluebird had been flitting around in the brush all morning while looking for cicadas to feed her brood. I didn’t have much light for the shot (I was surprised to get a catch light) and there’s a lot going on in the background but for me the wing and tail position and the somewhat unusual angle of take-off helped to make up for it. I’m sure looking forward to spending more time with these birds up north this summer. Ron

Short-eared Owl Hunting From A Post

We were driving out of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge on our way home when we spotted this Short-eared Owl perched on a large double post at the top of a long, grinding hill. I was pulling the camping trailer so we made a lot of racket and raised a huge cloud of dust on the gravel road so I figured there was no chance this bird would let that big noisy rig close enough for decent shots. But it did – though just barely. 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Here it was trying to decide if we were enough of a potential threat to fly off but soon it relaxed and seemed to accept our presence. 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Almost immediately the owl began to scour the slope to the right for potential prey. 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc When it spotted something it took off… 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc gained speed as it descended down the relatively steep slope… 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc and this is the last decent shot I got as it got close to the grasses and I lost focus on the bird. 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But the owl obviously liked that post as a hunting platform and almost immediately returned to it (though these last shots are from an earlier sequence). It very quickly spotted what was probably…

Category: Birds