Birds – Page 282 – Feathered Photography

Northern Harriers Battle over a Mallard

Occasionally we have brutally cold winters here in northern Utah. It’s my opinion that unusually cold temperatures when combined with thick crusted snow gives harriers little access to their staple food around here – voles. Survival then becomes tenuous for the harriers and they’re forced to move on to other food sources like small birds, dead carp and waterfowl. When a large meal like a carp or duck is available many harriers often fight over the food item and they do so with ferocity. During less stressful times of the year I often see these birds skirmish but then it almost seems like a playful interlude that they do simply for “fun”. Not so when it’s very cold and food is scarce – then it’s deadly serious and incredibly interesting to observe and photograph. First, a disclaimer. Some of the photos I’ll present here would wither under the scrutiny of critique because of cut off or clipped wings, missing eyes or heads, lack of catch lights and difficult and rapidly changing lighting conditions. My intent here is to show the behavior with the best images I have but some of them do have obvious flaws. The calm before the storm I didn’t see harriers make this Mallard kill but it was still fresh when I came across this bird on the duck. At first I though I’d simply be photographing the harrier calmly enjoying its meal but I was very mistaken. Thinking about challenging the larger bird for the meal It didn’t take long for other birds to challenge her for the Mallard. Some were timid…

Bathing Cinnamon Teal/Green-winged Teal hybrid

Though bathing is a common activity for waterfowl it can make for some interesting photographs. I found this bird at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge at the end of May last year. Cinnamon Teal x Green-winged Teal Hybrid male While I was processing some of the images I noticed the unusual crescent-shaped marking running through the eye to the back of the head that is typical of the Green-winged Teal. I asked several very knowledgeable birders about this bird and they think this is a CT/GWT hybrid, which apparently is quite unusual. Red eye looking at you through a layer of water While bathing he would repeatedly dunk his head and shoulders under water and then lift them up, which would roll water over its back and wings. An interesting process to watch and photograph at such close range. Here he’s looking at me through a layer of water over his head and eye as he brings his head out of the water. Forcing water over the back Here’s the water on the back. Washing the back feathers Then he would shake vigorously which would wash the back and upper wing feathers and send water droplets flying. Rearranging the wing feathers After so much vigorous activity the feathers, particularly those in the wing, needed rearranging to put them in their proper places. Preening after the bath Then came the preening. Lots of it. Here he is grooming individual breast/lower neck feathers. After the bath And here…

Rough-legged Hawk – Defensive Posture

Most birds are defensive of their territories and space and raptors are certainly no exception. Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers both prey heavily on voles (mice-like rodents) so when a new bird of prey comes in to the established hunting territory of another there are often conflicts, with the established bird attempting to drive off the interloper to avoid competition for food resources. Rough-legged Hawk As I was photographing this Rough-legged hawk sitting peacefully in a tree I noted a definite change in its demeanor so I looked around and spotted a Northern Harrier speeding toward the hawk from my right. I anticipated that the harrier would “buzz” the roughie and since I was much too close to get both birds in the frame when it happened I decided to concentrate on the reaction of the hawk as the interaction occurred. I never did get the harrier in the frame in any of the shots. In the image above, the roughie hasn’t yet seen the harrier coming in (nor have I). The incoming Northern Harrier has been spotted When I noticed this posture change in the roughie I knew something was up, so I looked in the direction the bird was focused on and saw the harrier coming in fast. Beginning to react Here the hawk is beginning to react to the swift and aggressive approach of the harrier by beginning to fluff up. Defensive posture This shot was taken when the harrier, traveling very fast, was closest to the hawk – roughly three…

The Northern Shrike and the Good Samaritan

This blog post will be more about the experience I describe than about the shrike images. The Northern Shrike has been a nemesis bird for me for a long time. I have many good images of its southern cousin the Loggerhead Shrike but the northern is an uncommon winter visitor to the northern US and I’ve seldom seen one and never been close enough to the species for good, detailed images – until this week. And I very nearly didn’t get the shots. Northern Shrike This winter there has been a single (as far as I can tell) Northern Shrike wintering at the Great Salt Lake wetlands where I often shoot but I’ve never been able to get close enough to it for a quality shot. Two days ago I was finally able to approach the bird but it wouldn’t have happened without the kind actions of a good Samaritan. As I was driving down the dirt road I could see the shrike flitting from perch to perch in front of me. Several times I almost got close enough but then it would spook again. Finally, just as I got close and trained my big lens on the shrike, wouldn’t you know it – a car came up behind me on the narrow road. If it had passed it surely would have spooked the bird. But it didn’t. The driver could see my lens pointed out the window at the bird and simply stopped on the road, turned his engine off and waited respectfully for over 5 minutes as I photographed the shrike before it…

Pied-billed Grebe Feeding Behaviors

Pied-billed Grebes are fascinating little birds with a chip on their shoulders. They are pugnacious, full of personality and quite small. They don’t seem to get a lot of attention from bird photographers, possibly because of their generally drab colors and because they’re so common. I really enjoy watching and photographing their behaviors. I’ve stated here before that “behavior” is a major focus of this blog and if I have images of interesting behaviors that are less than perfect technically I will still post them if they illustrate the behavior well. There are several in that category in this post. Grebe with young carp Carp are the primary food for these birds in many of the ponds I frequent. Even young fish can make a huge mouthful for these very small grebes. Swallowing a carp I’ve seen it take several minutes for a grebe to finally work one of these huge (for them) fish down their throats. And I’ve yet to see one give up on the meal because it’s too big. A slippery meal Fish are slimy and slippery and sometimes get away from the grebe temporarily, though they always seem to be recaptured. A potential thief in the background These birds are very social so there’s nearly always other grebes close by when one catches a meal and some of them will invariably try to steal the prize from its rightful owner. This can make for some very interesting but challenging encounters for the photographer because the action is usually so…

Short-eared Owl in the Fog

My friend Mia and I had such a great time in June with the Short-eared Owls at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana that we decided to return in September. Getting close to them was more difficult this time because they weren’t nesting and feeding young. However, one morning we got lucky. A cooperative Short-eared Owl When we awoke we were socked in with heavy fog. As it slowly began to clear we went looking for birds and found this owl perched in the middle of the road. As we approached, it flew a short distance to this post and then allowed us to get very close. We’re sure this is the same female that we had photographed in June on the same territory. Short-eared Owl female looking for voles She was very accepting of our presence and within a few minutes was looking for voles below her post perch. We were right at the edge of the fog and as it would swirl around us, alternately getting thicker and then clearing a bit, we knew that some of our images would show the effect of the fog more than others. The soft feathers of owls don’t give up their fine detail to photographers easily, even in the best of conditions. But we simply couldn’t pass up this opportunity with this beautiful female and we still got some shots we like very much. Short-eared Owl checking us out Occasionally her attention would be diverted from the potential prey in the…

Northern Harrier Males – “Grey Ghosts”

The degree of sexual dimorphism (the condition in which males and females of a species are morphologically different) in Northern harriers is exceptional among birds of prey. Many raptors are sexually dimorphic in size (see my “Great Horned Owls on the Farm” post) but Northern Harrier males and females are distinctly different in both size and color. Adult female Northern Harrier This bird is a juvenile female, identified by the mostly solid rufous chest and dark eye. The adult female would look much the same but with a streaked breast and a lighter colored eye. By weight, females are about 50% heavier than males. Both sexes have the distinctive white rump patch that is so difficult to photograph without blowing the whites. Adult male Northern Harrier Adult males are gray above, much lighter below and have black wing tips. And their bright yellow eyes are quite distinctive. Adult male hunting Juvenile birds of both sexes resemble the female in plumage color so relatively few adult males are seen and photographed. For this reason mature males have long been referred to as “Grey Ghosts”. Perched adult male Whether perched or in flight many believe the adult male harrier to be one of the most beautiful raptors. Adult male flying past Phragmites Eye color in the males can vary from orange-yellow to lemon yellow. At times they’re so bright that some folks after seeing my images have thought that I had increased their saturation for effect during image processing. I hadn’t and I don’t. …

Great Horned Owl Fledglings and Juveniles

Great Horned Owls (hereafter referred to as GHO’s in this post) have been resident on the Dudley farm in NW Montana for years and are usually successful in raising one brood of youngsters. Typically they’ll nest in one of the several old granaries available to them. Peekaboo youngster Most of these older granaries have seen their better days since many were constructed in the 1930’s and have had to withstand the fierce Montana wind but the owls love them for both roosting and nesting. Here you can see a very young GHO peering out at me over the back of its sibling. Siblings on granary floor These are the siblings on the granary floor. It has been used only for junk storage for many years so it’s very cluttered but the owls don’t seem to mind in the least. Chicks in tree nest GHO’s will often nest in trees but like other owls and falcons they do not build their own nests, preferring to take over the previously used nests of other species such as Red-tailed Hawks (most commonly), other hawks, crows, ravens and herons. I found this nest next to a major road about 35 miles from the farm. I don’t know what species originally constructed this nest but the spring after these photos were taken the nest was being used by a pair of Swainson’s Hawks. Interspecific recycling in the bird world… Three GHO chicks in a tree This is the same nest as in the previous image. As you can see the…

Black-billed Magpie Nesting Behavior

This past spring and summer I had the opportunity to observe and photograph nesting behaviors of Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island in northern Utah. Magpies are common in Utah and much of the western US but they’re typically difficult to approach (and very challenging to photograph well because of the contrast of their coal-black and almost pure white plumage) but this pair of birds was so intent on their nest-building activities that they virtually ignored my presence. Mated pair of Black-billed Magpies Magpies are monogamous and typically mate for life. This is a mated pair on top of their domed nest in a sagebrush. The male is on the left, the female on the right – males are about 20% larger than females so they are sexually dimorphic. As you can see from the muddy bill of the female they’ve been actively building the mud-bowl found inside the nest. Typically the male provides the heavier branches and sticks for the nest and the female delivers most of the mud for the mud bowl, which probably explains why the female’s bill is so muddy while the male’s is not. Obtaining mud for then nest The mud for the bowl of the nest was obtained wherever the birds could find it. When we’d had dry weather they would have to fly quite a distance to get any but after a recent rain they would often get it very close by. This bird has just scooped up a bill-full. When it’s available they’ll sometimes use fresh cattle or bison dung in place…

The Challenges of Photographing Birds in Flight in Low Light

Photographing birds in flight in relatively low light (dusk, dawn, cloudy conditions etc) isn’t easy. In addition to the expected challenge of locking focus onto a fast and often erratically moving target, in low light you have the problem of getting enough shutter speed to get a moving subject sharp. A potential solution to the problem is “opening up” – increasing the size of the aperture, which is the same as reducing the f-number – say as in changing your setting from f/7.1 to f/5.6. This lets more light into the camera in the same amount of time, allowing for an increase in shutter speed to freeze the motion of the bird. Opening up however has another effect – reducing depth of field, so less of your subject is likely to be tack sharp. Another potential solution is to increase ISO. Increasing ISO in digital cameras has the effect of seeming to increase the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor to light so that faster shutter speeds can be used but the downside to increasing ISO is that it can increase digital noise in the image. Sometimes in bird photography fantastic opportunities with birds in flight present themselves in less than ideal light. Your best chance at an acceptable image under those conditions is to understand the interplay between your camera settings – how changing aperture affects shutter speed and depth of field and how changing ISO affects shutter speed and the production of digital noise. Male Northern Harrier, 1/1250 @ f/11, ISO 800 It’s not often I get a…

American Kestrel – The Killing Bite

I have watched American Kestrels consume their prey up close many times. Usually that prey has been a vole but occasionally it’s been a small bird or mouse. But until this day the prey had always been already dead when I arrived on the scene. It was cold and snowy when I spotted this male kestrel with a mouse (I was surprised it wasn’t a vole) that was still very much alive. As a side note I want to add here that this kestrel was not baited. Many photographs are taken of raptors when they’ve been baited by mice (they can be bought at pet stores) that have been provided as an enticement by the photographer. That was not the case here – I do not bait. Male kestrel with live mouse It was obvious that the mouse was alive because it was struggling slightly, its tail was twitching and its eyes were open. In my experience these birds often prefer a more stable perch than this while they eat their meal – something like a fencepost or pole that provides some kind of platform from which to eat. So I didn’t think he would eat the mouse here and I was right. He gave me time for a few quick shots and then flew off to another perch. Kestrel on second perch He didn’t go far however and I was able to approach him again. This next perch was also precarious to eat from because the wind was blowing and both perch and bird were swaying in the breeze. …

Canvasback – Feeding and Fighting Behavior

In April of 2008 I photographed some interesting Canvasback feeding and fighting behaviors at a local pond. At the time I was still a relative novice at bird photography so I’ll say up front that this blog post is more about the behaviors than it is about image quality. The almost white plumage and dark head made for a tricky exposure for a beginner and there was a significant issue with specular highlights caused by reflections off of the shiny mud. Dive, eyes open On this day there was one drake feeding quite close to me and I was very interested in the whole process. He would continually dive down to the muck at the bottom of the pond and come up with his head completely covered in thick dark mud. Sometimes he would dive with his eyes open, like this. Dive, eyes closed And other times he would dive with his eyes closed. Either way, mud and grit in the eyes never seemed to be a problem for him. Ol’ Muddy Head 1 When he would emerge, this is what he would look like. Ol’ Muddy Head 2 And this. It never failed – a true mud facial. Canvasbacks are often referred to as the “aristocrats of ducks” but it’s hard to look very aristocratic with a face full of mud. Shakin’ the mud off Occasionally he would try to shake as much of the mud off as possible but it never seemed to change the look of him…

Burrowing Owls – Clowns of the Bird World

Of the many bird species I’ve photographed, Burrowing Owls by far show the most “personality”. Their repertoire of silly antics, funny poses, stretches, yawns and grooming behaviors are a photographers dream. And once they feel comfortable in your presence they will often allow you to photograph them for a very long time without flying off or retreating to their burrow. But you have to find them first… The antics of juveniles are even more exaggerated than those of adults. Most of the images I will present here are of juveniles. Some of the shots were taken in less than ideal conditions (harsh light, shadows, clutter) but I think they illustrate the goofball personalities of these birds well. Giving the photographer a suspicious look It’s difficult to resist being anthropomorphic (ascribing human emotion or motivation to non-human species) when it comes to Burrowing Owls so I won’t even try. This juvenile looks very suspicious of me but in reality I suspect that it was only curious. Wing-stretch with lifted foot, or “They went that-a-way!” Topsy turvy owl Juveniles practice their parallax skills regularly. It involves bobbing and twisting their heads so their eyes can view an object (in this case me) from different positions. This allows them to better determine distance to that object. I’m sure it’s serious business for the owls but to us it can sure look silly. And adorable. Reaction to sudden and unexpected rain One sunny and hot August morning I was photographing a pair of juveniles when a single cloud passed overhead and…

Barn Owls in Flight

Flight shots of Barn Owls are very difficult to get because these birds are almost strictly nocturnal and typically fly and hunt only at night. Photographing birds in flight in the dark or very low light is virtually impossible without using artificial lighting methods which I will not do for ethical reasons. Barn Owl in flight during in full daylight I had never even seen a Barn Owl in flight until the winter of 2007-08. That unusually frigid winter began early and brought more snow than usual to the valleys of Utah. Suddenly, during January and much of February, Barn Owls were hunting the marshes close to the Great Salt Lake during daytime – sometimes until 10 or 11 AM. Their usual strategy was to hunt for voles (very similar to mice) along the edges of Phragmites growth in the wetlands. Typically it was very cold on those mornings – often between 0 and +20 degrees Farenheit which made it very uncomfortable standing outside in front of a tripod mounted camera for hours on end! I very nearly lost some digits to frostbite many times but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Barn Owl hunting voles along frosty Phragmites edges I usually preferred to get Phragmites in the backgrounds of my flight shots if possible because they make such a nice backdrop. In the photo above, there had been heavy fog with sub freezing temperatures so literally everything was covered with a heavy coating of frost. A magical setting. Barn Owl skimming Phragmites in background Sometimes the…

Why Grebes Eat Feathers

Grebes, as a group, are known for eating feathers – usually their own. The obvious question is – why? There would be virtually no nutritional value in a feather. Clark’s Grebe eating a feather I’ve photographed four species of grebes – Western Grebe, Clarks Grebe (these two are very similar), Pied-billed Grebe and Eared Grebe. I’ve been able to document feather eating in all but the Eared Grebe. Western Grebe parent feeding feather to young Over a period of perhaps a half hour I watched this adult feed several feathers to the chicks, who seemed almost as eager to consume the feathers as they did the fish provided by the parents. Western Grebe chick reaching for a feather from its parent Feathers are fed to the young almost immediately after hatching. In fact, feathers are very often the first item eaten by newly hatched chicks of many grebe species. The purpose(s) of feather eating is unproven but evidence suggests that the behavior has these benefits for the birds. Some of the ingested feathers form a plug in the pylorus, between the stomach and small intestine, which acts as a strainer to keep fish bones in the stomach long enough to be completely digested. Most swallowed feathers end up in the stomach lumen, mixed with food. They eventually (along with any indigestible matter) form pellets that are ejected through the mouth. The continuous passage of these pellets through the upper digestive system minimizes the buildup of a variety of parasites that are very common there and plague grebes. Pied-billed…

Category: Birds