Iridescence And The Role of Plumage Variations In Juvenile Magpies
Juvenile Black-billed Magpies have significantly less iridescence in their plumage than the adults so the amount that appeared in this young bird surprised me.
Category: Antelope Island
Rabbits, Ticks And Family History
Rabbits, both wild and domestic, are notorious for heavy tick infestations and the cottontails and jackrabbits on Antelope Island share that miserable fate.
The Shrike And The Grasshopper (and noticing the “little things”)
I make every effort in the field to “read” the behavior of my avian subjects. Sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m not but either way it’s a learning experience for me and my percentage of accuracy does seem to be improving. One of the payoffs can be better bird photographs for a variety of reasons.
Juvenile Magpie With Feathers Blowing Away In The Breeze
Earlier this month as I was watching this juvenile (relatively short tail) Black-billed Magpie through my lens on Antelope Island I didn’t expect anything interesting to happen except for a possible take-off shot.
Bird Banding – A Necessary Evil?
For the first six years of my bird photography “career” I rarely encountered banded birds but in the last two years or so I encounter them regularly, some species more than others. Usually when I see a bird with bands or transmitters strapped to their backs I don’t even click the shutter except for documentation purposes.
Pronghorn Buck Putting On A Burst Of Speed
The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the western hemisphere and I was glad I had my lens on this handsome buck when it suddenly began to accelerate.
Horned Larks On Perches Other Than Rocks
I photograph Horned Larks often on Antelope Island and elsewhere but their propensity for perching on low rocks has been an issue for me.
Sage Thrasher Posing For Me
This past spring was a pretty good one around here for Sage Thrashers. There were more of them and they seemed more cooperative than usual.
Male Northern Harrier – Gray On Gray
I photographed this male Northern Harrier earlier this month as it hunted the causeway to Antelope Island. The grayish-browns of the bird are similar to the grays of the Great Salt Lake mudflats in the background. Monochromatic images like this may be an acquired taste for many and it was through the influence of my friend and photographer Richard Ditch that I learned to appreciate them.
Hovering Western Kingbird
It’s virtually unheard of for me to catch a kingbird in full flight (as opposed to take-off or landing) with any kind of image quality but two days ago I finally had some success in that arena.
Prairie Falcon With The Great Salt Lake As Background
Yesterday a comment from one of my readers on a recent post got me thinking about Prairie Falcons. In the comment “James” said ” I would love to see some more shots of the prairie falcon if you have any”. I’d been considering posting more images of this beautiful female and that comment prompted me to get off my duff and finally do it.
Lark Sparrow
The bold harlequin face pattern and unique courtship behaviors of the Lark Sparrow make it among my favorite sparrows to observe and photograph.
Northern Mockingbird Displaying In Low Light
On a dark, cloudy morning on Antelope Island last month I had an opportunity with a displaying Northern Mockingbird. The shooting conditions were difficult but I decided to play at the edge of the limits of my gear and see what I could get. These shots are not sequential of the same take-off and landing but in the order I’ve presented them I think they illustrate the behavior reasonably well.
Male Western Kingbird Greeting His Lady
Male Western Kingbirds take no part in nest construction or incubation. Nor do they feed the female while she’s on the nest (she leaves the nest to feed several times per day). But he’s always there, seeming to offer encouragement and watch carefully over the proceedings.
My Favorite Image From My Time With The Nest-building Kingbirds
Earlier this week I spent several mornings photographing a female Western Kingbird as she was constructing her nest. Out of the many hundreds of shots I took of her the third image in this post is my favorite.
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Rabbits, Ticks And Family History
Rabbits, both wild and domestic, are notorious for heavy tick infestations and the cottontails and jackrabbits on Antelope Island share that miserable fate.
The Shrike And The Grasshopper (and noticing the “little things”)
I make every effort in the field to “read” the behavior of my avian subjects. Sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m not but either way it’s a learning experience for me and my percentage of accuracy does seem to be improving. One of the payoffs can be better bird photographs for a variety of reasons.
Juvenile Magpie With Feathers Blowing Away In The Breeze
Earlier this month as I was watching this juvenile (relatively short tail) Black-billed Magpie through my lens on Antelope Island I didn’t expect anything interesting to happen except for a possible take-off shot.
Bird Banding – A Necessary Evil?
For the first six years of my bird photography “career” I rarely encountered banded birds but in the last two years or so I encounter them regularly, some species more than others. Usually when I see a bird with bands or transmitters strapped to their backs I don’t even click the shutter except for documentation purposes.
Pronghorn Buck Putting On A Burst Of Speed
The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the western hemisphere and I was glad I had my lens on this handsome buck when it suddenly began to accelerate.
Horned Larks On Perches Other Than Rocks
I photograph Horned Larks often on Antelope Island and elsewhere but their propensity for perching on low rocks has been an issue for me.
Sage Thrasher Posing For Me
This past spring was a pretty good one around here for Sage Thrashers. There were more of them and they seemed more cooperative than usual.
Male Northern Harrier – Gray On Gray
I photographed this male Northern Harrier earlier this month as it hunted the causeway to Antelope Island. The grayish-browns of the bird are similar to the grays of the Great Salt Lake mudflats in the background. Monochromatic images like this may be an acquired taste for many and it was through the influence of my friend and photographer Richard Ditch that I learned to appreciate them.
Hovering Western Kingbird
It’s virtually unheard of for me to catch a kingbird in full flight (as opposed to take-off or landing) with any kind of image quality but two days ago I finally had some success in that arena.
Prairie Falcon With The Great Salt Lake As Background
Yesterday a comment from one of my readers on a recent post got me thinking about Prairie Falcons. In the comment “James” said ” I would love to see some more shots of the prairie falcon if you have any”. I’d been considering posting more images of this beautiful female and that comment prompted me to get off my duff and finally do it.
Lark Sparrow
The bold harlequin face pattern and unique courtship behaviors of the Lark Sparrow make it among my favorite sparrows to observe and photograph.
Northern Mockingbird Displaying In Low Light
On a dark, cloudy morning on Antelope Island last month I had an opportunity with a displaying Northern Mockingbird. The shooting conditions were difficult but I decided to play at the edge of the limits of my gear and see what I could get. These shots are not sequential of the same take-off and landing but in the order I’ve presented them I think they illustrate the behavior reasonably well.
Male Western Kingbird Greeting His Lady
Male Western Kingbirds take no part in nest construction or incubation. Nor do they feed the female while she’s on the nest (she leaves the nest to feed several times per day). But he’s always there, seeming to offer encouragement and watch carefully over the proceedings.
My Favorite Image From My Time With The Nest-building Kingbirds
Earlier this week I spent several mornings photographing a female Western Kingbird as she was constructing her nest. Out of the many hundreds of shots I took of her the third image in this post is my favorite.