Category: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Red Fox Kits At Play

Ok, here it is only the middle of January and I’ve already had my fill of frigid temperatures, snow and inversions.  This post is my temporary escape from it all – to spring green, warm temperatures and cute animal babies. In May of 2010 I found a den of Red Fox Kits at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.  The den was only about 15′ from the road edge and I never left my pickup or the road while photographing the youngsters.  Some of the images here (there are lots of them) have technical issues of composition and light angle but hey, rambunctious fox kits are a challenge to photograph.  At least that’s my excuse… The photography was frenetic.  I used three different cameras and lenses (500mm with and without tc, 100-400 zoom and 17-85 zoom).  I missed a lot of interesting shots while switching gear – fun and frustrating at the same time. I’m leaving out camera exif data this time – just too much work and I don’t have the time this morning.  Sorry Dwynn…   At first there was a single kit out of the den.     Then there were two.     Three.     And finally, four – you can see the top of the head of the fourth one as it emerges from the den.  This is the only shot I kept that included all four kits.  These youngsters aren’t as red as one might expect because they were covered in gray dust from playing in the dirt and crawling through the den.  I…

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A Cannibalistic Long-tailed Weasel

Long-tailed Weasels are elusive and fascinating critters.  Some interesting information about them might include the following: sexually dimorphic, females 10 to 15% smaller than males the name is appropriate as the length of their tail can equal up to 70% of the head and body length eyes are black in daylight but glow a bright, emerald-green in a spotlight at night like other mustelids, have anal scent glands that produce a liquid with a strong, musky odor go through delayed implantation, they mate in July-Aug but implantation (and growth) of fertilized egg into uterine wall is delayed until March but after implantation the embryo develops for only 4 weeks before birth.  This timing allows for birth in spring when prey is abundant. are obligate carnivores, prefer prey fresh or alive, seldom eat carrion aggressive and fearless hunters, often killing prey much larger than themselves with a bite to the neck favorite prey includes mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, moles, shrews, rabbits and chickens are “surplus killers”, often killing more than they can consume And they are occasional cannibals! Previously I posted two images from this encounter with a cannibalistic weasel at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.  These three photos are new to my blog.   This weasel had killed one of its kin and was trying to run with the body along the road at the refuge.  It was having a very difficult time carrying that long corpse through all the vegetation, which was probably the only thing that slowed it down enough for me to manage…

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A Birthday Bounty Of Bear River Birds

Wednesday of this past week was my “medicare birthday”.  I’m sure older readers will understand why my psyche needed some bolstering and I felt justified in burning up some extra gas and putting even more miles on my pickup for a trip to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to help take my mind off of my advancing age.  It was worth the trip!  While I didn’t get any truly spectacular shots it was a wonderful morning with excellent weather and light, lots of cooperative birds and great company – thanks to Mia.  The only downside was that I had 35 gigs of images to cull when I got home… A couple of notes about my techs:  a), regular readers are probably aware that I nearly always shoot with the 1.4 tc attached to my 500 mm.  On this morning I got so close to many of the birds that almost half of the images I’ve posted here were taken without the tc and b), many of these images were taken with a very high shutter speed which is typical for me since I’m usually set up for action shots after firing off a few times on more traditional poses. All photos are presented in the order they were taken.  1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc On the road to the refuge we came across a pair of Short-eared Owls cavorting in the air right after the sun came up.  One of the owls was “sky dancing” but by the time I got the pickup…

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A Mixed Bag Of Recent Birds

These images were all taken over the last eight days, either at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge or Antelope Island.  Another one of my “potpourri” posts with no common theme except “feathers”.    1/640, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4 The Willets have finally come up on the island for their mating activities (as opposed to the shoreline for recuperation after migration) and I like to try to catch them perched high on the sagebrush where they call loudly to other Willets.       1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Western Meadowlarks are in their glory right now and their distinctive songs reverberate all over the island.      1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I got closer to this one than I usually can.      1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4  This Loggerhead Shrike was grooming peacefully when I noticed a distinct change in its behavior.      1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 A Common Raven flew low overhead and this was the shrike’s reaction.  It flattened its body out almost into a bullet shape and pointed that bullet at the raven as it passed.  I’m guessing it was an instinctive behavior to present the smallest profile possible to a larger bird that might be a potential threat.  It was comical to watch it turn as the raven flew by to keep its body pointed in the larger birds direction.      1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I’m always happy to catch a Chukar perched on a boulder, especially when it isn’t one of the…

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Marsh Wrens of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

 This week I was finally able to get some decent images of Marsh Wrens.    Canon 7D, 1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In the past these birds have always been buried too deeply in vegetation for me to get shots I liked but a couple of days ago they finally cooperated with me.     Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Marsh Wrens have incredibly interesting behaviors.  For example, western males must learn up to 200 different songs (eastern birds only learn about 50).  Perhaps that’s why these males sing so much – it would take a lot of practice to learn that many “tunes”.      Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These birds are extremely territorial and aggressive.  They are polygynous (males mate with multiple females) and in order to attract females the male builds from 6 to 22 “dummy” nests for every one that is actually used to raise a brood of chicks.  We could see several of these nests buried in the cattails along the refuge road.      Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc According to the Bear River Blog many of these nests were destroyed by our recent stormy weather and heavy rains so many of these males have had to start over.      Canon 7D, 1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Marsh Wrens of both sexes regularly destroy eggs and chicks of other birds near their territories, including those of…

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