Category: Mammals

A Tragedy For A Coyote On Antelope Island

I’ve always thought that nature photographers are some of the luckiest folks on the planet because we get to spend so much time in the natural world that we love and we see some of the most exhilirating sights and wonderous events that nature has to offer.  But occasionally there’s a dark side.  Yesterday was a difficult day in the field for me on Antelope Island.  Be forewarned that the photos are of documentary quality only and that at least one of them may be difficult for some to view.  When we spotted this coyote hunting in the grass for voles it was successful almost immediately and quickly swallowed its lunch.  A few seconds later I noticed that it looked like it had caught another vole because I thought I could see the vole hanging out the left side of it’s mouth – the grasses were thick and it was difficult to tell.     Then we spotted another coyote about a quarter mile behind this one and within a few seconds this animal also caught sight of the second coyote.  When it did so there was an instantantaneous reaction – it put its ears down, its tail between its legs and started running through the grass like a bat out of hell to get away from the second coyote.  I fired off a few shots as it ran but certainly didn’t get anything to be proud of.     It wasn’t until I got home and processed the running shots that I knew something was terribly wrong.  This…

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A Howl of a Surprise

When you’re out in the field you just never know what you might see.  Or hear.  On an early morning this week I found this Male Northern Harrier on a trail sign.  Since the perch was not a natural one I set up to try to get a take-off shot if he should lift off.     1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As usual I was shooting from my pickup and in order to get in position for good light I had to park in the middle of the lightly used road.  In such cases I always roll down the window on the passenger side so that I can hear any vehicle that might approach so I can get out of their way (it’s very easy to not see an approaching vehicle while concentrating on a bird through the camera’s viewfinder).  Having that window down made a big difference to how I reacted to what happened next.      1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Suddenly there was a piercing howl that was so loud it sounded like it was coming from inside my truck!  Seriously, I almost jumped out of my skin it startled me so much.  It was this coyote, hidden in the grasses.  It was only about 75′ away from me and with three of the four windows down the clamor was tremendous.  Coyotes often howl as loudly as 105 decibels and believe me that’s a very impressive din at this close range – especially when it’s unexpected.  At first I could only see the…

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The Trouble With Harems

Mia and I spent most of this week on a camping/photography trip to Flaming Gorge, Utah and we had some wonderful photographic opportunities with pronghorns.  We camped on an isolated peninsula and it happened that a buck pronghorn was using the topography of the peninsula to help him keep control of his very large harem of females.  The herd consisted of the lone buck and many females – both adults and juveniles.  The male was in full rut and frantic to keep his does together and prevent several other males from running off with them.  Does have varying mating strategies.  Some does, called “sampling” females, will visit several males during the breeding season if allowed to do so.  Others, referred to as “inciting females”, behave as sampling females until they come into estrus when they move off from the males which incites fights and aggressive competition between the males.  These females always immediately mate with the winning male.   Some females employ a third strategy where they join a single male and remain with him throughout estrus – these does are called “quiet” females.     Canon 7D, 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This poor buck was trying to control at least 28 females and was struggling mightily to do so.  One evening we were at the bottom of a string of small hills just as the sun was setting (thus the warm, golden light in these photos).  The buck and his females were strung out on the crest of several of the hills and one of the does was giving him a hard time by…

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Critters Among the Sunflowers of Antelope Island

Antelope Island is ablaze with color this fall, provided by the common sunflower Helianthus annus.  The sunflower display is really quite spectacular this year – the most prolific I’ve ever seen it.  I suspect it’s because of the very wet spring we’ve had.  The sunflowers can provide a very pleasing setting for wildlife photography, whether the flowers are in focus along with your subject or out of focus to show off some  pleasing and unusual color in the background bokeh.      Canon 40D @ 72mm, 1/800, f/6.3, ISO 320, EV +0.33  It’s unusual for me to get so close to a pronghorn that I don’t have to use a telephoto lens but these bucks are in rut right now and they’re so intent on herding their harem of females that they’re not nearly so wary of people and vehicles.  So I quickly pulled out my old 40D and shot this handsome fella at only 72mm while he was right next to my pickup and staring intently at his ladies close by.  This allowed me to keep many of the sunflowers relatively sharp and gave a different “feel” to the image than I usually get with my big glass.       Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 640, EV + 0.33, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In contrast to the previous image, this Vesper Sparrow was shot with my 500mm and 1.4 teleconverter (1120mm with the crop factor of the 7D) at f/5.6 which gave me very little depth of field – just enough to get the sparrow sharp but the sunflowers in the background…

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The Shot That Broke My Heart

There was a range fire on the north end of Antelope Island yesterday that forced managers to clear out all campers from the campgrounds.  So when we arrived early this morning the campgrounds were empty and this young coyote was hunting on the edge of Bridger Bay Campground.    Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, EV +0.33 Normally the coyotes on the island are elusive and difficult to approach but I believe this to be a young one so it didn’t seem overly concerned about us.  Besides, he/she obviously already had a quarry in sight deep in the grass and wasn’t about to let us interfere with the hunt.  In this image the coyote has just spotted something of interest in the grass some distance in front of “him”.     Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/8, ISO 500, EV +0.33 Here the coyote begins to make his stalk.  At first he didn’t crouch down so that he could see what ever it was he was after through the grass.      Canon 7D, 1/1250, f/8, ISO 500, EV +0.33 But as he got closer (both to the potential prey and to me) he began to crouch down, almost in a cat-like manner.  At this point I suspected that something dramatic might happen and tried to prepare myself for “the shot”.    The most common prey of coyotes on the island is voles but I was pretty sure it wasn’t a vole because the coyote was too far away from his point of interest when he first spotted it to…

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Short-eared Owls Defending Their Nest Against Predators

Recent reports from others indicate that bird activity on Antelope Island is slowing down now and our experience out there recently would agree with that assessment so yesterday when Mia and I were trying to decide where to go shooting birds we were a little hesitant about another trip to the island.  But even with things slowing down we almost never fail to find something interesting to photograph and yesterday was certainly no exception!   Canon 7D, 1/800, f/7.1, ISO 500, EV 0, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Soon after arriving on the island we noticed a pair of Short-eared Owls, obviously mated based on their behavior.     Canon 7D, 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 500, EV 0, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This owl was carrying a vole and we immediately suspected that the pair had a nest in the vicinity, which turned out to be true.  It was quite a distance from the road and buried in vegetation but we could tell its location by watching this owl deliver food to the nest site – either to the mate or to both the mate and chicks.  We watched and photographed the birds for a while but when things slowed down we went further down the island.     Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/8, ISO 640, EV + .67, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc On our return to the area of the nest we immediately saw a quickly developing drama.  A young coyote had apparently just crossed the road and was approaching the nest area and the owls were in…

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Antelope Island Potpourri

My last few visits to Antelope Island have yielded a mixed bag of bird and mammal photos that I enjoy so I thought I’d share a little of what it’s like to experience the wildlife out there during late spring.    Canon 7D, 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This take-off pose is one I’ve been after for some time so I was glad to get it from this Loggerhead Shrike, despite the foreground twig in front of the right wing-tip.        Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I believe this to be the same bird as in the previous photo.   It had captured what I think was one of the Ichneumon wasps and toyed with it a while before dropping it.  I was happy to get the wasp unobscured by the branches or the birds toes as it fell.  The shrike watched where it fell and retrieved it.      Canon 7D, 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc There are presumably many pronghorn fawns on the island this time of year but I’ve found it difficult to get close to them or even to spot them at a distance – probably partially due to their instinctive behavior of lying low in the tall grasses much of the time.  This one was in a playful mood and spent several minutes romping through the grass around its mother.      Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This is the same fawn a few minutes later, just after nursing. …

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The Coyotes and the Plucky Pronghorn

 Yesterday Mia and I were witness to quite the little drama on a trip to Antelope Island to photograph birds.  It all started when we noticed the frantic calling of a Long-billed Curlew which flew over us several times in obvious distress.    Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc At  first we didn’t know what was causing all the ruckus but soon Mia spotted this coyote.  A couple of minutes later we noticed a second coyote nearby.  We suspect that the curlew had a nest in the vicinity and it was disturbed by the foraging coyotes.  Soon both coyotes disappeared into a ravine but we hung around hoping for more flight shots of the curlew.     Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Then, almost a quarter-mile away, we spotted the coyotes again but this time a doe Pronghorn (at least I think it’s a female and not a young male) had entered the scene.  There was obviously going to be a confrontation and at first I assumed that the coyotes would be the aggressors but I was quickly proven wrong.      Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This doe had pluck!  After a few seconds of staring each other down the pronghorn charged the coyote on the right.     Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc That coyote beat a hasty retreat but the teamwork the coyotes showed was impressive.  They always stayed a short distance apart and whenever the doe would…

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Early Spring Birds and Craziness on Antelope Island

 Typically our first spring camping trip is a shake-down cruise for the trailer to Antelope Island.  If anything goes wrong with the trailer (and it sometimes does after sitting all winter) I’ll be relatively close to home.  This year we spent the last two days of March on the island.  Most of the photos in this post were taken on that trip.   1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500  There’s been a few Western Meadowlarks on the island for much of the winter but they’ve returned in large numbers now.  In all my travels in the west I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other area with such a high concentration of this species.   At times their beautiful song resonates all over the hills of the island.  Meadowlarks always bring back fond memories for me of growing up on the Montana farm.      1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500 Loggerhead Shrikes are another very common species, especially on the northern part of the island.   They’ve been absent all winter but we’re seeing more of them on each visit now.   It was cloudy when this image was taken and I didn’t get a lot of light in the eye but I think there’s just enough.      1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500 I always look forward to the return of the Long-billed Curlews with great anticipation and they started appearing about 10 days ago.  I was happy to get this shot of the male on the right displaying for the female.  Male and female curlews are almost identical but they can be differentiated by their…

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Long-tailed Weasel – Efficient Hunter and Cannibal

Long-tailed Weasels are obligate carnivores (eat meat exclusively), preying largely on smaller rodents but also take rabbits, chipmunks and birds – including poultry.  They take down prey several times their size and occasionally go on killing sprees triggered by the smell of blood. Long-tailed Weasel, summer molt Their long black tipped tail, slender bodies and darker brown coloration above with creamy white ventral parts are identifying features.  The very similar Short-tailed Weasel is smaller and has whiter feet. In this case the prey is another weasel While driving the loop road at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge this weasel ran in front of us carrying another weasel that it had apparently killed.  Weasels are cannibalistic at times and I’m relatively certain that this kill was destined as a meal rather than the kill being made simply out of aggression because the winning weasel was very reluctant to abandon its prize even with us very close.  It took a great effort for the weasel to carry its long-bodied kin through the grasses and reeds and it simply would not abandon it. Hopping with it’s prey Here you can get a feel for how difficult it was to drag the long body through all the obstructions so most of the time it would hop forward, one jump at a time, presumably with its burrow as a goal. Long-tailed Weasel, winter molt As winter approaches, northern weasels molt to white (while retaining the black tipped tail) – the advantage of this is obvious.  Interestingly, many weasels living in the southern part of their range…

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Antelope Island

  Of the eight major islands in the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island is the largest at 15 miles long and 4.5 miles wide.  Frary Peak reaches an elevation of 6596 feet.  The island has an intriguing history, interesting geology and free roaming herds of bison, bighorn sheep, mule deer and pronghorn, in addition to a variety of smaller mammal species and plentiful birds.  It is one of my very favorite photography locations – especially for birds.  In this blog post I will present an overview of the island and some of its wildlife.  My next post will deal specifically with bird photography on the island.  The north end of Antelope Island at sunrise as seen from the causeway access road There is a 7 mile long causeway road that provides the only access to the island, which is actually a peninsula when the Great Salt Lake water levels are low.  It’s common to see a variety of wildlife along this causeway including coyotes sprinting at the first sight of an early morning vehicle, American Kestrels, Northern Harriers, Burrowing Owls, Common Ravens and a variety of waterfowl and shorebirds where the water comes closer to the causeway.    Approaching the north end of Antelope Island  As you get closer to the island the water comes right up to the causeway’s edge and typically there’s hordes of waterfowl and shorebirds very close to the road.  In the photo above, several shoreline levels of ancient Lake Bonneville can be seen where wave action eroded “benches” in the sides of the…

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