Western Kingbird Off Balance
There was a bit of a breeze as this Western Kingbird was trying to maintain its balance on the precarious perch which resulted in this pose.
Ferruginous Hawk In Flight
I don’t often get close enough to Ferruginous Hawks for decent photos but this one seemed curious about me and flew in just close enough.
Chukar – Wing Stretch On Tippytoes
The bird was so enthusiastic about its morning stretch that it even stood on its toes at the end (reminded me of some people when they stretch).
Willets On Antelope Island
Willets aren’t flashy birds but right now they’re very conspicuous on Antelope Island because they’ve come up higher on the slopes for their spring mating activities.
The Raven And The Pied-billed Grebe
Last week as I drove along the causeway to Antelope Island just after sunup I came across a Pied-billed Grebe on the shore that was being tormented by a Common Raven. I still don’t fully comprehend what I witnessed.
A Mother’s Day Tribute To Two Women Who Saved Many Of Our Birds
Snowy Egrets are spectacularly beautiful birds that we came very near to losing. In the early 1800s birds in North America were so numerous that John James Audubon insisted that no act of man could ever wipe a species out, including the Snowy Egret – yet by 1913 the Snowy Egret was flirting with extinction. The cause? – lady’s hats.
A Compositional Conundrum – Immature Bald Eagle
Green-tailed Towhee (finally!)
As a result of its secretive nature the Green-tailed Towhee is one of the least well-known of all North American birds.
A Minor Meadowlark Surprise
Yesterday morning I found this Western Meadowlark perched up high, in pretty good light and with a clean background so I couldn’t resist firing away.
Blackbird On Stilts (subtitled JPEG vs RAW)
This is one of the oldest bird images in my files, taken on 6/17/07 and very soon after I became serious about bird photography. At the time I was still shooting JPEGs (rather than RAW). In my ignorance, making the decision to start shooting RAW was stressful for me. I was already overwhelmed by everything I had yet to master, from camera and lens operation to computer and processing skills and I was reluctant to add yet another layer to the mountain of “stuff” I had to learn. After about 6 months I finally took the plunge and changed the setting on my old Canon XTi from JPEG to RAW and I’ve never looked back. The only thing I’ve ever regretted was taking so long to make the change. To this day I dread having to process one of those older images that was taken as a JPEG (like the photo below). The JPEG vs RAW debate has been around for a while and I don’t mean to settle it here. All I know is that I much prefer processing RAW files for a variety of reasons. 1/1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light I always get a kick out of seeing birds in spread-eagled poses like this Yellow-headed Blackbird is demonstrating – it makes me think that if they don’t let go they’re going to split down the middle clear to the wishbone (furcula). Usually when I see this pose the two “perches” the bird is grasping are green reeds with many other reeds of similar colors nearby in the frame. But…