Another Encounter With The Antelope Island Prairie Falcon
Two days ago we located the Prairie Falcon on the causeway once again. This bird spends most of its time on the island itself but occasionally ventures onto the causeway to hunt ducks. I’m quite sure, as are others who are more falcon knowledgeable than I, that it’s the same individual in all of my recent Prairie Falcon posts. Usually I complain about not being able to get close enough to my subjects but here I had the opposite problem. The only way I could even see this bird was from very close. From any further away the falcon was completely obstructed by the road edge and the vegetation growing there. The first two images are essentially full frame (very little crop) and that’s without my tc attached, so the falcon is too tight in the frame but this post is more about falcon adaptations than it is about aesthetics anyway. 1/1600, f/9, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This bird was a mess! It had apparently just finished dining on duck so it was wet, blood encrusted and disheveled, with tidbits still clinging to feet and beak. The bird is meticulously cleaning and scratching its beak with those impressive talons, which seems to me to be about like picking one’s teeth with a Bowie knife. 1/1600, f/9, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But what I found particularly interesting about many of the images I took of this bird was the good look at the well-defined and bulging crop. …
Male American Kestrel In Flight
Until yesterday, I’ve been largely stymied in my efforts got get good quality images of American Kestrels in flight. This has been especially frustrating because kestrels are the most numerous and widespread falcon in North America and they’re very common in my photography stomping grounds. I have many high quality images of them perched, but in-flight has been a different story. Because these falcons are small and their flight is swift and erratic, the photographer’s best chance is to catch them hovering. But they always hover facing into the wind and it seems like every time I’ve had that opportunity with them the sun has been behind them. Or they’re facing away from me. Or I can’t get a catch light in the eye. Or they’re too far away. Or they stop hovering and fly further away just as I get the pickup stopped and my lens up. Or… ad infinitum. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But yesterday morning, this male forgot just how much fun it is to aggravate me and gave me some opportunities in good light. He would hover for a few seconds, then move on to another nearby location and hover some more. It’s fascinating to watch them hover up close through the lens. The wings alternate between gliding and flapping and the tail is constantly adjusting to every minor variation in the breeze but the position of the head seems to be absolutely fixed in space as it scans below, looking for prey. A…
The Trouble With Harriers
Obtaining proper exposure on certain birds with high contrast colors has always been a big problem for bird photographers. When your subject has both very light and very dark colors it becomes problematic to get good detail in the darks without “blowing out” the whites, especially if the whites are very bright white. A partial list of bird species that are notoriously difficult to expose properly would include the Black Billed Magpie, male Wood Duck, adult Bald Eagle and many species of Terns. And because of the bright white rump patch found on all ages and both sexes of Northern Harriers, that species would also be on the list. One of the partial solutions to this problem is to photograph while the sun is low during either early morning or late afternoon because the light is much less “harsh” then and also because it has a better chance of striking the bird obliquely rather than at right angles (light at an angle tends to produce tiny texture shadows – “detail”). 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I like this image for a variety of reasons: the well-lit and detailed view of the topside of a harrier in flight, provided by the banking flight posture of the bird getting good eye contact with this flight posture isn’t easy, but this shot has it the background has some color texture – instead of solid blue sky or white clouds it’s a subtle mixture of both the harrier is sharp –…
Western Meadowlark Potpourri
On my last post which featured closeups of mating Lark Sparrows, long-time follower of my blog Tana Hunter asked “How about getting this close to some meadowlarks?” Her request reminded me that I’ve posted very few images of Western Meadowlarks in the 19 months I’ve been blogging so I did a little digging and these images are what I came up with. It’s another relatively long post but with this weather and its attendant crappy light I can’t be out shooting birds so I might as well be playing around with their images to take some of the sting out of my cabin fever… Here are a few interesting factual tidbits about Western Meadowlarks to hopefully get you in the mood: Although early explorers (including Lewis and Clark) were aware of the existence of the Western Meadowlark, it was subsequently ignored by most naturalists of the day so when John James Audubon gave the bird its Latin name, he chose Sturnella neglecta (the species name in recognition of that lack of attention) The Western Meadowlark is not a lark (though it is a gifted songster); instead it is most closely related to the blackbirds When probing into soil for food, these birds force their long bills into the ground and then the mandibles are spread apart, opening and loosening the soil to make food more obtainable They are particularly fond of sprouting grain in farmers fields. They bore into the soil with the long bill, grasp the soft germinating seed and then crush it to obtain the milk and usually discard…
Lark Sparrows – A Unique Mating Behavior
Back on May 25 of this year, on this post about Lark Sparrows, I made the following statement at the end of the post: “Now that I have some decent images of this species my next goal with them is to capture some of their unique behaviors. These birds often pass a twig from the male to the female during copulation (an impressive display of multitasking and concentration). And they do a turkey-like strut during courtship. I would love to capture either behavior.” In your comments, several of you gave me encouragement in meeting that goal and 11 days later I was at least partly able to do so. These are those images. A couple of these photos may be a little “clinical” for some, but to me it’s all behavior and it’s all interesting. Techs for all images were: 1/4000 or 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The courtship of Lark Sparrows includes behaviors found in no other songbirds. Prior to actual mating, the male struts like a turkey, with its tail sticking up to show off its white tail spots and its wings drooping to the ground. Then, before the male mounts her, he picks up a twig (or twigs) which he passes to the female just before copulation. When mating is complete (they may mate or attempt to mate up to 20 times in 3.5 minutes) the female often flies off with the twig. The courtship had already begun when I approached this mated pair. Normally, this species doesn’t allow me to get this close…
Northern Harriers Hunting
It’s getting to be what I call “harrier time” here in northern Utah so I thought I’d do a significant post on the species. For me, watching these birds hunt is absolutely mesmerizing and I could do it for hours. And I have – many, many times. But before I get into hunting I’d like to cover some basics on telling the sexes and ages apart. Sexual dimorphism in harriers is exceptional among birds of prey – telling adult males from adult females is easy because their colors are so dramatically different. But because juveniles of either sex strongly resemble adult females, that distinction becomes very tricky and causes a lot of confusion. So, here’s a primer: Adult males – gray above, mostly white below, black wing tips, lemon-yellow eyes Adult females – brown above, buffy with brown streaks below, lemon-yellow eyes (but in my experience, the eyes of adult females tend to be less bright than those of adult males) Juvenile of both sexes – similar to adult female but darker chocolate-brown above and strongly rufous (reddish) below Juvenile male – pale, greenish-yellow eyes Juvenile female – dark, chocolate-brown eyes All sexes and ages have the unique facial disc (ruff) characteristic of harriers. It’s not as prominent as it is in many owls but it can clearly be seen in this image. Its function is the same as it is in owls – to direct sound to the ears. Most hawks hunt almost exclusively by sight but because of their excellent hearing, thanks largely to the facial disc, harriers depend at least…
Road-killed Barn Owls
Talk about coincidence! Last night, as I was working up some images of Barn Owls for a blog post on the species, I received the following UBIRD email (used here by permission) from my good friend, enthusiastic birder and budding bird photographer, Shyloh Robinson. Shyloh lives very close to Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area (FBWMA) and this time of year he’s almost always at the refuge in the evenings looking for birds – particularly owls. “:( when a grown man uses an emoticon, you KNOW he’s serious! Each night this week, I’ve visited my home at FBWMA to look at the owls. I went a bit early tonight to make sure I saw some hawks too. They were posted up in the usual spots. I drove straight to the 4way to wait for any short-eared. (That’s the good spot for them.) Sadly, I saw no owls… Until I left and was on Glovers Lane. Another Barn Owl was dead in the road, and being collected. I got a lump in my throat. I’m quickly learning why moving vehicles are a Barn Owl’s worst enemy. These alba’s have meant a lot to me lately and I’m saddened to see them ghosted. Now what? Shyloh” Knowing Shyloh as well as I do, I knew he was devastated. He simply adores “his” owls – an emotion that I share because I’ve spent many, many hours at FBWMA looking for, and photographing, those Barn Owls. They are a special species, in so many ways. Shyloh’s UBIRD post inspired me to change the focus of my Barn…
Rough-legged Hawk “Playing”
This post is about behavior. Please don’t expect high quality images… Last March I found this juvenile (I believe) Rough-legged Hawk along the Antelope Island causeway on a cold morning after a light snowfall. It was perched on a windrow of debris consisting mostly of piles of old brine fly pupae casings. For a while the bird seemed content to simply rest and watch me. But soon it apparently got bored… and walked about two feet to my right to investigate a clump of fly casings (red arrow) that had been cemented together by melting snow that had re-frozen during the night. The hawk reached over to grasp the clump with its talons… retrieved the clump,… transferred it to its beak and then instantly tossed it to the ground. I assumed that was that, figuring the bird had thought it might be something edible, then discarded it for good when it wasn’t. But that wasn’t what happened. The hawk grabbed the clump with its talons once again… and then seemed to contemplate for a few seconds about just what to do next. Which turned out to be something like “give the clump a toss and see where it lands”. The hawk immediately started walking over to where the clump had landed behind the mound of fly casings, where it can’t be seen in this image. It used its wings for a little more stability as it negotiated the hill of debris. …
Prairie Falcon Redux
It’s been 16 days since I’ve seen a Prairie Falcon along the causeway and I had just about given up on them for the short-term. But yesterday, as I was leaving the island after a relatively fruitless morning, I spotted that distinctive flash of bright breast whites up ahead among the rocks and very close to the road. Sure enough, as I got closer I could tell it was Falco mexicanus perched on a colorful boulder. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in, background is the Great Salt Lake I’ll sheepishly admit to the fact that in situations like this I typically come down with a case of “buck fever” (aggravated by the fact that I have familial tremors) and sure enough I was actually shaking with excitement and dread as I tried to maneuver my pickup to get a clear shot of the bird through all the vegetation along the road. With this particular perch, this was the most unobstructed view I could get. In case you’re wondering what the source of my “dread” could be, I’m a dedicated pessimist at heart (which Mia mercilessly teases me about) and I’m always convinced that the bird will take off a split second before I get the pickup stopped in a safe place and my finger on the shutter. That exact thing had happened twice that morning with Red-tailed Hawks. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in, background is…
Shrikes And A Lesson For Me In Light
Birds on Antelope Island have been few and far between lately and yesterday was no exception. But a couple of Loggerhead Shrikes saved my morning and taught me yet another lesson in light. 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in It was mostly cloudy on the island when we got there just as the sun was coming up over the mountains but there was a crack in those clouds that provided some very warm light for a few minutes just as we found this cooperative shrike. The golden light provides colors to the bird and perch – an effect that I like, especially with the dark storm clouds in the background. 1/500, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I was only able to get off a few shots before the shrike flew to another perch, which gave me side light on the bird. This is a tricky lighting situation. When the bird was facing left into the sun the bright whites on the breast and neck “blew out” (too bright with no detail) and the shadows on the back of the shrike were too dark. But when it turned to its right and looked over its shoulder at me the exposure worked much better. The problem with this pose was getting both light in the eye and good eye contact. This image was one of the few that worked. I like the contrasting cool and warm tones on the shrike….