Relaxed Male Northern Harrier
I don’t post perched Northern Harriers often because they’re usually partially hidden in vegetation or the perch is an unattractive one. Add to that the fact that they’re very nervous birds and typically won’t let me get close. In the rare case where I can approach the bird, nervousness is usually readily apparent. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But three days ago this male made an exception for me. It was a cold morning and I guess he just didn’t feel like flying in the frigid air so he allowed me to approach reasonably close. The icing on the cake was that he was on a pleasing perch, in good light and I liked the natural setting and relaxed pose. I was also hoping for some take-off shots but when he launched he headed almost straight for me and I lost focus on him. Ron
Indecisive Coyote With A Duck
Coyotes sometimes prowl the causeway to Antelope Island early in the morning. While they’ll certainly take the occasional vole they may come across, voles aren’t really their intended quarry. There are far more voles on the island than there are along the causeway. Coyotes come onto the causeway to scavenge. 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, not baited During winter there are many ducks along the causeway and occasionally one of them dies – an easy meal for a coyote. But most often these coyotes are after falcon leftovers. Peregrine Falcons and Prairie falcons often hunt the causeway and most ducks are too large for either species to completely consume, so there’s nearly always leftovers. Three days ago I found this coyote with a duck. The bird appeared to be frozen so I suspect it was carrion. Here, the coyote couldn’t decide which way to go with its meal – left or right, because the causeway is narrow and the animal is confined by the lake in the back and the road in front, which gave me an indecisive posture that I like (despite the side light). Ron
Female Kestrel With Jesses, In Flight
Yesterday morning we found the female American Kestrel with attached jesses once again. This time we were able to get a little closer to her than we had before. This little lady is more difficult to approach than most other kestrels on the island. 1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light I think she looks and acts healthy. She’s actively hunting and based on the blood on her jesses (most likely from voles) I’d guess that she’s good at it. I immediately called Becka Butcher, the trapper who has been trying to capture this bird so that the jesses can be removed. Becka made another attempt later in the afternoon but she was unsuccessful. This bird is extremely wary. The kestrel approached the trap, even flew down and investigated it closely but would not enter it. Becka said that she and others who are qualified and licensed will continue to try to capture this bird using more “creative methods”, since traditional traps don’t seem to work on her (a number of attempts have been made). And since she most likely escaped from a rogue, “wannabe” illegal falconer (rather than from an ethical, licensed falconer), once this falcon has been trapped and checked for health issues she will be released back into the wild. A good thing… Ron
Brood Patch In A Female Short-eared Owl
One of the primary functions of feathers is insulation and they’re very good at preventing heat loss. But this efficiency presents a problem – how to keep the egg(s) sufficiently warm during incubation, since feathers act as a barrier to heat transfer from parent to eggs. Typical bird body temperature is about 104 degrees F. and the ideal incubation temperature for their eggs is very close to normal human body temperature – 98.6 degrees F. That dilemma has been solved by most bird species through the evolution of the “brood patch” – an area of belly skin that loses its feathers near the end of the egg-laying period. As the feathers are lost, supplementary blood vessels engorge the skin of the “patch” so that hot blood is brought to the surface. Amazingly, the parent can even shut down blood flow to this region when that bird is off the nest. When the incubating parent returns to the eggs for incubation, he/she typically goes through settling movements that bring the brood patch into gentle contact with the eggs. The patch may be large or small, depending on a variety of factors including how many eggs are incubated. Some species have a single patch in the middle of the belly, others may have one each side or even three. Typically the patch is difficult to observe in wild birds, particularly in flight but I have several images of a female Short-eared Owl where it is visible. This female had two chicks that she was trying to keep warm during a typically cold Montana spring. The male…
Another Positive Development Regarding Lost Falconry Birds
Just a quick post this morning to announce some more good news on the “lost falconry bird” front. (no, the female kestrel hasn’t yet been recaptured, but I believe efforts are continuing). For those new to this issue, a quick summary: Occasionally, falconry birds escape through no fault of the handler. When they do, they typically still have falconry gear attached – jesses, anklets, telemetry gear etc. Every effort is made by the falconry community to recapture these birds, usually with success. The larger segment of the problem comes from unethical “rogue” or “wannabe” falconers who capture wild birds illegally and then try to fly them without proper knowledge and experience. Due to negligence or inexperience these illegal birds sometimes escape with their “gear” attached, which puts them at a distinct disadvantage in the wild. My good friend and constant photography companion Mia McPherson and I have come across and photographed three of these escaped birds in the last three years. At least two of the three were most likely the result of rogue falconers rather than the organized falconry community. More details of what has already transpired can be found here. When someone spots one of these escaped birds in the wild, getting through to the “right” person for reporting and appropriate action is cumbersome, time-consuming and frustrating (believe me, I know!). It’s difficult to get through all the layers of DWR’s bureaucracy, finding a rehabber who can help isn’t easy and there hasn’t been an efficient avenue for a non-falconer to report a found bird to the falconry community. The North America Falconer’s Association (NAFA) website…
Barn Owl Hunting Low In The Phrags
Usually when I’m photographing hunting Barn Owls they’re flying above the stands of Phragmites so I typically get a sky background. If I’m lucky they’ll be low enough so that I include some of the phrags at the bottom of the frame to include habitat in the image. 1/1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But occasionally the bird will drop down low enough so that I get only phrags in the background and no sky. For the sake of variety I like the effect, though it sure makes it difficult to keep focus locked on the bird with the vegetation in the background so close to the owl. 1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in On the very next pass the owl was high enough that I got some sky in the background, along with the frosty Phragmites plumes. 1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Two shots in the burst later the owl was slightly past me and beginning to turn away but this angle gave me a strong catch light in the eye and a somewhat dramatic look at the fully extended left wing. It’s fascinating to watch these birds in the air. Their buoyant flight with deep, slow wingbeats as they cruise rather slowly will change dramatically when they twist and turn at the beginning of a dive for prey. These owls…
Good News Regarding The Escaped Peregrine Falcon and American Kestrel
Recently I’ve photographed and posted about two escaped falconry birds – a female American Kestrel and a Peregrine Falcon. Both were flying free with attached jesses and/or anklets in the vicinity of Antelope Island. Both were reported to wildlife authorities and to the falconry community but each bird has been a challenge to recapture for a variety of reasons – among them the difficulty of getting proper permission for the licensed trapper to attempt the recapture of the kestrel in a state park. There were lots of hoops to jump through. It is very likely, for a variety of reasons, that both of these birds were originally captured illegally by “wannabe” falconers and not by anyone in the organized and licensed falconry community. Two days after we found the kestrel we met the licensed trapper out on the island to point out the area where the bird was hanging out and to try to find her, which we never did. But yesterday morning we spotted the female Kestrel once again, in the very same area where we found her before. She was far off but when she scratched her face one of the jesses became obvious, as you can see in this photo. I immediately called the trapper to report that the bird was in the area again and she was enthusiastic about making the attempt but as far as she knew, permissions from the state still hadn’t been obtained. A little background before I get to the good news. When Mark Runnels (master falconer from Oklahoma) saw my first post on the female kestrel,…
Baiting Coyotes On Antelope Island
I’m of the strong opinion that baiting wild animals of any kind for photographic purposes (or most any other purpose, with very few exceptions) is a despicable practice. It often puts the critter at risk in a variety of different ways and no photo is worth that. I’ve railed against baiting before on this blog so I won’t go into all the details once again here. But this morning I saw another example of why I despise this practice so much. The weather has been dreary and overcast for so long that I haven’t been out photographing for a while, but this morning we decided to head for Antelope Island just to get “out there” and ease our cabin fever a little, despite the clouds. As we came around a small curve on the island we noticed this coyote in the middle of the road. I could hardly believe it when I saw that it was feeding on dog food that someone had obviously spread down the center of the road in an attempt to lure coyotes up close and into an area where they wouldn’t be obscured by vegetation. And it worked! Even as close as we were, the coyote was intent on eating all of the dog food before it left the area. After taking a few documentary photos I drove up to the spot and then we picked up the kibbels and threw them away from the road (we probably should have taken them with us but I didn’t think of it at the time). We then reported what we saw…
Great Horned Owls On The Montana Family Farm
Note: When I first started blogging 19 months ago, I somewhat arbitrarily decided to post my photos at 720 pixels on the long side. It didn’t take me long to change my mind and begin posting significantly larger images for the much better quality that becomes apparent at that larger size. Since that time I’ve pretty much ignored those early posts, until yesterday when Ingrid Taylar brought my attention to this Great Horned Owl post and it reminded me just how small the images are. So, I’ve decided to repost a very few of those very early works, with some additions and changes which will include: larger images – 900 pixels on the long side additional images, in most cases techs included with the photos updated narrative I’m thinking there might be two or three of these reposts over the next several weeks. I hope you’ll bear with me… For many years now there has been at least one pair of nesting Great Horned Owls on the farm where I grew up near Cut Bank, Montana. They were never there when I was a kid but they’ve sure taken to it since. This farm still seems like home to me and I return to it at least once every year for a visit with family and of course to check up on the owls. It’s the perfect place for these birds as it’s isolated, there are many old barns and granaries for the owls to find sanctuary and the area is literally crawling with field mice, voles and the ubiquitous Richardson’s Ground Squirrel…
Poop, Perches and Personal Preferences
Many raptors are “sit and wait” hunters, which means they often hunt from an elevated perch instead of “on the wing” and Red-tailed Hawks are well-known for this practice. An elevated perch provides good views over a large area and no extra energy need be expended in flight while looking for food. Typically these birds will use the same productive perch repeatedly over long periods of time, which presents a challenge to the photographer – poop (hereafter referred to as “whitewash”). Whitewash consists largely of crystalline uric acid (it’s more complicated than that but I’ll try not to stray into a discussion of the functions of the cloaca), which tends to be bright white. That whitewash can create some aesthetic and ethical conflicts between a “natural shot” and an image that has been “Photoshopped” to death, primarily by use of the clone tool. Many photographers routinely clone out whitewash and/or droppings and I’ll admit that I’ve done it before, but for me it’s an ethical dilemma because I much prefer to leave my images as natural as possible since I consider myself to be a “nature photographer”. In fact, right now I’m struggling with a series of Horned Lark images that I really like, but there’s a large, fresh and very conspicuous dropping right in front of the birds foot that most would find distracting. I could clone it out but every time I looked at that image I would know what I’d done. Canon 7D, 1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in A couple of days…