Short-eared Owl In Flight, With Prey
I’ve been frustrated by this species in flight in Utah for years, though I’ve had some luck with Montana birds. 1/3200. f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Finally, last summer, I found a mated pair on Antelope Island who were busy trying to keep track of and feed at least four juveniles spread out over several acres. Occasionally one of the parents would fly by relatively close as it returned with a vole for the youngsters. In larger versions of this image there’s a catch light in the eye of the vole but it’s impossible to see at this size. Ron
Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk Take-off
Recently I’ve had several opportunities with a pair of Juvenile Red-tailed Hawks that like to hunt from some elevated rocks that look down over some prime rodent habitat. It’s nice for a change to find them on natural and attractive perches rather than telephone poles or even fence posts. Don’t get me wrong, I like a rustic old fencepost as a perch but I do enjoy these natural rocks for a change. 1/8000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc (inappropriate techs for this shot, hadn’t had time to change them yet) The birds scan the grasses below them for prey and if you watch their behavior and body language carefully you can anticipate take-off. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 640, 400 f/4, 1.4 tc I could tell this bird had spotted potential prey below (a vole, most likely) so I was ready to fire off a burst as it launched. I’m always happy when I can get a wing position like this one. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 640, 400 f/4, 1.4 tc In the very next frame of the burst I got a similar wing position as it lifted off of the rock and luck played a significant role in that fact. The burst rate of my Canon 7D seems to be just about the same speed as that of the wing-beats of raptors this size as they take off, so there was a very good chance that the wings in both shots would be in the much less desirable horizontal position. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t. Observing and photographing these two birds has…
Smiling Coyote
I see a fair number of coyotes in my travels but it’s fairly unusual for me to get one relatively unobstructed and up close – much less in good light. Less than two weeks ago this one cooperated in all three arenas. 1/800, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc And I just love it when they “smile” at me. Ron
Porcupine On The Antelope Island Causeway
On Wednesday morning of this week I had quite the surprise as I drove out to Antelope Island at dawn. Between the island and the last bridge going west – a Porcupine! The bristly critter was in the shade of the elevated road but I couldn’t resist taking a few photos anyway. I got pretty close to take these images but it didn’t seem very concerned about it – with their prickly defense there’s few predators that will regularly mess with them other than the Fisher, and there’s not many of them on the island… Most predators (and even many non-predators) know, instinctively or from experience, that bothering a Porcupine simply is not worth the risk (see my recent post of a Moose that fell victim to a Porcupine). Porcupines are not uncommon on the island but in my experience it’s unusual to see them up close. Typically they’re in the Russian Olives a fair distance from the road and in an area which can’t legally be hiked. It was fun to get such a good look at this one but I was concerned that it would become road-kill on the causeway. All morning, while I was on the island, I was fearful that I’d find it dead on the road as I drove out. Thankfully I didn’t. I hope it made its way safely back to the island. Ron
Juvenile Willets In Montana’s Centennial Valley
On my mid-July trip to the Centennial Valley I spent several days with an adult Willet and two juveniles. I reliably found them foraging for insects where a dirt road met Lower Red Rock Lake. Most of the shore birds and wading birds in this area are truly wild and difficult to approach but these three birds were the exception as they repeatedly let me get close as they fed and preened. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 This was the most perfectly coiffed of the two juveniles, as the other youngster had a patch of unruly feathers on the back of its head and upper neck. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 This particular site provided a bountiful Arthropod smorgasbord for the willets, both in the water and on the shoreline. The birds would feed on aquatic insects and crustaceans in the shallow water for a while and then get a little variety in their diet by coming up onto the shore and gobbling down hordes of terrestrial insects. Here, the more unkempt juvie (notice the fluff of feathers on the back of the head) feeds on a variety of dipterans that it flushes from the vegetation. I’ve cropped this image unconventionally to show more of the “bugs” in the air. I didn’t get a catch light in this shot but this image showed the insects best. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc At times some of the insects almost seemed to dare the Willets to pluck them out of…
Goofy Red-tailed Hawk
When I first encountered this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in Beaverhead County three weeks ago it was eating a vole on top of this fence post. Soon after it finished the rodent it began to act a little strange. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 In these first few shots it may look like the hawk is simply shaking or “ruffling” its feathers but I’m convinced that wasn’t the case. I’ve seen many birds perform that feather maintenance activity but what was happening here looked quite different. I remember telling Mia while it was occurring that it looked like the bird was “dancing” on top of the post. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 The hawk went through some strange gyrations and postures that were different from what you see with a simple “shake” and they lasted an unusually long time (I have many shots of the behavior). This tail-up posture, for example, is reminiscent of defecation but the bird didn’t defecate and the wing position isn’t what you would normally see during defecation anyway. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 The bird wasn’t shaking to get these unusual feather positions either – instead it seemed to be deliberately and relatively slowly (compared to shaking) erecting its feathers. I have 8 – 10 shots that are very similar to this one and they’re not all in sequence. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 Then the bird decided to take off from the post… 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 but…
Male Northern Harrier Almost Blown Off His Perch
I don’t often get close to perched male harriers but on Antelope Island a couple of months ago this one made an exception for me. 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As I watched him through my lens a sudden wind gust almost blew him off of this pointed and precarious post perch and I liked some of the poses that resulted. It’s times like this that I appreciate the relatively fast burst rate of the Canon 7D. I didn’t get a great look at the eye in this first shot but I liked the tail, wing and left foot positions that show his obvious attempt to recover stability on the perch. 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc A better look at the eye and a higher wing position in this image… 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc and in the very next frame he extends his left wing far out in front. 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Still recovering. Notice the bloody feet in these shots, most likely from his last vole meal. 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Finally, he’s recovered enough to give me direct eye contact. 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc A little ruffled by the experience but in the end, all’s well. This series is an example of why, after I’ve taken a few static shots of the bird, I like to bump my settings to give me enough shutter speed…
Just A Shot That I Like… # 27, Savannah Sparrow Wing Stretch
So very often when an avian subject gives the photographer a nice wing stretch the bird is either facing away or there’s no light on the face. So I always appreciate it when things work out with a shot like that. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This Savannah Sparrow (along with several others of various species) would forage in the Montana pasture grass for a while and then return to the barbed wire to preen and occasionally stretch. I like the diaphanous qualities of the right wing that allow the viewer to see the fanned tail and stretched out foot and leg through the wing feathers. Ron
Gray Partridges In Glacier County, Montana
Gray Partridges are very elusive. In all the years I’ve been returning to Montana I’ve never been able to get acceptable images of them until this last trip. Since most folks in North America never get an opportunity to see this species I thought I’d post a few shots of them. Hunters and locals routinely call these birds Hungarian Partridges, or “Huns” for short. Growing up, that’s the only name I knew them by. 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc It’s difficult to catch one of these birds standing still. Usually, whenever you’re anywhere near them, they’re running for cover… 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc as this bird is. And believe me, they run fast! Anyone who has ever unexpectedly flushed a group of these birds has had an experience they won’t soon forget. The squawking noise they make, combined with the racket from their buzz-saw wings as they erupt in front of you, can be extremely startling – an experience I’ve had many times. Gets the heart pounding, that’s for sure. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This is a juvenile. I’ve cropped this image a little more than I like to but I preferred this pose over other shots of juvies I got. This partridge has a short lifespan, high mortality rate and high reproductive capability. Females produce among the largest single hen clutches of any bird species (up to 20 eggs). And reproductively, this year must have been highly successful for them…
Ferruginous Hawk On A Rustic Perch
Ferruginous Hawks are very impressive birds when you get this close to them. They are massive broad-winged hawks with a wide gape, large head and burly chest. They are our largest buteo and share many characteristics with the Golden Eagle. Last week in Montana I came across this bird on what is apparently a favorite perch – a rustic entrance gate to an irrigated farm in a small, beautiful and lush valley in Beaverhead County. I say “favorite perch” because I found this same bird (apparently) on the same gate, and in the same position, last month. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 These hawks are “sit and wait” hunters, which is exactly what this bird was doing. Their preferred prey is ground squirrels and prairie dogs and based on the number of badger holes in the valley I’d guess that there’s plenty of ground squirrels available. This is another version of the same image, cropped differently and more closely to better show the group of gnats (no-see-ums) swarming around the head of the hawk (to the left, I cloned them out in the first image). In some ways the biologist in me actually prefers the second version. 1/2000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4 When it took off it was facing away and I clipped a wing-tip but I decided to include this image anyway to show the bird up close and in flight. Ron