antelope island – Page 20 – Feathered Photography

Juvenile Black-billed Magpie In Flight With Food

Wish I knew what the food was…

A Rehabbed Burrowing Owl Release That Meant A Lot To Me

It’s always heartwarming when an injured raptor can be released back into the wild but this one was special.

Protected: Requesting A Little Help From My Friends On A Copyright Infringement

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Bullock’s Oriole Just After Stealing Food From A Spider

This handsome male Bullock’s Oriole had just made a clean getaway from an angry spider.

Feet-forward Takeoff From A Loggerhead Shrike

With birds it’s quite often the little things that grab my attention and they don’t come much smaller than this. It was subtle and quick, very quick, but it’s one of the strategies that can make the difference between a meal and going hungry. 1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in Yesterday morning on Antelope Island I caught this Loggerhead Shrike swallowing a spider (the island is absolutely loaded with spiders – the state park actually holds an annual Spider Festival). The shrike hunted from this perch for about 5 minutes – launching after potential prey and then returning to the same hunting platform. When this shot was taken the sun was behind a cloud so I decided to crank up my ISO to get a little more shutter speed for takeoff shots. Even at ISO 1250 I needed more SS than this to get the wings of the incredibly fast bird sharp at takeoff but I was already at a higher ISO than I almost ever go. 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in Thankfully the sun came out four minutes later and doubled my shutter speed. An instant after this photo was taken the shrike spotted prey (probably an insect or another spider) directly in front of it. In a typical takeoff the shrike would avoid any obstacles by altering its direction of…

Minimalist Loggerhead Shrike

This image may not generate much excitement but I suspect nature photographers might understand why it caught my attention.

Grooming Loggerhead Shrike

It’s been a while since I’ve been this close to a cooperative shrike.

A Peregrine Falcon Enjoying Duck For Breakfast (and a faux pas on my part)

I found this Peregrine Falcon on a duck kill along the causeway to Antelope Island.

A Singing Meadowlark Who Then Does A Weird Sideways Takeoff

For me it doesn’t get much better than a meadowlark singing on fresh, green sagebrush in the spring. But in this case it was the takeoff that really attracted my attention.