antelope island – Page 46 – Feathered Photography

The Banded Burrowing Owls Of Antelope Island

Populations of Burrowing Owls in North America are in sharp decline. They are an Endangered Species in Canada where only about 800 pairs remain as there has been a 73% drop in their numbers in that country over the last 30 years. They are a species of “special protection” in Mexico and they are “listed” in 9 of the 18 western states in the U.S. that they still occupy. The reason for this disastrous decline is not well understood, but “human activity” is strongly suspected. In order to get a better handle on what is happening to them, multiple banding studies are in progress and that includes Antelope Island. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, shot from pickup window, not baited, set up or called in I first noticed banded juvenile Burrowing Owls on the island this past summer. Out of about a dozen juveniles in one area, several of them were banded but it was difficult to get a precise number because they’re hard to tell apart when some are in their burrows and the rest are flying all over the area. Most of the photos I have of banded owls were taken in early morning light but this one was taken later in the day (as you can tell by the position of the catch light and the angle of the shadows on the eyes), so the light was brighter and harsher. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, shot from pickup window, not baited, set up…

Red-tailed Take Off From Farmington Canyon Complex Rocks

I’ve said before how much I prefer the very dark Farmington Canyon Complex rocks on Antelope Island as perches, over the bright white Tintic Quartzite rocks found on the northern part of the island. This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk made my morning last month when it chose just such a rock to hunt from. I always enjoy it when I can get multiple shots of some interesting behavior or action in sequence. To me it’s almost like a very slow motion video and though it may include a few images that aren’t perfect individually I think that collectively the photos gain value as a group for what they illustrate – the whole can be greater than its parts. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Photographing take-offs is always a challenge. The bird may just sit there for a half hour or longer but when it happens it’s quick and easy to miss. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window, natural light, not baited, set up or called in You also need to be concerned about what direction it will go and if you’re too close (it’s easy to clip wings if you are) or too far away (which shows less detail). Those with zoom lenses have an advantage over me because they can quickly adjust their focal length to whatever they want within their zoom range, while the only option I have is to attach or detach my teleconverter, which is cumbersome and takes time. …

A Northern Harrier Kind Of Morning

Normally I avoid doing back to back posts on the same species but I went out shooting immediately after I published that last post and surprisingly it turned out to be a heckuva harrier morning. I’ve mentioned before that I usually have my best luck with harriers in the middle of winter, but yesterday I found two cooperative birds. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This beauty was hunkered down for a break from hunting and let me get surprisingly close. It was early morning, the light was warm, and the bird posed for me for a long time. I chose to post this almost direct look from the hawk for a reason – because out of all those images, this one shows the unique harrier facial disc best. A facial disc is a concave arrangement of feathers on the face of some birds (most notably owls) that forms a circular parabaloid that collects sound waves and redirects them toward the ears. In harriers the disc is less prominent than in owls, but larger in relative size because it extends to the neck, so it is commonly referred to as a facial ruff, rather than a disc. The large ear openings of harriers are buried in the feathers of the head and can’t be seen. The angle of the disc or ruff feathers can be adjusted to alter the focal length of the sound waves they’re collecting, which allows the bird to “focus” at different distances – a…

The Challenges Of Photographing Falcons On Antelope Island

There are three species of Falcons that reside on Antelope Island through much of the year – the American Kestrel, Prairie Falcon and Peregrine Falcon. A fourth, the Merlin, is mostly a winter resident. For many of us there’s something almost mystical about falcons and most bird photographers I know ache to get quality shots of them. But doing so isn’t easy anywhere and Antelope Island is no exception. In my experience there are three reasons why falcons on the island are so difficult to photograph well: The falcons are there but, with the exception of the kestrel, they’re difficult to find. For most of the year Peregrines and Prairies hang out in the remotest parts of the island that are inaccessible to us due to park rules and difficulties of negotiating such steep terrain. However, all three species hunt the causeway during winter so that’s the best chance for the photographer. Generally you just can’t get close to them. Kestrels are notorious for that trait, probably because they’re so common that lots of folks try with them. But common certainly doesn’t mean approachable. It’s not unusual to see a Peregrine perched far out on the mud flats but there’s no way to get close and if you tried they’d fly off. Prairie Falcons can often be spotted high up on the rocks around the central part of the island but they’re invariably much too far away and seldom perch near the road. Peregrines and Prairies are much easier to approach in very low light, especially just before sunup. But low light makes for crappy images. I’ve…

Red-tailed Hawk Lift-off

A month ago tomorrow this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was hunting from the dark Farmington Canyon Complex rocks of Antelope Island. It would use this elevated perch, and others like it, to scan the grasses below for prey. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I could usually tell from its behavior when it had spotted something and was about to take off after it. I always hope for a take-off toward me and angled obliquely to my position instead of “dead-on head-on”. The worst direction is away from me of course and I’ll settle for a fully lateral direction. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Here the bird chose the slightly less than ideal lateral direction. A head turn toward me would have improved the shot but for some reason this hawk was more intent on the prey than it was in pleasing the photographer. But I really liked the dynamic body position at take-off. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Some folks prefer the wings-up position over wings-down but I like them both. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I thought I’d make this final image a vertical composition to show better detail on the hawk, given the flight posture. The last three shots are sequential images in the…

Another Act Of Idiocy On Antelope Island

Yesterday, while showing some out-of-town friends around Antelope Island, we came upon this cyclist who had left his bike on the road and walked up to within a few feet of this bison in order to photograph it. At first he was much closer to the animal than you see here but when the bison began to show signs of irritation the cyclist backed off a few feet and continued to take photos. I stopped my vehicle and grabbed my “other” camera because I figured that something unpleasant might go down but in the excitement I bumped the control wheel on the camera and skewed my settings so the resulting photos are of poor quality and for documentation only. I’ve disguised the face of the cyclist. Before I could get off any shots of the cyclist photographing the bison the massive animal charged. This guys reactions were pretty quick. Here the cyclist doesn’t yet know that the bison’s charge was apparently a bluff… but he does now. This guy didn’t even have a vehicle to run to for protection – only his bike. And incredibly, after the charge, he turned around and approached the bison again. This kind of stupidity puts both humans and animals at risk. If the cyclist had been killed or injured I suspect the bison would have been destroyed. Similar unthinking behaviors from island visitors occur regularly on the island as I’ve documented before. The “Darwin Awards” in action… Ron

Anticipating The Return Of Rough-legged Hawks

Rough-legged Hawks are a true arctic species, spending about 7 months of the year on their breeding grounds in the arctic or sub-arctic tundra or taiga of Alaska or Canada. Then they migrate south and winter in most of the lower 48 states, with the exception of the SE region and parts of California and Arizona. I love it when they’re here as I find them to be exceedingly handsome birds and I really enjoy photographing them. And yes, I’m already looking forward to their return. Every time I’m in their favorite haunts I can’t help looking for them on some of their preferred perches, even this time of year. So, feeling a little nostalgic for them on a Saturday night, I thought I’d do a post on the species. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Normally I’m not terribly fond of the Tintic Quartzite rocks on Antelope Island as perches because they’re so bright that they tend to blow out the whites but as you can see by the shadows the sun was still very low when this shot was taken so I got pretty good detail on most of the perch. And besides, I like the rounded, weathered look of this particular boulder. I do wish the out of focus sunflower heads in the foreground weren’t there but for me they’re not an image killer. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This is one of…

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk Honing Its Hunting Skills

For the past few weeks I’ve been working a pair of juvenile Red-tailed Hawks with varying degrees of success. Mostly they’re just toying with me – staying just out of range or on the wrong side of the road in poor light. But on two mornings the lighter colored of the two birds put on quite a show. It chose to do its “sit and wait” hunting from a series of dark rocks close to the road and didn’t seem to care that I was there. And close. 1/2000. f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, not baited The rocks are on the side of a small mountain with vole-laden prairie grass between me and the hawk so the bird would perch on them and then take off for prey it spotted – often in my general direction. The prey is presumable nearly always voles though these young birds are usually unsuccessful. It did catch and eat a small snake once but the action was buried in the grasses. I’ve yet to see it actually catch a vole and that makes me feel sympathy for the hawk but on the other hand all these attempts at prey have given me some nice photo ops. 1/2000. f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, not baited Usually the setting had grass and/or rocks in the background and often it was close enough to the hawk to make focus-lock difficult but here the background was a little further away. On both days by the time the bird cooperated the sun was high enough that the…

Escaped Falconry Bird – Peregrine Falcon

Early this morning, just as the sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains, we came across this adult Peregrine Falcon, with prey, along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park. It is apparently another escaped falconry bird as it had obvious falconry anklets above its feet, though the actual jesses had been removed. 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This first image was taken where we first found it – along the edge of the causeway and next to the Great Salt Lake shoreline. A few seconds after this shot was taken the bird took off. 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But seven minutes later, as we proceeded along the causeway, we found the bird perched on this highway post. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This shot was taken as the falcon took off from the post. You’ll notice that the leather falconry anklets, sans jesses, are apparent in each of the above three images. 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc And the last time we saw the bird it had landed far away on the large boulders lining the east side of the Antelope Island Marina. We’ve reported this sighting to the Utah Division of Natural Resources and they’ve told us that they will follow up on it. I’ve always admired the sport of falconry on several levels. Falconers generally have a deep devotion and personal attachment to their birds that I respect and they and their organizations have done a lot for raptor conservation…

Landing Red-tailed Hawk

I haven’t often succeeded in photographing a landing raptor. When they take off they usually don’t come back and when they do it’s often difficult to maintain focus on them as they land because of close backgrounds. However, this immature Red-tailed Hawk gave me just such an opportunity a couple of days ago. 1/2000, f 7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 It was hunting from a huge rock outcropping and looking down over the valley in the background of this image. I spent quite a while with this bird but it was side lit and I wasn’t very optimistic about getting a decent take-off shot because I expected it to spot potential prey in the valley below and take off away from me, giving me butt shots only. 1/1600, f 7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Which is exactly what happened. However, I saw where the bird landed far below in the valley, missed the prey and took off again so I wondered if I could be lucky enough for it to return to the same perch. I wasn’t particularly optimistic because I was so close to the rock (you’ll notice from my techs that I had even removed my tc). The problem was that as soon as the hawk took off from that distant perch it disappeared behind the same massive rock outcropping on the side of the mountain that had been its perch and if it did return I wouldn’t know it until the very last split second, as it flared up to land on the rock from behind and below it. So I prefocussed on the likely…

Coyotes Grazing On Grass

Please don’t expect great photography with this post. My purpose here is simply to document an interesting behavior. I’ve spent a lot of time over the years observing coyotes and I’ve seen them eat a variety of rodents (especially voles), birds and carrion but yesterday on Antelope Island I observed something new – grazing coyotes! I found a group of four of them on a steep hillside next to the road and they were very definitely eating grass. I’ll simply let these images speak for themselves. This was the only half-way decent image I was able to get with my 500mm that included all four coyotes. I guess the thought of coyotes eating grass is just something I’d never considered before but I shouldn’t have been surprised. Most domestic dog owners are well aware that their pets occasionally eat grass. Studies have shown that grass appears in 14 – 43% of all wolf scat in North America and grass in coyote and fox scat is so common as to be unremarkable. I watched as three of these four coyotes consumed grass and I suspect the fourth one was doing the same but it was mostly hidden behind sagebrush so I couldn’t be sure. There is just something so very incongruous about a group of canine carnivores slowly moving across a hillside while grazing on grass, like a herd of bison or elk. I thought it was an interesting behavioral display. Ron

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

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

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…

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