Lark Sparrows are a gift to the eye and ear. Their distinctive harlequin face pattern of black, white and chestnut combined with the melodious, rich trills of their lark-like song makes me long for the return of the species to Antelope Island every spring.
It seems that one species or another usually predominates on my trips to Antelope Island. Four days ago it was Sage Thrashers demonstrating springtime behaviors.
Knowing behaviors of your subject can be a great help in anticipating raptor take-off and bird photographers need all the help we can get.
Play has been well documented in some bird species and I believe I photographed that behavior in a Northern Harrier this week. This bird was too far away for quality images but I think the behavior is well documented in the photographs. I first spotted this hawk on an ugly metal fence post but as soon as I stopped my pickup to watch it through my lens the wary bird took off. Almost immediately it performed a spectacular and classic harrier mid-air maneuver by changing directions and pouncing on something in the grasses. I presumed it to be a vole. For about two minutes the bird continually struggled, wrestled and pounced on something I couldn’t see. The activity was quite frenetic and I took many photos of it. As I watched through my lens I wondered if the harrier was trying to avoid being bitten by a vole or even a larger rodent. Eventually the harrier took off with its “prey”, which turned out to be dried cow poop. Cow pies are common in this area because refuge managers run cattle there in the summer in an attempt to control invasive phragmites (personally I’m not a fan of cattle on public lands but that’s another story…). The harrier carried the cow pie only a few feet… before dropping it. Whether that was done deliberately or not I don’t know but I suspect that it was because in the image just before this one (just as the pie…
Sometimes when I’m photographing birds I find myself wondering “Why did that bird do that?”. Arriving at a reliable answer can be an exercise in frustration but often I can’t help myself, even when the behavior in question is a trivial one.
In early July I photographed a mated pair of Williamson’s Sapsuckers in Clark County, Idaho. As usual I was fascinated by their behaviors.
When common birds perform uncommon behaviors it catches my eye. And hopefully my lens. This was a behavior completely new to me for this species.
Yesterday morning at Farmington Bay I photographed a subtle but interesting bit of kingbird behavior that caught my attention and piqued my curiosity.
I make every effort in the field to “read” the behavior of my avian subjects. Sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m not but either way it’s a learning experience for me and my percentage of accuracy does seem to be improving. One of the payoffs can be better bird photographs for a variety of reasons.
On my last Montana trip I think I figured out part of the reason why Black-billed Magpies often perch high on power poles in some areas. I’m sure this apparent behavior is known to others but it was something new for me.
The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the western hemisphere and I was glad I had my lens on this handsome buck when it suddenly began to accelerate.
Most of the Sandhill Crane behaviors I observed last week were typical for the species but one was quite unusual.
This is a look and pose I’ve noticed fairly often from Red-tailed Hawks in conditions like this but I rarely see the same from a harrier.
I spend enough time with Pied-billed Grebes that it’s not often I see something new. Just over two weeks ago I did.
