I’ve been watching a Black-billed Magpie nest in a greasewood bush on Antelope Island all spring but the adults are very spooky and always fly off as I approach (the nest is very near a road and I stay in my vehicle on the road). But I’ve been looking forward to seeing the fledglings and I finally got a good look at all five of them last week.
This post is largely about behavior. The image quality ranges from good to mediocre but I think each photo contributes something to a better understanding of magpies. Black-billed Magpies begin nest-building as early as January and these particular birds have been at it for several weeks now. Actually, in this case it’s more a “remodel” than it is “new construction” since this nest has been used for at least the last three years. All of these photos have been taken this week, which accounts for the relatively bright snow and ice background in some of the shots. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light One of the first things you may notice is the fact that sometimes these Black-billed Magpies don’t seem to have black bills. Part of nest construction involves mud gathering and the drying mud on the bill can significantly alter the appearance of the bill. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light Both sexes contribute to nest construction and they’re quite industrious in their efforts. The size of the twigs they bring in is often impressive. 1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light The nest is buried deep in a greasewood bush at about eye level for me. Typically a bird bringing in construction material will land on a nearby perch and look over the nest for a few moments – seeming to plan placement of the twig and an approach path through the myriad of vertical greasewood stems that present significant obstacles to proper placement of such an unwieldy…
I’ve spent the last two mornings photographing Black-billed Magpies in the midst of nest construction. These birds often re-use old nests and this is at least the third year they have used the same one. Even when “recycling” the nest like this, weeks of work go in to refurbishing it – they bring in a completely new lining of grass, mud, rootlets and even bison fur. And they add an amazing number of new twigs to the basic structure. These are industrious birds! I’ve said before that this species is my most challenging avian photographic subject and that fact has been reinforced this week. There are several reasons for that, including: the deep black and bright white combination is hugely difficult to expose properly that aggravatingly long tail makes composition difficult and it is very easy to clip or cut off in action shots they close their nictitating membrane more than any other bird I’ve photographed and when they do its color is a blue-white which is almost shockingly apparent against the black head when they take off from an elevated perch they typically flap once and then fold their wings tightly against the body at exactly the moment when it’s easiest to get them in flight, resulting in what I call a “torpedo-bird” flight posture that is less than desirable the dark eye set against a black head makes it very difficult to get a good catch light in the eye In the last two days I’ve taken over 1200 shots of these magpies and about 95% of them were garbage, largely due…
Black-billed Magpies are loud, flashy and conspicuous black and white birds. And they’re a challenge to photograph well because of the exposure difficulty – getting detail in the blacks without “blowing out” the whites. I probably discard a higher proportion of shots of this species than I do any other. But if you work hard at it (with a little luck thrown into the mix) you can get some pretty spectacular shots that have detail in the blacks and whites and their showy iridescence. The actual plumage of these birds is truly black and white, with no other colors. But in the right light the feather structure (and other factors) on the tail and wings of these birds bends the light much like a prism and produces a variety of colors, predominantly blues and greens. When I’m photographing magpies, one of my goals is usually to capture some of that iridescence. 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light Three days ago I found this magpie perched on a snow-covered boulder on Antelope Island. As you can see the whites are well-exposed but there’s not a lot of detail in the blacks. This is the type of magpie image that I normally wouldn’t do much with except for purposes such as this post (my high shutter speeds were due to the snow and the fact that I was attempting take-off shots). 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light This is the same bird on the same perch but the image was taken…
Yesterday Mia and I returned from a three day camping and photo trip to Flaming Gorge. We had great weather for most of our time there and as usual the scenery and ambience were awesome. At an elevation over 6000′ many of the birds that we usually see there apparently haven’t arrived yet but we spent some quality time with a pair of nesting Osprey – a species that I’ve had little luck with in the past. 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This pole with all the attached ugly hardware was within a few feet of the nesting platform and early one morning this Osprey landed on the pole with a freshly caught fish. At first I figured that this bird would deliver the fish to its mate on the nest (I have a lot to learn about this species) but it didn’t. It’s intention was to eat the fish itself but as you’ll see, those plans were delayed by an interloper. It didn’t take long for this Black-billed Magpie to show up and torment the rightful owner of the fish. This Osprey removed and dropped the intestines in pieces and it seemed obvious to me that the magpie had learned that particular feeding pattern and came looking for tidbits that had landed on the wires below the Osprey. Here you can see one of those bits in the beak of the magpie that it had picked off of the metal above its head. So far the Osprey doesn’t seem too…
Antelope Island always has an interesting mix of birds for the photographer and birder. During the winter months raptors are one of the primary attractions for me but soon after the cold months are over they begin to thin out and the migrating spring birds begin to appear. The last several weeks have been in transition with fewer raptors but many migrating species are beginning to show up – in addition to the many year-round residents on the island. With this post I thought I’d present a few shots from the past week or so as a small representation of some of the common birds right now. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Black-billed Magpies are year-round residents of the island and they’re in a nesting frenzy right now which allows for some interesting opportunities for the photographer. This bird is landing on a bush very near its nest. 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Springtime is my favorite season to photograph Chukars because they’re all dolled out in fresh plumage and they’re very approachable when they’re calling from rocks. For much of the rest of the year they spend their time scurrying around in the vegetation and it’s quite difficult to get a clean shot. This one was calling with a lot of enthusiasm! 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Some of the Loggerhead Shrikes also remain on the island year-round but their numbers increase noticeably in spring. 1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc It’s always a treat when the Long-billed Curlews return to…
It was a brutal morning on the island yesterday with 25 degree F temps, winds of over 4o mph, fresh snow and icy roads. It was eerie-sounding to drive on the roads as the night before the snow had partially melted and then froze hard into a bumpy, icy and noisy sheet. I knew there’d be no sneaking up on any birds because my pickup sounded like a freight train approaching on that crunchy ice. The gulls were just about the only birds out and about. They seemed to enjoy soaring in the wind but when they’d settle into the water they chose areas partially protected from the wind, like this cove where the causeway meets the island. The night before the wind had pasted snow onto the sides of the bison and then it froze to their hides. Some of them were mostly covered with ice. This image and the next one should give regular readers of my blog some idea of why I occasionally grumble about all the dried sunflowers we have this year. They make it virtually impossible to get a clear shot of any subject on the ground. 1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc We had just about resigned ourselves to being essentially “skunked” for the morning when we spotted this Golden Eagle not too far from the road. It was feeding on what I assume was a jack-rabbit (it was relatively large and there are lots of them in the area) but of course it was buried in the sunflowers and I…
It’s been a frustrating photography week for both Mia and I for a variety of reasons but it’s primarily been because the weather and light have seriously sucked – big time!. So when yesterday’s dawn showed promise we headed for the island with high hopes but low expectations because there haven’t been many bird opportunities out there recently. We were in for some pleasant surprises. I’ll present these images in the order they were taken to give a feel for the morning. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc We had barely made it onto the causeway before this Rough-legged hawk began to entertain us. We watched as it ate a vole and then it immediately walked about two feet to its left and picked something else up with its foot. At first I assumed it was another vole, either alive or from a food cache. But in looking at close-ups of some of the photos I’m pretty sure it’s only a rock with old brine fly larvae cases and small twigs frozen to it. Then this hawk did something strange – it transferred the “rock” to its beak and deliberately flung it a good distance – here it’s flying through the air Then the bird walked over, picked up the rock in its left foot and flew off with it. My curiosity is killing me as to just what was going on. Obviously this isn’t a great shot but I was fascinated by the behavior. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Next this Northern Harrier gave us…
Black-billed Magpies aren’t appreciated by everyone. Their raucous behavior and scavenging habits put some folks off but I’m quite fond of them for their relatively high intelligence and incredibly interesting behaviors (examples – they conduct ritualistic “funerals” of up to 40 birds around the dead bodies of other magpies and you haven’t lived until you’ve seen one tormenting a cat by repeatedly pulling its tail). That said, they’re very difficult photographic subjects. Their black plumage soaks in the light while the bright white feathers reflect nearly all of it so getting exposure and detail in the overall bird is incredibly challenging. I probably delete a higher percentage of images I take of magpies than I do of any other species I regularly photograph which makes getting an image I like especially rewarding . I enjoy meeting the challenge… 1/1250, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4 When the light’s at the right angle you can sometimes get impressive iridescence in the blacks which also helps to bring out some of the detail there. This bird had just taken off from the sagebrush that its nest is deeply buried in. And it was even considerate enough to give me a pleasing head turn and eye contact as it did so. I’ve photographed this bird and its mate at their nesting site for three years now (and yes I’m very careful not to disturb them). Can’t wait for early spring to try it again. Ron
Photographing birds at take-off is very different from shooting them in flight, for a variety of reasons. In fact in some ways it’s more difficult. First, I’d best define what for me is a take-off shot. I think it’s a take-off and not a true flight shot when any of the following conditions are met: a.) the bird’s feet are still touching the perch, b.) the feet are still extended down or behind the bird from the effort of pushing off the perch and not tucked up against the body in an aerodynamic position or c.) it’s obvious from the flight posture of the bird or the presence of the just departed perch in the image that it has just taken off. I realize that this is an arbitrary definition and that technically as soon as the bird has left the perch it’s in flight but that’s how I’ll define it for this discussion. Take-off shots have lots of appeal for many, largely because the effort required for lift-off often provides a very dynamic flight posture with the wings, tail and legs/feet in exaggerated positions compared to “simple” flight. Many novice bird photographers are intimidated by the difficulties of flight photography and attempt take-offs instead, in the mistaken assumption that they should be relatively easy. Not so. Following are some strategies and tips for getting good take-off images that have worked for me. I hope they’ll be helpful to some of you. Plan ahead to avoid clipping body parts – particularly the wings: Many novice avian photographers are unpleasantly surprised by the amount of wing extension during take-off and they cut…
Typically our first spring camping trip is a shake-down cruise for the trailer to Antelope Island. If anything goes wrong with the trailer (and it sometimes does after sitting all winter) I’ll be relatively close to home. This year we spent the last two days of March on the island. Most of the photos in this post were taken on that trip. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500 There’s been a few Western Meadowlarks on the island for much of the winter but they’ve returned in large numbers now. In all my travels in the west I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other area with such a high concentration of this species. At times their beautiful song resonates all over the hills of the island. Meadowlarks always bring back fond memories for me of growing up on the Montana farm. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500 Loggerhead Shrikes are another very common species, especially on the northern part of the island. They’ve been absent all winter but we’re seeing more of them on each visit now. It was cloudy when this image was taken and I didn’t get a lot of light in the eye but I think there’s just enough. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500 I always look forward to the return of the Long-billed Curlews with great anticipation and they started appearing about 10 days ago. I was happy to get this shot of the male on the right displaying for the female. Male and female curlews are almost identical but they can be differentiated by their…
This past spring and summer I had the opportunity to observe and photograph nesting behaviors of Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island in northern Utah. Magpies are common in Utah and much of the western US but they’re typically difficult to approach (and very challenging to photograph well because of the contrast of their coal-black and almost pure white plumage) but this pair of birds was so intent on their nest-building activities that they virtually ignored my presence. Mated pair of Black-billed Magpies Magpies are monogamous and typically mate for life. This is a mated pair on top of their domed nest in a sagebrush. The male is on the left, the female on the right – males are about 20% larger than females so they are sexually dimorphic. As you can see from the muddy bill of the female they’ve been actively building the mud-bowl found inside the nest. Typically the male provides the heavier branches and sticks for the nest and the female delivers most of the mud for the mud bowl, which probably explains why the female’s bill is so muddy while the male’s is not. Obtaining mud for then nest The mud for the bowl of the nest was obtained wherever the birds could find it. When we’d had dry weather they would have to fly quite a distance to get any but after a recent rain they would often get it very close by. This bird has just scooped up a bill-full. When it’s available they’ll sometimes use fresh cattle or bison dung in place…
My previous post was an overview of the geology of Antelope Island and its non-bird wildlife. Here, I’ll focus on its birds. Juvenile Loggerhead Shrike begging for food Loggerhead Shrikes are common on many parts of the island during summer. They can be a challenge to approach but those few that nest close to the road eventually get used to traffic so if you photograph from your vehicle you can often get quite close. Here this juvenile was begging for food that was being delivered by a parent just out of frame to the left. Loggerhead Shrike with dragonfly Shrikes are often called “butcher birds” for their practice of temporarily impaling their prey on thorns or other sharp projections. This juvenile had done just that with the dragonfly but it wasn’t very good at it yet and in the end just decided to eat it instead of store it away. Loggerhead Shrike with spider Shrikes are opportunistic carnivores known to feed on insects, spiders, amphibians, small reptiles, rodents and other birds. This one also attempted to impale the prey before eating it. Juvenile Burrowing Owl practicing its parallax technique on me Burrowing Owls are one of my favorite species on the island though they can be difficult to locate from year to year as they often don’t seem to nest in the same burrow the next year. In the summer of 2009 there was an entire family of owls along the causeway to the island nesting under concrete rubble, as in the…
