Our Chukars are generally easier to approach in the spring and early summer than they are the rest of the year. Right now, pair bonds are being formed and the birds seem more concerned with others of their own kind than they are about me and my pickup.
Sometimes a change of position of just a few inches can have a fairly dramatic affect on the overall “feel” of an image. That was the case with this Antelope Island Chukar. 1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light I found the bird on a rock ledge and slightly above me which gave an almost eye-level perspective that I like. Occasionally it would call, as they’re very prone to do. 1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light But then it began to walk a short distance to my right (I’m always surprised that the bottoms of their feet are yellow)… 1600, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light which brought the snow-covered hillside in the background into play. At first there was a mix of snow and blue sky back there… 2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light but then I deliberately raised my window a couple of inches (as usual I was shooting from my pickup) to take the blue sky out of the picture. And the bird obliged me by calling once again. Most of the snow is finally gone from the island now. Even the roads to the Frary Peak trailhead and White Rock Bay are open – they’ve been closed for months due to snow. Hopefully that’s a sign that the curlews and Willets (and other spring birds) won’t be far behind. Hope so – it’s been a long dry spell on the island. Ron
I have an appointment early this morning so I don’t have time for a detailed, organized post so I thought I’d present a little potpourri from the last few weeks. Though none of these images are spectacular, there’s something about each one of them that appealed to me in some way. Common Ravens are a hugely challenging subject for me because of their uncooperative behavior and the difficulty of getting detail in the blacks. For some reason, these birds really seem to eat a lot of snow, which this one had been doing just before take-off. I do wish the head were slightly sharper but I like the remnants of the snow-eating behavior and how cleanly the bird is presented against the background which is the Great Salt Lake with the snow-covered shoreline at bottom right. Finding water that isn’t ice-covered around here isn’t easy, for me or for the critters, but I think that’s the only reason this Muskrat came as close to me as it did. I found this one at a pond close to my home. Ok, not a classic wing position for sure but the aerodynamic profile of this fast flying Prairie Falcon still appealed to me. I also like the eye contact and crisp detail in flight. Life is tough for Coyotes right now as they live in a stark white world of deep snow which makes survival difficult. Many of them wear an almost perpetual snow mask from pushing their faces through the snow as they try to follow…
Chukars typically forage in small flocks and when they do one of them often sits on an elevated perch and serves as a sentry while the others are looking for food. 1/2500, f/8, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light This bird chose a pile of snow that had been pushed up high by a snow plow along the edge of a road. 1/3200, f/8, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light When the rest of the flock wandered off it decided it was time to look for a safe way down from its lofty perch. 1/2500, f/8, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light When they do so they’re very deliberate about it. This bird investigated several pathways down before settling on this direction. It’s quite a ways down so “he” was pretty careful about it. 1/2500, f/8, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light Most birds would at least open their wings to soften the landing. Not Chukars. I’ve often been impressed by how far they’re willing to free-fall without using their wings. I sometimes refer to Chukars as “rock-hoppers” – guess I’ll have to add “snow-hoppers” to the list. Since I was using my 100-400mm zoom lens for this sequence I wish I’d had time to back off a bit on the focal length for the jump, but I didn’t. Consequently I had to add some canvas for composition. It’s harder to get them in mid-air, sharp and composed well than it looks. Ron
Typical winters are hard on birds in northern Utah (and elsewhere). But when the season is unusually frigid with lots of snow as we’re having this year they struggle even more to survive. All of these images have been taken since January 2 of this year. Upland game birds like this Chukar seem to have adapted to extreme conditions fairly well. This bird was all puffed up and sitting high on a rock to catch the earliest warming rays of the sun as it rose over the nearby Wasatch Mountains. Another upland game species that can apparently take harsh conditions quite well is the Ring-necked Pheasant (this is a female). They seem to forage for seeds at the base of plants where the snow isn’t as thick and their food is more readily available. But many other species have a difficult time and quite a few birds don’t survive until spring. The waterfowl that winter over here congregate in the few areas of open water where the flowing water is the last to freeze over. But when it gets very cold, even those small bits of open water freeze. I’ve seen ducks and coots frozen into the ice, some of them still alive. This female Green-winged Teal has just left one of the last unfrozen patches of water and is approaching an area of frost flowers. This Northern Flicker is using the protection of the underside of the eaves of a building on Antelope Island State Park. I thought the angled…
We haven’t seen many Chukars recently but yesterday we found a small covey feeding at the base of several rabbitbrush on the north end of Antelope Island. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light Most of them were pretty skittish but the sentry bird was standing watch on top of a snow-covered boulder as the rest of the birds slowly wandered away. The sentry posed for us for several minutes. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light It called out to the rest of the flock twice. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light Chukars are often reluctant to fly and prefer to scurry on the ground to safety. In an instant the bird accelerated up the rock… 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light and down the other side. It was really moving. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light In this last decent shot I got in the series, the bird appears to be sledding on top of the snow as much as it is running through it. I really enjoy photographing Chukars in the snow this time of year. For much of the fall and early winter these birds are pretty scruffy looking but now their plumage appears bright and fresh again. Ron
I often enjoy elements of incongruity in my images, particularly birds in unexpected settings. Chukars prefer steep, rocky, mountainous and dry terrain so in my experience with them it is atypical to catch them in a photograph with a body of water in the background. When it’s hot, as it is now, these birds drink large amounts of water but of course the Great Salt Lake is much too saline for them to drink from. So they spend nearly all their time higher up on the rocky slopes and drink from the fresh water springs in the area. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc However, there is one thing that draws them to the shore of the lake this time of year – brine flies. Chukars are almost exclusively vegetarians and eat mostly leaves and seeds although they’ll consume insects “occasionally”. But apparently they can’t resist the bounty of hordes of brine flies found along the shore of the lake during July and August (I’ve posted a shot here of a Chukar gorging on these flies) . I found this bird and several others along the shoreline yesterday. While I didn’t actually observe them consuming flies this time I’m confident that it was the flies that attracted them to the shore. Ron
Like every other bird photographer many of the photos I take are not worth keeping. For the first few years I was shooting birds I estimated that I deleted 90% of my images. Now that I’ve become a little more discriminating that number is probably closer to 95%. Birds are incredibly difficult subjects – they’re fast, unpredictable, difficult to approach and generally uncooperative. When I’m culling images after a day in the field most shots fall under two main categories – keepers and garbage. But there’s often a few that are technically lacking for one reason or another but have some unusual or especially interesting feature that makes it difficult for me to trash them. So I don’t. Occasionally I go back through them just for the fun of it. I enjoy them and thought some of you might too so here’s a few from the past month or so. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This one’s from yesterday – a Lark Sparrow that posed and groomed for us for quite a while. Looking through the viewfinder I had no idea there was a second Lark Sparrow in the vicinity and didn’t even notice it flying through the frame until I got home and looked at it on my computer. Mia said that she’d noticed the second bird and that it chased the first bird away when it flew. Anyway, I thought the out-of-focus sparrow to the left was an interesting serendipity. I just wish the two twigs by the head weren’t there. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500 500 f/4, 1.4…
For me there’s just something wonderful about sagebrush. In fact, lots of things. When sagebrush is wet its smell is almost intoxicating (at least it is for me). When walking through it that scent comes wafting up and my mind can’t help but wander through old memories and cowboy songs. I love the silvery-gray-green color it lends to a hillside. The presence of sagebrush is essential for many species for nesting, habitat, protection or food. Sage Sparrows, Sage Thrashers and Loggerhead Shrikes nest within the plant and larks, Burrowing Owls and Long-billed Curlews nest on the ground in stands of sagebrush. Sagebrush dominates the diet of the Sage Grouse during late fall, winter and early spring. It also makes for an interesting perch for bird photography even though its growth patterns often put obstructions in front of the bird. Since sage is the dominant plant of the Great Basin in many areas I have regular opportunities to photograph birds perched on it. The various species (Big Sage and Black Sage for example) provide variety in color and leaf shape and sometimes you catch the bird on bare twigs or branches or layers of snow/ice on top of the plant. 1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I photographed this Lark Sparrow on sage yesterday – as you can see, the leaf colors are a soft silvery green in early spring. 1/2000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc And this Loggerhead Shrike is from this morning, with the Great Salt Lake (not sky) in the background. I thought I’d…
These images were all taken over the last eight days, either at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge or Antelope Island. Another one of my “potpourri” posts with no common theme except “feathers”. 1/640, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4 The Willets have finally come up on the island for their mating activities (as opposed to the shoreline for recuperation after migration) and I like to try to catch them perched high on the sagebrush where they call loudly to other Willets. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Western Meadowlarks are in their glory right now and their distinctive songs reverberate all over the island. 1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I got closer to this one than I usually can. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 This Loggerhead Shrike was grooming peacefully when I noticed a distinct change in its behavior. 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 A Common Raven flew low overhead and this was the shrike’s reaction. It flattened its body out almost into a bullet shape and pointed that bullet at the raven as it passed. I’m guessing it was an instinctive behavior to present the smallest profile possible to a larger bird that might be a potential threat. It was comical to watch it turn as the raven flew by to keep its body pointed in the larger birds direction. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I’m always happy to catch a Chukar perched on a boulder, especially when it isn’t one of the…
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…
Obviously I’m not posting this shot for its image quality – it’s distinctly lacking in same. But what an experience we had with these Chukars this morning. We could see them fighting as we approached because they would occasionally jump up above the thick grasses while clawing and biting at each other in the air. I was amazed both by how vicious these fights were and by the incredible speed of these plump, roly-poly birds. 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc We watched several of them fighting for perhaps 5 minutes but very few of my shots turned out because of the fast and furious action in low light and especially because my focus kept locking onto the foreground grasses. But this image should give you a flavor for what it was like and for what my latest photographic goal is – to find some fighting Chukars in better light and out in the open. I’m gonna work on it! Ron
During spring and early summer Chukars habitually call from large rock perches but in winter they’re secretive, elusive and very difficult to approach. On the rare occasions I can get close to the species this time of year they’re buried in the vegetation and I can’t get a clear shot. 1/800, f/8, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But I found this bird on a nice boulder perch last month on one of the first very cold mornings of the winter. The sun had just come up over the Wasatch Mountains and this Chukar was determined to absorb some heat from the warming rays so it hardly moved a feather for the several minutes I was able to keep it in frame. At times like this they fluff up their insulating feathers and always remind me of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Or perhaps the bird simply swallowed a softball, ya think? Full disclosure – I cloned out a couple of bird droppings on the rock which is something I seldom do but in this case they were quite conspicuous and distracting. Ron
The Chukar is a type of partridge that was introduced to Antelope Island many years ago and they thrive there. They’re originally native to Asia and are a popular game bird, though their range in North America is restricted because they thrive only in areas of low rainfall and humidity. 1/2500, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I found this one last winter on a boulder just after a fresh snow fall. Though the white part of the background may look like clouds it is actually a snowy hillside with blue sky above. I like the soft colors, coy pose, rocky perch and the snow in the setting with the blue sky up top. Some may miss seeing the feet but that’s a trade-off I’ll gladly make to catch this handsome bird in the snow. Ron
There was a range fire on the north end of Antelope Island yesterday that forced managers to clear out all campers from the campgrounds. So when we arrived early this morning the campgrounds were empty and this young coyote was hunting on the edge of Bridger Bay Campground. Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, EV +0.33 Normally the coyotes on the island are elusive and difficult to approach but I believe this to be a young one so it didn’t seem overly concerned about us. Besides, he/she obviously already had a quarry in sight deep in the grass and wasn’t about to let us interfere with the hunt. In this image the coyote has just spotted something of interest in the grass some distance in front of “him”. Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/8, ISO 500, EV +0.33 Here the coyote begins to make his stalk. At first he didn’t crouch down so that he could see what ever it was he was after through the grass. Canon 7D, 1/1250, f/8, ISO 500, EV +0.33 But as he got closer (both to the potential prey and to me) he began to crouch down, almost in a cat-like manner. At this point I suspected that something dramatic might happen and tried to prepare myself for “the shot”. The most common prey of coyotes on the island is voles but I was pretty sure it wasn’t a vole because the coyote was too far away from his point of interest when he first spotted it to…
