Tag: glacier county

Just A Shot That I Like… # 27, Savannah Sparrow Wing Stretch

So very often when an avian subject gives the photographer a nice wing stretch the bird is either facing away or there’s no light on the face.  So I always appreciate it when things work out with a shot like that.    1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This Savannah Sparrow (along with several others of various species) would forage in the Montana pasture grass for a while and then return to the barbed wire to preen and occasionally stretch.  I like the diaphanous qualities of the right wing that allow the viewer to see the fanned tail and stretched out foot and leg through the wing feathers. Ron

Continue reading

Swainson’s Hawk Regurgitating Pellets

Western Montana has been awash in Swainson’s Hawks this summer.  From the Canadian border (Glacier County) to the southern border with Idaho (Beaverhead County) I found them in significantly larger numbers than I have seen in previous summers.  I hope this very unscientific observation is accurate and that it bodes them well as a species because their numbers have been declining to the point where they are listed as a Species of Special Concern in several western states.    1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4  I found this handsome juvenile this past week along a county road in Beaverhead County.  At first it was very relaxed and assumed this clenched fist pose that is so typical of many buteo species when they’re at ease and resting.      1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 But soon it began to arch its neck and I recognized that it was about to attempt to expel a pellet.  I had already taken my tc off in anticipation of take-off so I decided to leave it off because so often in the past I’ve missed the falling pellet as it dropped out of frame at the bottom.      1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Then, with the nictitating membrane pulled over the eye, the bird began to retch. These few images showing pellet ejection may give the viewer the impression that it all happened very quickly.  It didn’t.  From beginning to end the whole process took over four minutes.  During that time there were alternating periods of retching and resting and it didn’t look to be a…

Continue reading

Swainson’s Hawk Take-off Sequence

While cruising the back roads of Glacier County, Montana two days ago we came across this Swainson’s Hawk hunting grasshoppers from an old fence post.  Hunting is easy now because it’s harvest time up here and the huge grasshoppers are everywhere – as evidenced by the colorful and greasy windshields of almost every vehicle you see.    1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 When the bird seemed about to take off I made one of those split-second decisions that every bird photographer is faced with.  Since it looked like the hawk might launch at a 90 degree angle to my position (and stay the same distance from me for the first few flight strokes) I decided to prefocus on the bird and then not attempt to actively maintain focus in flight for fear of having focus lock on to the background instead of the bird.  This time it worked…      1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 The bird begins to launch.      1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 The beginning of my burst caught the hawk in one of those dynamic, stretched-out postures that I like.  As you can see the bird lost a feather as it took off.      1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 By the next wing stroke it was already to the next fence post. I got several more sharp shots as the bird passed to my left but of course the further it flew the less eye contact I had so the early shots were the best of the bunch. The Swainson’s…

Continue reading