Tag: kill

Just A Shot That I Like… #29 – Adult Bald Eagle In Flight

Bald Eagles are a winter tradition in northern Utah.  Many hundreds of northern birds spend the winter here and for much of that time they’re dispersed over wide areas looking for easy pickings – carrion in particular.  But when concentrated food sources become available they can occasionally be found in large numbers.    1/4000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light This sometimes happens at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area when refuge personnel treat the ponds with rotenone to kill the damaging and invasive carp.  When conditions are right, Bald Eagles congregate there for the carp feast.  This bird was cruising the area around the second bridge looking for fish. Some years, when temperatures are frigid and other food sources are unavailable, provide great opportunities for birders and photographers but last year wasn’t one of them.   The winter was warm and food was available elsewhere so the eagle numbers were down significantly. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks… Ron

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My Recent Encounters With The Female Prairie Falcon

As regular readers of my blog know, I’ve had four close-up encounters with this female Prairie Falcon on the Antelope Island causeway over the last couple of months.  I couldn’t resist posting some images of her in different poses that I haven’t published here previously.  There is general agreement among folks who are much more knowledgeable about falcons than I am that it was the same bird in all four cases.    1/640, f/4.5, ISO 640, 500 f/4,  natural light, not baited, set up or called in Here she is on 10/7/12.  I’ll never forget that morning because she let me get closer than I had ever been to a wild Prairie Falcon (even had to remove my tc).  But there was a tradeoff (isn’t there always?) because the reason she felt so secure was that she was in deep shade, which isn’t the best situation for photography.  Still, I’m happy to have the images of her that morning.      1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in A little over a month later (11/11/12) she killed a Northern Shoveler in the water about 50 yards out and waited for it to drift to shore.  Here she has just claimed her prize and seemed to raise her wings in celebration.      1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in She attempted to enjoy her meal on the shore edge but waves kept coming in and sloshing the duck around so she decided to drag it further away…

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