Mating Golden Eagles
Recently I headed for higher ground to get out of our inversion. I was rewarded with sunshine, clean air and a pair of mating Golden Eagles.
Tag: mating
Mating Swainson’s Hawks Sequence
Five days ago I photographed an entire mating sequence of a pair of Swainson’s Hawks in Beaverhead County, Montana.
Lark Sparrow
The bold harlequin face pattern and unique courtship behaviors of the Lark Sparrow make it among my favorite sparrows to observe and photograph.
Red-tailed Hawk Chicks (and my emotional attachment to them)
We’ve been keeping an eye on this Red-tailed Hawk nest in the west desert for about three years now.
Wild Horses – Colts, Mating, Dust Baths And More Fighting
Two days ago I was able to spend enough time with these wild horses in the west desert of Utah to begin to get a feeling for their complex social life.
Mating Red-tailed Hawks
Yesterday was the first time I’ve been able to photograph mating buteos in the wild.
Mating Canada Geese
These large geese are very impressive up close, especially during their mating rituals.
Mallards Mating And Fighting
A Bison’s Life Isn’t Easy
Life is far from a bowl of cherries for the Bison of Antelope Island and recently I’ve seen more evidence of that fact. Some of it is caused by natural behavior, some by unfortunate circumstance and some by the thoughtlessness and ignorance of humans.
Mating Black-necked Stilts
On a recent trip to Bear River Bird Refuge we were photographing American Avocets when I noticed some tell-tale preliminary behavior from a pair of Black-necked Stilts that told me that mating was imminent. So I set up on them and quickly changed my settings for more depth of field and almost immediately the action began.
Mating Rituals Of The American Avocet
The moment I pulled up on this small pond at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last Friday I knew there’d be some opportunities for interesting behavioral shots. There were small groups of American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts that were excitedly chirping away and flying at each other in typical springtime behavior for these mixed flocks.
Amorous Avocets
Having witnessed the rituals of avocets mating many times before I knew what was about to happen when this female laid her bill down on the water’s surface and presented herself to the male. This time I got the shot. So often in the past they’ve had their backs to me when it happened.
Lark Sparrows – A Unique Mating Behavior
Back on May 25 of this year, on this post about Lark Sparrows, I made the following statement at the end of the post: “Now that I have some decent images of this species my next goal with them is to capture some of their unique behaviors. These birds often pass a twig from the male to the female during copulation (an impressive display of multitasking and concentration). And they do a turkey-like strut during courtship. I would love to capture either behavior.” In your comments, several of you gave me encouragement in meeting that goal and 11 days later I was at least partly able to do so. These are those images. A couple of these photos may be a little “clinical” for some, but to me it’s all behavior and it’s all interesting. Techs for all images were: 1/4000 or 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The courtship of Lark Sparrows includes behaviors found in no other songbirds. Prior to actual mating, the male struts like a turkey, with its tail sticking up to show off its white tail spots and its wings drooping to the ground. Then, before the male mounts her, he picks up a twig (or twigs) which he passes to the female just before copulation. When mating is complete (they may mate or attempt to mate up to 20 times in 3.5 minutes) the female often flies off with the twig. The courtship had already begun when I approached this mated pair. Normally, this species doesn’t allow me to get this close…
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Mating Swainson’s Hawks Sequence
Five days ago I photographed an entire mating sequence of a pair of Swainson’s Hawks in Beaverhead County, Montana.
Lark Sparrow
The bold harlequin face pattern and unique courtship behaviors of the Lark Sparrow make it among my favorite sparrows to observe and photograph.
Red-tailed Hawk Chicks (and my emotional attachment to them)
We’ve been keeping an eye on this Red-tailed Hawk nest in the west desert for about three years now.
Wild Horses – Colts, Mating, Dust Baths And More Fighting
Two days ago I was able to spend enough time with these wild horses in the west desert of Utah to begin to get a feeling for their complex social life.
Mating Red-tailed Hawks
Yesterday was the first time I’ve been able to photograph mating buteos in the wild.
Mating Canada Geese
These large geese are very impressive up close, especially during their mating rituals.
Mallards Mating And Fighting
A Bison’s Life Isn’t Easy
Life is far from a bowl of cherries for the Bison of Antelope Island and recently I’ve seen more evidence of that fact. Some of it is caused by natural behavior, some by unfortunate circumstance and some by the thoughtlessness and ignorance of humans.
Mating Black-necked Stilts
On a recent trip to Bear River Bird Refuge we were photographing American Avocets when I noticed some tell-tale preliminary behavior from a pair of Black-necked Stilts that told me that mating was imminent. So I set up on them and quickly changed my settings for more depth of field and almost immediately the action began.
Mating Rituals Of The American Avocet
The moment I pulled up on this small pond at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last Friday I knew there’d be some opportunities for interesting behavioral shots. There were small groups of American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts that were excitedly chirping away and flying at each other in typical springtime behavior for these mixed flocks.
Amorous Avocets
Having witnessed the rituals of avocets mating many times before I knew what was about to happen when this female laid her bill down on the water’s surface and presented herself to the male. This time I got the shot. So often in the past they’ve had their backs to me when it happened.
Lark Sparrows – A Unique Mating Behavior
Back on May 25 of this year, on this post about Lark Sparrows, I made the following statement at the end of the post: “Now that I have some decent images of this species my next goal with them is to capture some of their unique behaviors. These birds often pass a twig from the male to the female during copulation (an impressive display of multitasking and concentration). And they do a turkey-like strut during courtship. I would love to capture either behavior.” In your comments, several of you gave me encouragement in meeting that goal and 11 days later I was at least partly able to do so. These are those images. A couple of these photos may be a little “clinical” for some, but to me it’s all behavior and it’s all interesting. Techs for all images were: 1/4000 or 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The courtship of Lark Sparrows includes behaviors found in no other songbirds. Prior to actual mating, the male struts like a turkey, with its tail sticking up to show off its white tail spots and its wings drooping to the ground. Then, before the male mounts her, he picks up a twig (or twigs) which he passes to the female just before copulation. When mating is complete (they may mate or attempt to mate up to 20 times in 3.5 minutes) the female often flies off with the twig. The courtship had already begun when I approached this mated pair. Normally, this species doesn’t allow me to get this close…