prey – Page 8 – Feathered Photography

Northern Pygmy Owl With (big) Prey

When you’re this small it takes guts to take on prey heavier than yourself but intestinal fortitude is this owl’s long suite.

A Couple Of Interesting Barn Owl Images

Each of these photos has something just a little bit different about it, at least in my collection of Barn Owl images.

Three Cooper’s Hawks With Prey

Several comments on yesterday’s post about the value of wildlife in urban landscapes were the inspiration for today’s post.

Rough-legged Hawk With Jackrabbit Prey

Even though this may not be a “pretty” shot it’s photos like this that stir my soul because all of its elements are natural and the prey gives us a glimpse of the rawness of nature (and apologies for the premature email for this post last night).

Loggerhead Shrikes With Prey

Plus a Box Elder County café where you definitely do NOT want to eat!

A Merlin With Meadowlark Prey

This series, which includes both before and after photos, dramatically illustrates the effects of fog on our images.

Prairie Falcon Trying To Carry Too Much Weight

Subtitle: Mia’s Pit Stop Prairie Falcon.

Finally, I’m Out Of Here!

It’s been a long time coming this year but today I’m finally getting out of some of this oppressive heat and headed for the faraway mountains of Montana and Idaho.

Male Mountain Bluebird Feeding A Hungry Fledgling

In the bird world fledglings of most species always seem to be starving, frantic, vocal and impatient. This young bluebird was no exception.

Red-tailed Hawk In Flight With A Duckling For His Chicks

This was a first for me – Red-tailed Hawks preying on ducklings.

Feet-forward Takeoff From A Loggerhead Shrike

With birds it’s quite often the little things that grab my attention and they don’t come much smaller than this. It was subtle and quick, very quick, but it’s one of the strategies that can make the difference between a meal and going hungry. 1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in Yesterday morning on Antelope Island I caught this Loggerhead Shrike swallowing a spider (the island is absolutely loaded with spiders – the state park actually holds an annual Spider Festival). The shrike hunted from this perch for about 5 minutes – launching after potential prey and then returning to the same hunting platform. When this shot was taken the sun was behind a cloud so I decided to crank up my ISO to get a little more shutter speed for takeoff shots. Even at ISO 1250 I needed more SS than this to get the wings of the incredibly fast bird sharp at takeoff but I was already at a higher ISO than I almost ever go. 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in Thankfully the sun came out four minutes later and doubled my shutter speed. An instant after this photo was taken the shrike spotted prey (probably an insect or another spider) directly in front of it. In a typical takeoff the shrike would avoid any obstacles by altering its direction of…