Like most bird photographers I find American Kestrels to be a very difficult subject, largely because they’re so difficult to approach. But occasionally, under the right conditions, one can find a calm and cooperative bird. This female exceeded all expectations.
In my experience American Avocets have two primary “styles” of stretching. When they stretch a single wing they extend it to the side with one leg stretched out behind. But they also use what’s called the “two wing stretch” and this style is often a precursor of imminent behavior – takeoff.
On my mid-July trip to the Centennial Valley I spent several days with an adult Willet and two juveniles. I reliably found them foraging for insects where a dirt road met Lower Red Rock Lake. Most of the shore birds and wading birds in this area are truly wild and difficult to approach but these three birds were the exception as they repeatedly let me get close as they fed and preened. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 This was the most perfectly coiffed of the two juveniles, as the other youngster had a patch of unruly feathers on the back of its head and upper neck. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 This particular site provided a bountiful Arthropod smorgasbord for the willets, both in the water and on the shoreline. The birds would feed on aquatic insects and crustaceans in the shallow water for a while and then get a little variety in their diet by coming up onto the shore and gobbling down hordes of terrestrial insects. Here, the more unkempt juvie (notice the fluff of feathers on the back of the head) feeds on a variety of dipterans that it flushes from the vegetation. I’ve cropped this image unconventionally to show more of the “bugs” in the air. I didn’t get a catch light in this shot but this image showed the insects best. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc At times some of the insects almost seemed to dare the Willets to pluck them out of…
I haven’t posted for a few days because I’ve been in Montana for most of the past week. I have many images from that trip and hopefully some of them will appear here in the near future. But for now I’d like to report on another grebe behavior I photographed recently. This time it will be the Western Grebe, rather than the Clark’s Grebes in two of my recent posts. The two species are very similar and most easily distinguished by differences in bill color (Clark’s is bright yellow to orange-yellow while the Western’s bill is yellow to dull olive colored) and coloration around the eye (Clark’s is white surrounding the eye while the Western is dark around the eye). Both species rarely fly except during migration. In fact for much of the year they are incapable of flight because their flight muscles atrophy soon after arriving at their breeding grounds. So it’s my working theory that this might explain part of the reason why these grebes do so much wing flapping and stretching while sitting on the surface of the water – to excercise their relatively unused wings. Note: In many of these images I was too close to the birds to get an aesthetically pleasing composition so in most cases the birds will be too tight in the frame. But I think they show well the behavior I’m describing. 1/2000, f/10, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This Western Grebe is in the middle of a wing-flap. They look so lithe and streamlined while…
Just a single image this time. I found this male Northern Harrier trying to catch some warming rays soon after the sun came up on a cold morning this past winter. 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I was too close to keep from clipping body parts as he lifted off but as you can see I was fighting for depth of field and shutter speed in this light anyway so I was reasonably happy to get what I did.. One of the few things I miss about frigid winters is the approachability of some of the raptors when it’s very cold. I could never get this close to a perched harrier in the summer months. Ron
Yesterday we came across this Loggerhead Shrike fledgling perched high and pretty in the early morning light. 1/500, f/8, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc A few minutes after this shot was taken the bird flew off so we decided to look for more opportunities elsewhere and left the area. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Just before we quit shooting for the day we decided to look for the fledgling again in the same area as before. We found two of them this time – one flew off almost immediately but this one allowed us some close observations for about 25 minutes. By this time of the morning the bird was side-lit in most situations but we got to see some interesting behaviors. Typical of youngsters this one was curious about its surroundings and spent quite a bit of time exploring the greasewood bush it was in. Here it is about to half hop/half fly to the twigs in the upper left of the frame. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Several times it picked off one of the drier greasewood buds and played with it for a while. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But a parent coming in with food always got the full attention of the fledgling. In this image one of the adults is delivering a grasshopper to the begging young bird – you can just see the top of the parents head at the bottom of the frame as it works its way…
The Black-necked Stilt is an elegant study in contrasts with its white breast and shiny black wings accentuated by extremely long, bright red legs. They’re often found feeding near American Avocets and I’ve routinely been able to get preening and stretching images of avocets but the stilts have been less cooperative with me. Typically they’ll actively feed when I’m near but they always seem to fly off to do their self-maintenance. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc However, this bird apparently decided that flying off was too much effort and it unexpectedly began a series of stretches. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I was able to photograph a variety of interesting poses but by this time the sun was relatively high and so some of the best shots are missing light in the eye. Stilts often pull their leg up over the wing when scratching the head. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Because these birds are usually wading in water when I’m photographing them the extreme length of their legs is not always evident but catch one in a pose like this and it becomes quite apparent. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I like the water splash and pose in this shot. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Here the stilt has finished stretching for the moment and is contemplating its next move… 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc which turned…
It’s snowing hard as I write this and it’s been overcast and gloomy for days which has turned my thoughts to spring birds. Eastern Kingbirds are a prime example as they winter in the Amazon so seeing them around here is a sure sign of springtime. They’re a fascinating species. Kingbirds are notorious for their aggressive nature toward other birds and their scientific name Tyrannus tyrannus very appropriately means “tyrant, despot or king”. During the breeding season they’re a “sit and wait predator”, largely of flying insects though they eat mostly fruit while on their winter range. They have never been observed to drink water – apparently getting enough of it in their insect and fruit diet. They virtually never walk anywhere! Most locomotion is by flight and when on the ground they either hop to a new location or take short flights but they don’t walk. The only time walking has ever been observed is during nest site selection. 1/1000, f/9, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The kingbird in the first four photos of this post was the most cooperative specimen of the species I’ve ever photographed. It let me get close while on a natural perch (as opposed to the fence wires they so often prefer) and it gave me a variety of interesting calling, preening and stretching poses for almost five minutes. 1/2000, f/9, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As the bird moved to my left on the perch it (the perch) developed a different character due to the curving twig coming off the main branch. Here the kingbird is beginning an elaborate…
I simply adore watching and photographing Burrowing Owls. They show more personality and cute little quirks than any other avian species I’ve photographed – especially the juveniles. There are usually three problems with shooting these birds though – finding them in the first place, getting close enough to them for high quality photographs without disturbing their normal activities or making them nervous and catching them out in the open or on an elevated perch so that the vegetation that usually surrounds their burrows doesn’t obscure the birds. Two summers ago a family of these owls had their burrow right along the road on the Antelope Island causeway. They were obviously very accepting of all the traffic so getting close without disturbing them was no problem – I’d just pull up on the road edge close to their burrow and stay in my pickup to photograph them. I photographed them for almost two weeks and I’ve kept a ridiculous number of those images- just can’t make myself delete many of them. The family consisted of both parents and four juveniles. I spent most of my time photographing the juvies – they’re just so vivacious, spunky and full of life that they make wonderful subjects. The problem at this burrow site was two-fold – lots of obscuring vegetation and then when they did perch up higher it was usually on some unattractive pieces of broken concrete adjacent to the burrow. 1/1250, f/9, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Occasionally one of the juveniles would be perched on this rock when we…
American White Pelicans are known to do some pretty strange things with their pouch – one of them is pouch stretching (I’ve been unable to find an official term for the behavior). A four year old image – I no longer have the original file so can’t access exif data They pull their head back and force their very flexible pouch down over their neck and upper chest in a process that looks, well.. bizarre. I don’t think this behavior is particularly unusual as I’ve seen and photographed it several times. According to Birds of North America Online the function of this display is “uncertain”. Canon 7D, 1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500 However, these birds are also fully capable of pulling the bottom of their pouch up above the level of the lower mandibles without having to pull the pouch down over their neck. I don’t fully understand how they’re able to do this since the pouch itself is non-muscular. Internet research on the subject has been unproductive. I assume there must be some form of bony or cartilaginous rod that extends from the throat area down the middle of the bottom of the pouch about half way to the tip of the bill. With muscular control of the base of that extension in the throat area they would be able to raise the bottom of the pouch above “horizontal”. I’ve seen them do it twice – the first time without a camera while the bird was perched. But the second time, a couple of weeks ago, it was done in flight which…
This is another blog post that will be more about the experience of the photographer than about the quality of the images. My good friend Mia and I spent two days this week looking for eagles – both Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles. We found several of each species but it was a frustrating experience – driving large distances (over 500 miles) and then having bad light, bad luck, bad timing and lots of fog. Then, an unexpected surprise! Bald Eagle waiting for us to get home Immediately after getting home I noticed several neighbors down the street looking up in the direction of the large elm tree in my side yard. I ignored them at first but they persisted in staring so I followed their gaze and couldn’t believe what I saw toward the top of the tree – an adult Bald Eagle! I live in suburban Salt Lake City and have never seen an eagle in my neighborhood in almost 25 years. Of course, both Mia and I got out our photo gear and spent the next hour or so photographing the bird. It was challenging to get good images because of the steep angle and the fact that the eagle was buried in the tree with branches in front and all around. There were a few angles where we could get an almost unobstructed look at the bird but even then the background is very busy and there are shadows on the eagle. Wing stretch The eagle was very relaxed in our presence, even…
Of the many bird species I’ve photographed, Burrowing Owls by far show the most “personality”. Their repertoire of silly antics, funny poses, stretches, yawns and grooming behaviors are a photographers dream. And once they feel comfortable in your presence they will often allow you to photograph them for a very long time without flying off or retreating to their burrow. But you have to find them first… The antics of juveniles are even more exaggerated than those of adults. Most of the images I will present here are of juveniles. Some of the shots were taken in less than ideal conditions (harsh light, shadows, clutter) but I think they illustrate the goofball personalities of these birds well. Giving the photographer a suspicious look It’s difficult to resist being anthropomorphic (ascribing human emotion or motivation to non-human species) when it comes to Burrowing Owls so I won’t even try. This juvenile looks very suspicious of me but in reality I suspect that it was only curious. Wing-stretch with lifted foot, or “They went that-a-way!” Topsy turvy owl Juveniles practice their parallax skills regularly. It involves bobbing and twisting their heads so their eyes can view an object (in this case me) from different positions. This allows them to better determine distance to that object. I’m sure it’s serious business for the owls but to us it can sure look silly. And adorable. Reaction to sudden and unexpected rain One sunny and hot August morning I was photographing a pair of juveniles when a single cloud passed overhead and…
