Tag: willet

Sagebrush Perches

For me there’s just something wonderful about sagebrush.  In fact, lots of things. When sagebrush is wet its smell is almost intoxicating (at least it is for me).  When walking through it that scent comes wafting up and my mind can’t help but wander through old memories and cowboy songs.   I love the silvery-gray-green color it lends to a hillside.  The presence of sagebrush is essential for many species for nesting, habitat, protection or food.   Sage Sparrows, Sage Thrashers and Loggerhead Shrikes nest within the plant and larks, Burrowing Owls and Long-billed Curlews nest on the ground in stands of sagebrush.  Sagebrush dominates the diet of the Sage Grouse during late fall, winter and early spring. It also makes for an interesting perch for bird photography even though its growth patterns often put obstructions in front of the bird.  Since sage is the dominant plant of the Great Basin in many areas I have regular opportunities to photograph birds perched on it.  The various species (Big Sage and Black Sage for example) provide variety in color and leaf shape and sometimes you catch the bird on bare twigs or branches or layers of snow/ice on top of the plant.  1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  I photographed this Lark Sparrow on sage yesterday – as you can see, the leaf colors are a soft silvery green in early spring.      1/2000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  And this Loggerhead Shrike is from this morning, with the Great Salt Lake (not sky) in the background.     I thought I’d…

Continue reading

A Mixed Bag Of Recent Birds

These images were all taken over the last eight days, either at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge or Antelope Island.  Another one of my “potpourri” posts with no common theme except “feathers”.    1/640, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4 The Willets have finally come up on the island for their mating activities (as opposed to the shoreline for recuperation after migration) and I like to try to catch them perched high on the sagebrush where they call loudly to other Willets.       1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Western Meadowlarks are in their glory right now and their distinctive songs reverberate all over the island.      1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I got closer to this one than I usually can.      1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4  This Loggerhead Shrike was grooming peacefully when I noticed a distinct change in its behavior.      1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 A Common Raven flew low overhead and this was the shrike’s reaction.  It flattened its body out almost into a bullet shape and pointed that bullet at the raven as it passed.  I’m guessing it was an instinctive behavior to present the smallest profile possible to a larger bird that might be a potential threat.  It was comical to watch it turn as the raven flew by to keep its body pointed in the larger birds direction.      1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I’m always happy to catch a Chukar perched on a boulder, especially when it isn’t one of the…

Continue reading

The Timelessness of a Buffalo Chip Perch

The American Bison is a relative newcomer to North America, having migrated from Eurasia over the Bering Straight about 10,000 years ago.  As is common knowledge they once roamed in massive herds across most of the continent until commercial hunting and slaughter reduced their numbers to a few hundred by the end of the 19th century.    1/500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Today a herd of approximately 500 animals roams free on Antelope Island and that many large animals produce a lot of poop – commonly referred to as “buffalo chips”.  Those chips are all over the island – like small dark islands in a sea of prairie grasses and tiny flowers and they’re tempting perches for a variety of bird species like Horned Larks and Meadowlarks.  But this past week I was able to catch some larger birds using them as perches.      1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In the spring some of the shorebirds and wading birds come up from the shore of the Great Salt Lake to higher ground on the island for their breeding activities – Long-billed Curlews among them.  It seems that the added height of only a couple of inches provided by the chip is enough to significantly improve their view of the landscape for potential predators and also to help them keep an eye on other curlews in the area – there’s a lot of fighting and mating activities going on this time of year. To some viewers such a perch may have no aesthetic draw but I’m…

Continue reading

Bathing Willet

Last summer at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge I slowly approached this bathing Willet in my pickup, fully expecting the bird to either fly off or wander further away in the shallow water of Lower Red Rock Lake.    1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  It eyed me warily until I had turned off the engine…        1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  but it was so intent on its bath that it quickly went back to minding its hygiene.        1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc For this shot the Willet turned its back on me a little but I liked the shot because it shows the furious action at the rear of the bird.         1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc With water and feathers flying everywhere…         1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc   it finally gave me a bit of a head turn again as it spread and raised its tail feathers for a good cleaning.         1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 Then it hopped up on the shore for a vigorous shake.         1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4  By this time it had approached me so closely that I had to take off my teleconverter but even so I was tight enough on the bird that I wasn’t able to get the composition I would have preferred for these last three shots.         1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 400,…

Continue reading

Strategies for Photographing Birds at Take-off

Photographing birds at take-off is very different from shooting them in flight, for a variety of reasons.  In fact in some ways it’s more difficult.  First, I’d best define what for me is a take-off shot.  I think it’s a take-off and not a true flight shot when any of the following conditions are met: a.) the bird’s feet are still touching the perch, b.) the feet are still extended down or behind the bird from the effort of pushing off the perch and not tucked up against the body in an aerodynamic position or c.) it’s obvious from the flight posture of the bird or the presence of the just departed perch in the image that it has just taken off.  I realize that this is an arbitrary definition and that technically as soon as the bird has left the perch it’s in flight but that’s how I’ll define it for this discussion. Take-off shots have lots of appeal for many, largely because the effort required for lift-off often provides a very dynamic flight posture with the wings, tail and legs/feet in exaggerated positions compared to “simple” flight.  Many novice bird photographers are intimidated by the difficulties of flight photography and attempt take-offs instead, in the mistaken assumption that they should be relatively easy.  Not so.  Following are some strategies and tips for getting good take-off images that have worked for me.  I hope they’ll be helpful to some of you.   Plan ahead to avoid clipping body parts – particularly the wings: Many novice avian photographers are unpleasantly surprised by the amount of wing extension during take-off and they cut…

Continue reading

Antelope Island Potpourri

My last few visits to Antelope Island have yielded a mixed bag of bird and mammal photos that I enjoy so I thought I’d share a little of what it’s like to experience the wildlife out there during late spring.    Canon 7D, 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This take-off pose is one I’ve been after for some time so I was glad to get it from this Loggerhead Shrike, despite the foreground twig in front of the right wing-tip.        Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I believe this to be the same bird as in the previous photo.   It had captured what I think was one of the Ichneumon wasps and toyed with it a while before dropping it.  I was happy to get the wasp unobscured by the branches or the birds toes as it fell.  The shrike watched where it fell and retrieved it.      Canon 7D, 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc There are presumably many pronghorn fawns on the island this time of year but I’ve found it difficult to get close to them or even to spot them at a distance – probably partially due to their instinctive behavior of lying low in the tall grasses much of the time.  This one was in a playful mood and spent several minutes romping through the grass around its mother.      Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This is the same fawn a few minutes later, just after nursing. …

Continue reading

A Willet Expelling a Pellet

Yesterday I got a shot of a Willet expelling a pellet.  It’s a behavior I’ve seldom seen and rarely photographed because it typically happens very quickly, many birds  don’t do it at all and it often occurs only once per day or so with many species.  A pellet, sometimes referred to as a bolus, is a clump of indigestible material that is formed in the crop and eventually regurgitated.  Depending on the diet of the bird it may be made of feather, bone, fur and/or chitin from insect or crustacean exoskeletons.    Canon 7D, 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc At first I wasn’t taking many photos of this Willet because its lower legs were cut off by the rock perch but I did adjust my settings for quick action in case it took off or performed some other interesting behavior.      Canon 7D, 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The first indication I got that something might happen that would be interesting to photograph was when the bird pulled down its neck and there was a slight bulge in the throat.     Canon 7D, 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Then the Willet began trying to expel the pellet.      Canon 7D, 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc What happens next appears to look almost like a gagging reflex.     Canon 7D, 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The pellet popped out so quickly that I didn’t even see it through the viewfinder…

Continue reading

Willet Wars

Earlier this week Mia and I witnessed an incredible display of avian aggression on Antelope Island.  I’ve often seen and photographed battling birds but I’ve never before seen such a long-lasting and vicious fight as this one between two Willets.  It lasted for over 20 minutes and I took 413 photos of the action but don’t expect high quality images in this post as the conditions were far from ideal.  We had contrasty sidelight, lots of obstructingvegetation between us and the birds and constantly changing lighting conditions as clouds moved in and out and the birds moved from place to place as the battle raged.  But as I’ve stated before on this blog I’ll often post images of interesting behaviors even if they are less than perfect in image quality.  And to me this behavior was certainly interesting.    Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/1600,  f/5.6, ISO 500 The Willets were already fighting as we approached them in my pickup and they mostly ignored us after pausing for a  few seconds when we first drove up.       Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/1250,  f/5.6, ISO 500 In this and the following image the bird on the right had its bill tightly clamped on the upper mandible of the other bird.     Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/1250,  f/5.6, ISO 500 The bird on the left was desperately trying to break the grip of its tormentor but it took some struggling before it finally succeeded.       Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/1250,  f/5.6, ISO…

Continue reading

Photographing Birds on Antelope Island

  My previous post was an overview of the geology of Antelope Island and its non-bird wildlife.  Here, I’ll focus on its birds.   Juvenile Loggerhead Shrike begging for food Loggerhead Shrikes are common on many parts of the island during summer.  They can be a challenge to approach but those few that nest close to the road eventually get used to traffic so if you photograph from your vehicle you can often get quite close.  Here this juvenile was begging for food that was being delivered by a parent just out of frame to the left.    Loggerhead Shrike with dragonfly  Shrikes are often called “butcher birds” for their practice of temporarily impaling their prey on thorns or other sharp projections.   This juvenile had done just that with the dragonfly but it wasn’t very good at it yet and in the end just decided to eat it instead of store it away.     Loggerhead Shrike with spider Shrikes are opportunistic carnivores known to feed on insects, spiders, amphibians, small reptiles, rodents and other birds.   This one also attempted to impale the prey before eating it.     Juvenile Burrowing Owl practicing its parallax technique on me Burrowing Owls are one of my favorite species on the island though they can be difficult to locate from year to year as they often don’t seem to nest in the same burrow the next year.  In the summer of 2009 there was an entire family of owls along the causeway to the island nesting under concrete rubble, as in the…

Continue reading