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<\/p>\nBecause birds are so fast, familiarity with their behaviors is a valuable tool for anticipating interesting photographable moments.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Roughly ten years ago, when I was still a rank amateur at anticipating bird behaviors, I spent some time with this stately Great Horned Owl in a tamarisk on Antelope Island. Most of the time, when ‘he’ wasn’t obviously drowsy with his eyes half closed, he was looking straight forward or to his left. But after a while something to his right caught his attention and his posture became more erect.<\/p>\n Notice that to be able to see anything in the direction he was looking he had to be peering through tamarisk leaves and twigs. They were obviously between his face and whatever he was trying to look at.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n So, with his eyes still on whatever it was, he began to sidle up the steep branch that was his perch.<\/p>\n At the time I saw what he was doing but I wasn’t smart enough to put two and two together and realize that he was moving up the branch so he’d have a somewhat clearer path for takeoff through the branches in the direction he was looking, whether there was prey there or just a new perch he wanted to go to.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n And sure enough, very soon after he reached the highest point on the perch that had room for him, he took off in the direction he’d been looking.<\/p>\n At the time I knew I was too close for takeoff shots so they weren’t my goal (I got one but I butchered his wings). But it wasn’t until I reviewed my photos at home that I realized that if I’d been after takeoff shots<\/em> I could have anticipated that he was about to take off when he sidled up the branch. So I stored that bit of field lore in my memory for future use and over the years it’s paid off more than once. Birds, especially large birds, need as clear a path as possible for their flailing wings during takeoff.<\/p>\n More generally, this encounter also helped to teach me to be on the lookout for any bird behavior that might signal an action I’d want to photograph. Pay attention, Bud!<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Note: <\/em><\/p>\n For those who may be interested in repeat palindromes (numbers are repeated and they read the same forward and backward), these photos were taken on November 11, 2011 – 11\/11\/11. There was a similar repeat palindrome on 12\/12\/12 but there hasn’t been one since and the next one won’t occur until New Year\u2019s Day, 2101 (01\/01\/01).<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/great-horned-owl-3844-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"great-horned-owl-3844-ron-dudley\\"")
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