The bird in the third photo is actually a raven.<\/em><\/p>\n If I have a photographic nemesis species these days it’s probably the Common Raven, especially in flight (kingfishers used to be my nemesis but thankfully I’ve remedied that.) I find most ravens to be reliably uncooperative because they nearly always take off just before I get my pickup stopped. On those rare occasions when I do get one up close and in my viewfinder, proper exposure becomes the problem. Jet black birds like ravens and crows are a nightmare to expose well enough to get much detail in their plumage and that problem is typically compounded when they’re in flight.<\/p>\n As a result I’ve posted very few raven photos to my blog. And even fewer raven flight shots.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But two days ago along the Antelope Island causeway I got a couple of consecutive raven (crow) flight shots I like pretty well. Somehow ‘she’ took off to my left instead of away from me and the light angle was actually pretty good to provide detail in most of the blacks.<\/p>\n She’s sharp and I like her wing position and hanging legs. The out of focus twig sticking into her lower belly is unfortunate but for me it’s only a minor annoyance. And now that I’ve posted I’m seeing a slight and very narrow sharpening halo on the underside of the bird. Sharpening halos are another problem with photographing black birds. Next time I’ll be more careful while processing…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n In the next shot in the burst she was beginning to turn away from me but she compensated with a head turn in my direction. Her wings in a down position provided welcome contrast to the previous photo.<\/p>\n My first inclination was to rotate both shots to get the apparent horizon line level. In most places along the causeway the horizon line would actually be level but this one wasn’t so I didn’t rotate. Sometimes I’m a stickler for reality to a fault and this may or may not be one of those times, especially with the first photo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n On that same morning this Common Raven forgot ‘he’ was a raven by allowing me an unusually close approach and uncharacteristically he wasn’t bothered when I aimed my lens his way. He was on an ugly perch but he had a twig in his bill so all I really wanted was a few head shots.<\/p>\n Because ravens are known for play, often with twigs or other objects, it can be difficult to tell if a twig in their bill was collected as nesting material or as a play item. But while I was with this guy he wasn’t playing and ravens actually begin constructing nests in January so I suspect the twig was collected as nesting material.<\/p>\n Here’s what Cornell’s Birds of the World has to say about the timing of Common Raven nest building:<\/p>\n “Nest construction or repair of old nest begins when territorial occupation becomes apparent or shortly thereafter, generally late Jan to mid-Apr.”<\/em><\/p>\n Nesting material or not I think the twig makes the portrait much more interesting.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And another raven with nesting material? Already. (3 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/common-raven-2764-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"common-raven-2764-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/common-raven-2765-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"common-raven-2765-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/common-raven-2748-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"common-raven-2748-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n