{"id":110956,"date":"2022-05-11T04:49:32","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T10:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=110956"},"modified":"2022-05-11T04:49:32","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T10:49:32","slug":"black-billed-magpie-an-unconventional-takeoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/05\/11\/black-billed-magpie-an-unconventional-takeoff\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-billed Magpie – An Unconventional Takeoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having plenty of room in the frame comes in handy with bird takeoffs, especially when your subject has a ridiculously long tail.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning on Antelope Island this female (based on behavior) Black-billed Magpie was taking a break from her incubation duties. She had left her nest to be fed by her mate, which had already occurred when this photo was taken, and now she was preparing to take off and return to the nest.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

She performed this rather unusual “stick your long tail straight up into the air” maneuver just prior to liftoff. I didn’t expect it so I was just lucky to have enough room at the top of the frame to avoid cutting her tail off.<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

And then, when she took off, I was lucky again to avoid cutting off her wings when my shutter caught them at their widest horizontal position. In a heartbeat she went from one extreme to the other and I didn’t cut off any body parts. With my track record that’s almost a miracle.<\/p>\n

No big deal but I thought it was an interesting pre-takeoff and takeoff so I decided to post the photos.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Note: I know this bird is the female of the pair for two reasons.<\/em><\/p>\n