![\"white](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-9497-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBirds use a variety of tactics to deal with the harsh conditions presented by an unusually cold and snowy winter.\u00a0 Some are more\u00a0effective than others.\u00a0 I thought it might be interesting to see a few of them that I’ve been able to photograph in the last\u00a0several weeks.<\/p>\n
My usual disclaimer for posts relating to behaviors;\u00a0many of these images are technically lacking but I think they do illustrate some of the conditions these birds\u00a0are\u00a0having to cope with.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n After a fresh snow, the food source for many small birds is largely hidden and unavailable without some extraordinary measures.\u00a0 This juvenile White-crowned Sparrow, and others in the flock, were flitting from one snow-covered perch to another in an obvious attempt at knocking the snow off so they could get to the seeds underneath.\u00a0 Here you can see the snow falling away and immediately afterward the sparrow fed on the uncovered\u00a0seeds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n When it gets\u00a0very cold most water sources freeze up completely which makes fish largely inacessable to Bald Eagles so many of them turn to scavenging as their primary food source.\u00a0 But this species adapted very well \u00a0to scavenging eons ago which is one of the reasons Ben Franklin looked in disfavor at the proposal to\u00a0make the Bald Eagle our national bird.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1000, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Golden Eagles are occasionally found on the island but they generally avoid people and hang out\u00a0in the more remote and inaccessible areas.\u00a0\u00a0 One of their primary food sources is rabbits and the highest concentration of them seems to be in the sagebrush covered areas on the north end of the island near the campgrounds and park buildings.\u00a0 Until a few days ago, after a storm, \u00a0I had never seen a Golden Eagle anywhere near those buildings (and seldom\u00a0on the north end of the island)\u00a0but this one had apparently been hunting rabbits in the area and decided to risk\u00a0humans in close proximity.<\/p>\n The light was poor and the bird\u00a0isn’t very sharp but I decided to include the shot to illustrate the apparent change in hunting behavior (near human habitation).\u00a0 This eagle was taking off from a sagebrush perch within a stone’s throw of those buildings.\u00a0\u00a0 There were\u00a0many rabbits in the immediate area.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/3200, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Ring-necked Pheasants are heavy-bodied birds that sink deeply into Utah’s famous\u00a0powder snow.\u00a0 This resting female was using bent-over reeds as “snowshoes” to keep her from sinking into the deep snow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n In one area of Farmington Bay WMA with a high concentration of pheasants there’s only a single source of unfrozen water where it trickles out of a culvert in a deep ditch.\u00a0 To get to it the pheasants have literally plowed a path through the snow and down the steep bank to the water source.\u00a0 Many pheasants continually use this path.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc,\u00a0natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Recently I mentioned in a comment that I had seen a Barn Owl shivering in the cold.\u00a0 This is that bird, perched on a rusty metal piece of construction equipment.\u00a0 It was classic shivering, just like humans do.\u00a0 The birds entire body would shake for a few seconds and then stop but the cycle went on continually while this owl was perched here.\u00a0 Since that day I’ve seen another Barn Owl shivering.\u00a0 Shivering consumes calories and energy but it also produces body heat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Deep snow is challenging for birds in a variety of ways.\u00a0 This Barn Owl had attempted to land on this\u00a0snow cornice on the side of a steep hill, apparently thinking it would be a stable perch.\u00a0 It wasn’t.\u00a0 The bird immediately sank\u00a0into the powder so it almost immediately took off again.\u00a0 The image breaks all of the composition rules and the birds face is hidden by the wing but I thought it demonstrated one of the difficulties these birds face in these conditions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Imagine trying to survive by hunting voles in a landscape such as this when virtually everything is covered by 16″ of deep snow, including your food.\u00a0 The refuge manager recently told me that while out mowing down the invasive Phragmites in the marshes he had\u00a0flushed up\u00a0about 15 owls in one day.\u00a0\u00a0 His parting comment was “I wonder\u00a0if the Barn Owls have started dying yet”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Three days ago we spotted this Black-crowned Night Heron in an inaccessible area on the far side of a small pond.\u00a0 I can’t tell for sure but it looks to me like the bird might be frozen into the ice with one of its feet on top of it.\u00a0 If so, I hope the bird had a quick demise.<\/p>\n It’s a tough old world out there, for the birds and for other creatures too.\u00a0 Many adapt and survive, sometimes using almost ingenious methods, while others don’t make it.\u00a0\u00a0 The age-old story of survival.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Birds use a variety of tactics to deal with the harsh conditions presented by an unusually cold and snowy winter.\u00a0 Some are more\u00a0effective than others.\u00a0 I thought it might be interesting to see a few of them that I’ve been able to photograph in the last\u00a0several weeks. My usual disclaimer for posts relating to behaviors;\u00a0many of these images are technically lacking but I think they do illustrate some of the conditions these birds\u00a0are\u00a0having to cope with. \u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light After a fresh snow, the food source for many small birds is largely hidden and unavailable without some extraordinary measures.\u00a0 This juvenile White-crowned Sparrow, and others in the flock, were flitting from one snow-covered perch to another in an obvious attempt at knocking the snow off so they could get to the seeds underneath.\u00a0 Here you can see the snow falling away and immediately afterward the sparrow fed on the uncovered\u00a0seeds. \u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in When it gets\u00a0very cold most water sources freeze up completely which makes fish largely inacessable to Bald Eagles so many of them turn to scavenging as their primary food source.\u00a0 But this species adapted very well \u00a0to scavenging eons ago which is one of the reasons Ben Franklin looked in disfavor at the proposal to\u00a0make the Bald Eagle our national bird. \u00a01\/1000, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or…<\/p>\n![\"bald](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/bald-eagle-9230-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"golden](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/golden-eagle-2665-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"ring](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/ring-necked-pheasant-3081-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"ring](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/ring-necked-pheasant-3787-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-2886-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-2860-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-3859-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"black](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/black-crowned-night-heron-2937-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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