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<\/p>\nAnd another series to show what I was up against while attempting to photograph fighting meadowlarks.<\/p>\n
As I mentioned in a previous post, nine days ago many of the male Western Meadowlarks on Antelope Island were fighting over breeding territory. Some of their fights were on the ground but more often they were in midair. I had no luck at all photographing their actual fights because when they were on the ground they were always obstructed by vegetation and when they were fighting in flight they were too hard to keep in frame and in focus.<\/p>\n
The first series below is an example of my failure. I’m including it to show what I was up against.<\/p>\n
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This male has just spotted another male flying aggressively toward him from the upper right.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/western-meadowlark-7403-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"western-meadowlark-7403-ron-dudley\\"")
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He took off almost straight up with the apparent intention of challenging the incoming bird in flight.<\/p>\n
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But this time, at the last second, both meadowlarks jinked. Just before they met in midair the incoming bird turned to his right and flew away while the bird at lower left dived to the ground to the left of the largest sagebrush.<\/p>\n
Their quick maneuver was too much for my active focus point, which was unable to stay locked on the bird on the left, so instead it grabbed onto the tip of the sagebrush at lower left. The result was yet another garbage photo of fighting meadowlarks.<\/p>\n
But I had better luck when attempting to photograph a single bird taking off in an upward direction to meet his opponent.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/western-meadowlark-7134-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"western-meadowlark-7134-ron-dudley\\"")
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Typically the perched bird would take off vertically, or nearly so. For what it’s worth, I really like this photo.<\/p>\n
This guy never took his eye off of the incoming meadowlark while he was taking off and…<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/western-meadowlark-7135-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"western-meadowlark-7135-ron-dudley\\"")
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rising up to…<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/western-meadowlark-7136-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"western-meadowlark-7136-ron-dudley\\"")
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meet him in mid air.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/western-meadowlark-7137-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"western-meadowlark-7137-ron-dudley\\"")
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This is the last shot I got of him that was sharp and without any cut off body parts. I’ve cropped the photo unconventionally to include part of his sagebrush perch at lower left.<\/p>\n
The two birds fought briefly in midair but I was twisted in my pickup seat at such an extreme angle I couldn’t keep them in my viewfinder. My bad back was complaining too much. So once again, I missed the fighting shots.<\/p>\n
The same thing happened at least three times that morning with meadowlarks fighting in midair. It was fun, exciting and extremely frustrating – all at the same time.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
And another series to show what I was up against while attempting to photograph fighting meadowlarks. (7 photos)<\/p>\n