{"id":157277,"date":"2024-04-16T05:48:47","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T11:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=157277"},"modified":"2024-04-16T06:10:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:10:27","slug":"meadowlark-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/16\/meadowlark-stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"Meadowlark Stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five days ago was a Western Meadowlark kind of day on Antelope Island.<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

That morning I took hundreds of shots of about a half dozen different meadowlarks perched and in flight but this simple photo of a perched male (based on behavior) was one of my favorites. I like his pose and vivid colors and the sagebrush setting in both foreground and background.<\/p>\n

There’s more going on here than meets the eye. Just before this photo was taken, this bird and another male had been chasing each other around in a territorial dispute, so tensions were high.<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

In this shot it may look like he’s singing but instead he was calling with the distinctive “chupp” call that in this species indicates disturbance and tension. The chupp call is typically used when an intruding meadowlark enters the territory of a resident meadowlark. When this photo was taken, the intruder was at the base of the dark, out-of-focus sagebrush we see at lower left.<\/p>\n

While he was perched here, this was the only time he looked in my direction. Most of the time he was…<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

in a stare-down with the intruding meadowlark, who kept popping in and out of the sagebrush at lower left. I figured he’d eventually take off and go after the other bird so I was hoping for a takeoff shot I liked. But when it eventually happened he…<\/p>\n

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1\/6400, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

took off at a low angle and almost directly toward me so I’m not happy with the shot, which is soft anyway. Immediately after launch he dove steeply downward and to his right, in the direction of the other meadowlark.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

He landed there and kept staring at the spot where the other meadowlark had disappeared at the base of the sagebrush. It was actually pretty intense and it lasted for quite a while.<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Once again, he only looked in my direction a single time and only for a moment. His concentration on the other bird was mostly uninterrupted. Eventually both birds disappeared into the sagebrush, where I could hear the sounds of a presumed scuffle but I never saw either bird again. It’s funny how they can disappear without a trace like that.<\/p>\n

I was disappointed in my failure to get takeoff, flight or action shots of either bird so I had to settle for…<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

a flight shot of a different meadowlark later that morning. This bird had been perched on a rock above me and I got two shots of him in flight that looked very similar.<\/p>\n

This was my consolation prize and my favorite of the two.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five days ago was a Western Meadowlark kind of day on Antelope Island. (7 photos)<\/p>\n

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