{"id":168121,"date":"2025-05-05T05:57:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T11:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=168121"},"modified":"2025-05-05T17:53:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T23:53:40","slug":"my-cowbird-drinking-bison-snot-photo-published","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/my-cowbird-drinking-bison-snot-photo-published\/","title":{"rendered":"My “Cowbird Drinking Bison Snot” Photo Published"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a hot early September day in 2008 I photographed a female Brown-headed Cowbird slurping stringy, watery mucous from the snout of a bison on Antelope Island.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1\/200, f\/11, ISO 200, Canon Rebel XTi, Canon 100-400 @ 235mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

The encounter with a bird was unexpected so my camera settings were adjusted for photographing large, slow-moving bison. As a result, at this slow shutter speed the wings and tail of the cowbird hovering in flight are very soft. I was just lucky that the rest of the bird was stationary and relatively sharp.<\/p>\n

Despite its shortcomings, I always knew that this was a special image. I posted it to my blog as recently as three months ago but prior to that it had sat mostly stagnant in my files, largely forgotten by me and everyone else for over 15 years<\/p>\n

Then a few months ago I was contacted by prolific nature author Frances Backhouse about using the photo in her new book about bison. Frances writes books mostly about nature for tweens and young teenagers. Her subjects have included grizzly bears, owls, beavers, woodpeckers and the history of the Alaska gold rush.<\/p>\n

We negotiated a licensing fee for use of the image for a 10,000-copy publishing run of her new book, I sent her a higher resolution version of the photo and received my licensing fee and then I promptly forgot about it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Until two days ago, when I received this complimentary copy of her new book, Bison – Community Builders and Grassland Caretakers<\/em>. It’s an engaging book that celebrates the traditions and teachings of Indigenous Peoples regarding bison, looks at how bison lovers of all backgrounds came together to save these iconic animals and introduces young readers to some of the young people who are welcoming bison back home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n