![\"european](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/european-starling-7372-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt isn’t often that I think I see true anger in birds. If that’s being anthropomorphic, so be it. I’m sticking to my guns.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Five days ago this group of European Starlings (and several others) was\u00a0challenging a pair of Black-billed Magpies very near their nest on Antelope Island. The magpie nest is\u00a0barely out of frame to the left with one of the magpies on top of it. It was obvious to me that the magpie was not pleased with the presence of the noisy intruders but the starlings apparently felt safety in numbers and pushed the issue.<\/p>\n
There was a lot of tension\u00a0so something had to give. And it did.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"black-billed](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/black-billed-magpie-7389-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Suddenly the magpie lifted off of the nest (seen at lower left)\u00a0and rushed the starlings with a speed and intensity that I’ve seldom (if ever)\u00a0seen from the species. Magpies are usually\u00a0quite slow fliers but this attack was lightning fast and very acrobatic. Most of the starlings are just out of frame to the right and fleeing in panic but a loner behind the magpie stood its ground and watched as its buddies made their escape.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n It all happened so fast that I was lucky to get the magpie in frame in two shots.<\/p>\n The starlings escaped safely and life at the nest quickly returned to normal.<\/p>\n These magpie photos\u00a0have technical issues but I like the behavior and I’m always fascinated by the interesting shape of the flared magpie tail that we see in both images. It’s something that I don’t see very often.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note to photo-geeks: Some may have noticed that my shutter speed dropped by half in the .1 sec between the first and second magpie shots. I shoot in aperture priority but I’m still not sure why there’s such a dramatic difference in SS.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It isn’t often that I think I see true anger in birds. If that’s being anthropomorphic, so be it. I’m sticking to my guns.<\/p>\n![\"black-billed](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/black-billed-magpie-7390-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n