![\"western](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/western-meadowlark-3137-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBird photography is difficult enough without the added aggravation of hordes of biting insects.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this Western Meadowlark at takeoff yesterday morning on Antelope Island. I like the simplicity of the image\u00a0that includes\u00a0only the small, bare perch,\u00a0a clean, creamy and graded background and the meadowlark ascending into the air. The side light may not have universal appeal but it works for me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But I spent so much time swatting at\u00a0clouds of biting gnats that I was lucky to get any sharp shots at all. They’re so small that they’re barely visible to the naked eye (thus their other name – “no-seeums”) and they get in your eyes, ears, scalp and anywhere\u00a0else available to them. And the nasty little buggers bite!<\/p>\n Like mosquitoes only the female bites\u00a0because she needs a blood meal to produce eggs. But unlike mosquitoes they don’t puncture the skin with their proboscis\u00a0– instead they cut it open\u00a0with scissor-like mandibles, squirt a chemical on the wound to\u00a0prevent clotting and then suck up the resulting pool of blood. The bites aren’t painful when they occur but they can burn and itch for days afterward – those bites are completely out of proportion to the diminutive size of the gnats. The symptoms last longer in some people than they do in others.<\/p>\n And there’s not much you can do to thwart them if they’re around. Insect sprays are largely ineffective against them,\u00a0although I find they do help a little when freshly applied. I try to keep as much of my skin covered as possible but as tiny as they are they can\u00a0still bite through a\u00a0shirt. Fine mesh head nets are effective in keeping them away from your face and scalp but they’re impractical for photography and spotting birds while driving.<\/p>\n And humans aren’t the only\u00a0creatures tormented by no-seeums on the island.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bison are so bothered by gnats that when they’re not actively grazing they spend significant amounts of time far out on the sandy mudflats of the receding Great Salt Lake where there are no gnats. I photographed this group yesterday morning as the gnats were biting me mercilessly. I was sorely tempted to walk out and join the bison.<\/p>\n For those familiar with the island that’s Ladyfinger Point in the middle background.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When you see bison out on the mudflats they’re typically not going anywhere – they simply stand in place or lie down (or roll in the\u00a0mud\/sand to scratch bites and cover themselves with a protective layer)\u00a0and enjoy their freedom from the gnats.<\/p>\n For me the only saving grace of those damned gnats is that they keep the crowds down on the island. Less traffic means less interference with my photography – fewer birds flushed by passing vehicles. That’s selfish of me I know, but so be it…<\/p>\n But\u00a0the gnats are\u00a0a big price to pay for relative solitude. Thankfully they’ll disappear when it gets hot.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – Perhaps some readers would appreciate\u00a0someone else’s perspective on a visit to the island during gnat season. Here’s a link to a well-written blog post<\/a> about a visit to the island by some full time RV’ers. Not only does it describe their experience with the gnats but it also provides an excellent overview of the island experience. Since I post bird photos from there so often I thought some regular\u00a0readers might have the interest.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird photography is difficult enough without the added aggravation of hordes of biting insects.<\/p>\n![\"bison](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/bison-0696-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"bison](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/bison-0709-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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