![\"chukar](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/chukar-6855-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIf you visit Antelope Island to photograph birds this time of year your memory card will likely include more images of these three species than any other.<\/p>\n
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1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 800, 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 Chukars are ubiquitous on the island year-round. I found this one eight days ago just after dawn so light doesn’t\u00a0get much warmer than this. The bird was sunning on one of the Tintic Quartzite boulders so common on the north end of the island but this time of year they just can’t resist calling occasionally and I always enjoy photographing birds in calling poses.<\/p>\n This profile shot emphasizes their almost comical\u00a0“rotundness” – the potguts of the bird world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sage Thrashers are only on the island in spring and summer but during those seasons we usually have\u00a0them in good numbers in sagebrush habitat. I photographed this thrasher about four weeks ago as it displayed atop sagebrush. This display,\u00a0called the bilateral wing display, is difficult to photograph well for a variety of reasons so despite all the out of focus\u00a0“sticks” in the background I was happy to get this behavior in profile with the wings held so high up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 320, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n But for me it’s the Western Meadowlarks that represent the island best. We have a few year-round but most leave for the winter. I’ve traveled the west extensively but I’ve never, ever\u00a0experienced a location that abounds\u00a0in so many meadowlarks as Antelope Island. On spring and summer mornings their rich, melodious calls ring across the island and echo off the mountains to the point that my heart sings right\u00a0along with them. I’ve been known to stop my pickup in a random spot, turn the engine off and get out of the vehicle just to enjoy their wonderful calls. I never tire of them.<\/p>\n I photographed this bird on 5\/13\/16 as it obligingly gave me a wing lift in profile. I’m particularly happy with the exposure and detail of those bright whites under the wing.<\/p>\n If you visit the island most any time of the year you’ll also likely see Black-billed Magpies and Loggerhead Shrikes, among others, and many\u00a0additional species can be found along the causeway to the island and at Garr Ranch. But for me these three species\u00a0are the avian icons of the island.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you visit Antelope Island to photograph birds this time of year your memory card will likely include more images of these three species than any other.<\/p>\n![\"sage](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/sage-thrasher-2116b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/8000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"western](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/western-meadowlark-0021-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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