![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mourning-dove-5365-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"mourning-dove-5365-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nPlus my first bobcat sighting on Antelope Island.<\/p>\n
I nearly always strike out when I try to photograph Mourning Doves in flight, largely because their takeoff is so fast and their flight so erratic. But two days ago I had a change of luck.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n
As I was leaving the area where I’d been photographing Red-tailed Hawks I spotted this Morning Dove perched on an old wooden fence rail. While perched it was sidelit and its feet were hidden so my only chance for any shots I liked were at takeoff or in flight. I figured my chances were slim for two reasons – usually I can’t keep them in the frame when they take off because they’re so fast and the direction of flight would have to be just about perfect for me to have pleasing light on the bird.<\/p>\n
But this time things finally worked out. When it took off I was able to keep the dove in the frame, I had excellent light on almost the entire body and I have good eye contact including a catch light. As a bonus I really like the flight posture with the raised left wing and that beautiful flared tail tipped toward me.<\/p>\n
I may not have clipped any body parts but it was close so I had to add canvas for a pleasing composition.<\/p>\n
I need to change my ways and attempt to photograph Mourning Doves more often. In recent years I’ve found myself ignoring doves more often than I should and that may be because of the invasive Eurasian Collared Dove that seems to have replaced many of the Mourning Doves in my area. The two species are similar-looking and sometimes I think I unconsciously assume any doves I see in the distance are the invasive variety so I ignore them. Bad habit.<\/p>\n
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Ok, my Mourning Dove experience was two days ago but I had some excitement yesterday too. As I was driving the gravel road near White Rock Bay on Antelope Island early in the morning a bobcat appeared on the road no more than 100′ in front of me. Damn, talk about a rush and instant buck fever! I attempted to maneuver my pickup to get off a shot or two but the cat moved into the sagebrush on my right and quickly disappeared over the small hill. I got out of my pickup with my big lens and walked to the top of the hill but never spotted it again.<\/p>\n
Over the years there have been rare reports of bobcats on the island, especially near the visitor center, but in almost eleven years of visiting the island 2-3 times per week I’d never seen one. The sighting was unusual enough that I figured Antelope Island State Park manager Jeremy Shaw would appreciate knowing about it so I stopped in at his office and reported it. Jeremy told me that in his eight years of living on the island he’d never once seen a bobcat.<\/p>\n
In all my years of wandering the hinterlands looking for birds I’d only seen a bobcat once before. I may not have been able to get any photos of this one but the memory is almost as good.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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Plus my first bobcat sighting on Antelope Island.<\/p>\n