Month: October 2012

Northern Harrier Basking In The Rising Sun

Just a single image this morning. Normally I can never get close to a harrier perched in a tree but this one made an exception for me.    1/800, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in As I approached this juvenile male (solid rufous breast, light iris) on a cold morning, the rising sun was still behind the mountains so it felt secure in the shade as I positioned my pickup for the best angle I could get.  When the sunlight finally hit the bird he was determined to soak in the warmth (rather than fly off) so he spread his tail, fluffed up and posed for me for several minutes.  The light was directional but I liked its effect.  I’ve added no saturation to the image. Ron

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The Challenges Of Photographing Falcons On Antelope Island

There are three species of Falcons that reside on Antelope Island through much of the year – the American Kestrel, Prairie Falcon and Peregrine Falcon.  A fourth, the Merlin, is mostly a winter resident.  For many of us there’s something almost mystical about falcons and most bird photographers I know ache to get quality shots of them.  But doing so isn’t easy anywhere and Antelope Island is no exception. In my experience there are three reasons why falcons on the island are so difficult to photograph well: The falcons are there but, with the exception of the kestrel, they’re difficult to find.  For most of the year Peregrines and Prairies hang out in the remotest parts of the island that are inaccessible to us due to park rules and difficulties of negotiating such steep terrain.  However, all three species hunt the causeway during winter so that’s the best chance for the photographer. Generally you just can’t get close to them.  Kestrels are notorious for that trait, probably because they’re so common that lots of folks try with them.  But common certainly doesn’t mean approachable.  It’s not unusual to see a Peregrine perched far out on the mud flats but there’s no way to get close and if you tried they’d fly off.   Prairie Falcons can often be spotted high up on the rocks around the central part of the island but they’re invariably much too far away and seldom perch near the road. Peregrines and Prairies are much easier to approach in very low light, especially just before sunup.  But low light makes for crappy images. I’ve…

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Western Grebes: A Bizarre Behavior Finally Explained

Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time observing Western Grebes (or their close relatives, Clark’s Grebes) has undoubtedly observed this curious behavior multiple times. But before I continue, a few words of explanation are in order.  Grebes are unique to most other water birds in two ways that are related to this behavior: 1.) their legs are attached to their bodies at the rear, rather than underneath and 2.) the toes of grebes are lobed instead of webbed. Having legs attached at the rear allows for efficient swimming but causes extreme clumsiness while walking – they rarely venture on to land, but when they do they often fall down after just a few steps.  This leg attachment position is so distinctive of grebes that the genus name of four of the North American grebe species is Podiceps (from “podicis” meaning anus or vent and “pes” meaning foot) – in other words, “anus foot”.   (and yes, I’m having a hard time resisting a joke line or two with that phrase…) Recent experimental work with grebes has demonstrated that the lobes on the toes function much like the hydrofoil blades of a propeller. Ok, with that background, on to this strange behavioral quirk of the Western Grebe.   Without warning, and for no apparent reason, they stick one of their legs out behind them.  With those unusual feet it can look pretty silly.     Sometimes they’ll do a simultaneous wing stretch, but rarely.     Occasionally they’ll hold the foot high in the air for quite a while.   That can look even sillier.     Even the chicks do it….

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American Avocet In Flight

American Avocets have always been a very difficult flight shot for me so I only have a couple of them in my files.  I think one of the factors that makes them so challenging in the air is their tendency for erratic flight.   1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This was a grab shot taken at Glover Pond in Farmington, Utah.  I like the slightly open bill and the position of the wings. This is a species that I too often ignore, whether the bird is in flight or wading.  There’s just so many of them around here for much of the year that my tendency is to bypass them for more elusive subjects. Another bad habit of mine… Ron

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The Seldom Seen Wilson’s Snipe

Wilson’s Snipe is an elusive species.  Relatively little is known of its habits due to its crepuscular nature, cryptic coloration and marshy habitat.  Even with as much time as I’ve spent on their stomping grounds I can count on one hand, with a few fingers amputated, the number of times I’ve photographed a snipe.  Typically it’s only seen as it flushes in zigzag flight, calling out with its raspy voice. What an interesting bird!  The word snipe is derived from “snite” – a variant of snout and you can see why.  Their eyes are set remarkably far back on their head, giving them full vision on both sides and binocular vision to the rear.  This allows them to see predators approaching from behind, even while their beak is  buried in the mud.   1/640, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light I found this bird along the Red Rock River in Montana’s Centennial Valley.  It was a low light situation so I didn’t have much shutter speed and I was mildly surprised to get the beak sharp as it was calling.  The snipe gave me only a few seconds before it flew off, scolding me as it went. Ron

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Red-tailed Hawk Lift-off

A month ago tomorrow this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was hunting from the dark Farmington Canyon Complex rocks of Antelope Island.   It would use this elevated perch, and others like it, to scan the grasses below for prey.    1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I could usually tell from its behavior when it had spotted something and was about to take off after it.  I always hope for a take-off toward me and angled obliquely to my position instead of “dead-on head-on”.  The worst direction is away from me of course and I’ll settle for a fully lateral direction.      1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Here the bird chose the slightly less than ideal lateral direction.  A head turn toward me would have improved the shot but for some reason this hawk was more intent on the prey than it was in pleasing the photographer.  But I really liked the dynamic body position at take-off.      1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in  Some folks prefer the wings-up position over wings-down but I like them both.      1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I thought I’d make this final image a vertical composition to show better detail on the hawk, given the flight posture.  The last three shots are sequential images in the…

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Another Act Of Idiocy On Antelope Island

Yesterday, while showing some out-of-town friends around Antelope Island, we came upon this cyclist who had left his bike on the road and walked up to within a few feet of this bison in order to photograph it. At first he was much closer to the animal than you see here but when the bison began to show signs of irritation the cyclist backed off a few feet and continued to take photos.  I stopped my vehicle and grabbed my “other” camera because I figured that something unpleasant might go down but in the excitement I bumped the control wheel on the camera and skewed my settings so the resulting photos are of poor quality and for documentation only.  I’ve disguised the face of the cyclist.   Before I could get off any shots of the cyclist photographing the bison the massive animal charged.   This guys reactions were pretty quick.   Here the cyclist doesn’t yet know that the bison’s charge was apparently a bluff…   but he does now. This guy didn’t even have a vehicle to run to for protection – only his bike.  And incredibly, after the charge, he turned around and approached the bison again. This kind of stupidity puts both humans and animals at risk.  If the cyclist had been killed or injured I suspect the bison would have been destroyed. Similar unthinking behaviors from island visitors occur regularly on the island as I’ve documented before.  The “Darwin Awards” in action… Ron

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The Dusky Grouse And The Good Samaritan

Remembering to call this species the “Dusky Grouse” is going to be a challenge for me.  For years they’ve been called Blue Grouse, with two recognized sub-species – Dusky Grouse and Sooty Grouse.  But based on recent mitochondrial DNA studies the two sub-species of Blue Grouse are now recognized as separate species.  Apparently the common name “Blue Grouse” will no longer be used.   1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light  I came across this male a couple of days ago while high in the Wasatch Mountains on Francis Peak along Skyline Drive.  I was driving up a steep, narrow road and just as I stopped to photograph the bird a hunter in a pickup came down the road right in front of us.  If he had continued forward the bird would have spooked but when he spotted it and noticed our long lenses pointed at the grouse he very considerately stopped for several minutes so that we could get our shots.  When we had our images I motioned for him to continue, which he did and yes – the bird flew off.   I talked to him for a minute or so and thanked him for his kind deed. In the past I’ve taken the occasional pot shot at hunters on this blog.  But the considerate act of this sportsman reminds me once again to avoid stereotypes – that the unethical, inconsiderate and/or unsportsmanlike behavior of a few renegade hunters should not reflect on the entire group – just as similar behaviors of relatively small numbers of nature photographers should…

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