Lickety-split Chukar

We haven’t seen many Chukars recently but yesterday we found a small covey feeding at the base of several rabbitbrush on the north end of Antelope Island.   1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light Most of them were pretty skittish but the sentry bird was standing watch on top of a snow-covered boulder as the rest of the birds slowly wandered away.  The sentry posed for us for several minutes.      1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light  It called out to the rest of the flock twice.      1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light  Chukars are often reluctant to fly and prefer to scurry on the ground to safety.   In an instant the bird accelerated up the rock…         1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light  and down the other side.  It was really moving.       1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light In this last decent shot I got in the series, the bird appears to be sledding on top of the snow as much as it is running through it. I really enjoy photographing Chukars in the snow this time of year.  For much of the fall and early winter these birds are pretty scruffy looking but now their plumage appears bright and fresh again. Ron

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Loggerhead Shrike Attempting To Impale A Grasshopper

Shrikes are well-known for impaling their prey on sharp projections like thorns or barbed wire as a means of food storage – they’re called “butcher birds” for good reason.  I suspect the behavior to do so is innate but to become skilled at it takes practice. This past summer I found this Loggerhead Shrike on a fence on the Montana farm where I grew up.  It had already captured the grasshopper when I arrived on the scene. First, my standard disclaimer for behavioral sequences.  This bird was strongly sidelit so I seldom got a catch light and the light was harsh.  To compensate, I did more processing with these images than I normally do because my intent is to show the behavior as well as possible, even though image quality suffered from the processing.   Almost immediately I could see that the shrike was going to attempt to impale the grasshopper on the barb just below and in front of the beak of the bird.     Impaling prey apparently isn’t an easy task.     From all the contortions the bird went through…     I’d assume that part of the problem was the awkward angle the shrike was at…     to get proper leverage to complete the task.     At one point the bird nearly fell off the fence.     After a few moments the shrike gave up, turned its back on me with the grasshopper between its legs (and a gob of grasshopper on its bill) and seemed to contemplate what…

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Western Meadowlarks In Snow

Yesterday was a glorious day on the island with about 6″ of fresh snow and wonderful light.  It was simply delightful.  The Western Meadowlarks seemed to be a little “stickier” than usual, perhaps because of all the snow.    1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light  This one was half buried in the snow but I liked all the convolutions in the snowy setting.      1/3200, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light  This meadowlark was the most cooperative bird of the morning as it posed for me for over 6 minutes on top of some rabbitbrush.      1/2500, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light  It never did turn around to show that bright yellow breast but it did give me some nice head turns to make up for it.      1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light Meadowlarks are well-known for a behavior called “tail flashing”, something they often do during territorial disputes.  During tail flashing the tail is nervously (and very quickly) snapped open and closed, better revealing the white outer tail feathers.  The bird was cooperating so well that I made it my goal to try to catch the tail spread to show those white feathers, which turned out to be much easier said than done.  It happens so quickly that you just have to fire a burst and hope for the best.  I took 208 shots of this bird (at least half of them were attempts to get the open tail) and only got…

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Parahawking

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you know that I’ve had some reservations about falconry in the past.  After extensive discussion here, with input from falconers, I no longer have many of those concerns.  Last night Mark Runnels (one of the falconers involved in that discussion) sent me the link to a video clip that has simply fascinated me and I just had to share it.     Like many others I sometimes fantasize about flight, especially as I watch a raptor soaring on the updrafts.  The feeling of freedom and the ever-changing spectacular views that would come with three-dimensional mobility would be such an incredible rush.  And if it could be done in silence (without engine noise) so that the only sound would be that of the air rushing by, so much the  better. I’ve often watched raptors playing “tag” with each other on the air currents and wondered what it would be like to join them.  Well, this must be pretty close to that experience.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.  Link below.   Parahawking     Thanks once again, Mark. Ron      

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Great Blue Herons On Snow and Ice

Christmas Morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was nothing short of spectacular.  We had great light,  wonderfully clear blue skies and lots of birds.  And it was cold – as low as 6 degrees F.  Perfect! On this trip (which included the Promontory Point area) we saw a plethora of raptors – Bald and Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, American Kestrels, Short-eared Owls, a Prairie Falcon and one Barn Owl hunting in daylight because of the cold.   And I’ve never seen as many Great Blue Herons in one relatively small area as I did on that morning.  Just before I stopped to take this photo there were over 100 of them on the ice of the canal to the right and along the far bank in less than 1/3 mile – which led to a topic of conversation.  Mia is from Florida and we discussed how seeing Great Blue Herons on snow and ice seems incongruous to many folks from warmer climates.  That conversation was the inspiration for this post.     1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, natural light  As is typical for western herons, these birds were difficult to approach (in some areas like Florida one can almost walk up and touch them at times).  This juvenile was fishing in a patch of flowing water surrounded by ice and snow.      1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, natural light Then the same bird flew off and then came back to land within a few feet of where it had been fishing – almost like it was…

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A Pied-billed Grebe Attempts To Dismember A Frog

Pied-billed Grebes are opportunistic feeders, taking large crustaceans (especially crayfish), fish, insects and other invertebrates.  They also consume a lot of frogs when they’re available.  When the prey is too large to swallow whole (frogs and crayfish especially) they grasp the appendages with their beak and shake it vigorously until the limbs break off.  I’ve also seen adults tear off bits of the body trunk of frogs to feed to their chicks.   This bird is a juvenile, still learning the finer points of consuming prey.  This stage of plumage development is referred to as the “stripe-head stage”, for obvious reasons.  Adults lose those stripes.  The frog it has captured is probably one of the first amphibians the bird has had to deal with without assistance from a parent and that inexperience seemed obvious as the young bird dealt with the frog. I’ve presented all the photos in this series in the order they were taken.     As you can see, the young frog hasn’t yet fully metamorphosed into an adult and retains the tadpole tail.     The grebe would repeatedly grasp a limb (it tried all 5 of them several times)…     and then shake the frog violently in an apparent attempt to tear the appendage off like it has seen its parents do so many times before.     Here it’s working on the left front leg.     Other times the bird would grasp the body and shake.  Hard!     At times the grebe would appear to rest and “think” about its…

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Christmas Birds At Farmington Bay

Christmas Day is one of our favorite times to photograph birds.  My daughter lives in Florida so I normally don’t get to spend time with family and for me bird photography is the next-best thing.  Besides, we usually have splendid isolation when we’re “out there” while everyone else is at home celebrating the holiday in a more traditional way.  A win/win situation for all. This post is dedicated to “Christmas Birds” – photos I’ve taken on Christmas Day in recent years.  I often think of these birds as extra-special Christmas presents.    1/1600, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, called in or set up This beautiful male American Kestrel is perched on a short but thick wooden pole at Farmington Bay.  The pole has been a favorite perch for kestrels and eagles for years but now an ugly bat box has been placed near the top of the pole, ruining it for photographic purposes.  I’m all for bats but I sure wish the box had been placed a few inches lower on the pole.      1/400, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, called in or set up Two years ago, this Common Merganser hung around a Farmington Bay pond for much of the winter.  I seldom saw it actively fishing.  Instead, it would just wait around until one of the many Pied-billed Grebes caught a fish and then steal it away from them – very entertaining to watch.      1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4,…

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Song Sparrow In A Frosty Wonderland

It’s my natural tendency to avoid public displays of sentiment (another character flaw…) but recently I’ve been reflecting on just how much I enjoy blogging and interacting with my readers.  Even though I’ve never actually met most of you, I can’t help but feel that we have become “friends” on some level.  And this time of year especially, I think of my friends. Friends usually share at least some common interests and for us it seems to be a mix of birds, nature and/or photography.  Many of you are more knowledgeable in those areas than I am and have graciously shared your expertise and experiences with me and others.  For that I am grateful.   So I wanted to wish each of you the very best this holiday season.  I hope you’re with family and loved ones and that your experiences over the next few days will add to your cherished memories down the road. I wish you a safe and joyous holiday season! Ron About the image:  The bird is a Song Sparrow, plucking seeds from a hoar frost covered stem on a very cold and magical early morning on the refuge wetlands.  You can see frost falling near the tail from the feeding activity. 

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Relaxed Male Northern Harrier

I don’t post perched Northern Harriers often because they’re usually partially hidden in vegetation or the perch is an unattractive one.  Add to that the fact that they’re very nervous birds and typically won’t let me get close.  In the rare case where I can approach the bird, nervousness is usually readily apparent.    1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But three days ago this male made an exception for me.  It was a cold morning and I guess he just didn’t feel like flying in the frigid air so he allowed me to approach reasonably close.  The icing on the cake was that he was on a pleasing perch, in good light and I liked the natural setting and relaxed pose.  I was also hoping for some take-off shots but when he launched he headed almost straight for me and I lost focus on him. Ron

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Indecisive Coyote With A Duck

Coyotes sometimes prowl the causeway to Antelope Island early in the morning.  While they’ll certainly take the occasional vole they may come across, voles aren’t really their intended quarry.  There are far more voles on the island than there are along the causeway.  Coyotes come onto the causeway to scavenge.    1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, not baited During winter there are many ducks along the causeway and occasionally one of them dies – an easy meal for a coyote.  But most often these coyotes are after falcon leftovers.  Peregrine Falcons and Prairie falcons often hunt the causeway and most ducks are too large for either species to completely consume, so there’s nearly always leftovers. Three days ago I found this coyote with a duck.  The bird appeared to be frozen so I suspect it was carrion.  Here, the coyote couldn’t decide which way to go with its meal – left or right, because the causeway is narrow and the animal is confined by the lake in the back and the road in front, which gave me an indecisive posture that I like (despite the side light). Ron

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Female Kestrel With Jesses, In Flight

Yesterday morning we found the female American Kestrel with attached jesses once again.  This time we were able to get a little closer to her than we had before.  This little lady is more difficult to approach than most other kestrels on the island.    1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light I think she looks and acts healthy.  She’s actively hunting and based on the blood on her jesses (most likely from voles) I’d guess that she’s good at it. I immediately called Becka Butcher, the trapper who has been trying to capture this bird so that the jesses can be removed.  Becka made another attempt later in the afternoon but she was unsuccessful.  This bird is extremely wary.  The kestrel approached the trap, even flew down and investigated it closely but would not enter it. Becka said that she and others who are qualified and licensed will continue to try to capture this bird using more “creative methods”, since traditional traps don’t seem to work on her (a number of attempts have been made).  And since she most likely escaped from a rogue, “wannabe” illegal falconer (rather than from an ethical, licensed falconer), once this falcon has been trapped and checked for health issues she will be released back into the wild.  A good thing… Ron

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Brood Patch In A Female Short-eared Owl

One of the primary functions of feathers is insulation and they’re very good at preventing heat loss.  But this efficiency presents a problem – how to keep the egg(s) sufficiently warm during incubation, since feathers act as a barrier to heat transfer from parent to eggs.  Typical bird body temperature is about 104 degrees F. and the ideal incubation temperature for their eggs is very close to normal human body temperature – 98.6 degrees F. That dilemma has been solved by most bird species through the evolution of the “brood patch” – an area of belly skin that loses its feathers near the end of the egg-laying period.  As the feathers are lost, supplementary blood vessels engorge the skin of the “patch” so that hot blood is brought to the surface.  Amazingly, the parent can even shut down blood flow to this region when that bird is off the nest.  When the incubating parent returns to the eggs for incubation, he/she typically goes through settling movements that bring the brood patch into gentle contact with the eggs. The patch may be large or small, depending on a variety of factors including how many eggs are incubated.  Some species have a single patch in the middle of the belly, others may have one each side or even three.   Typically the patch is difficult to observe in wild birds, particularly in flight but I have several images of a female Short-eared Owl where it is visible.  This female had two chicks that she was trying to keep warm during a typically cold Montana spring.   The male…

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Another Positive Development Regarding Lost Falconry Birds

Just a quick post this morning to announce some more good news on the “lost falconry bird” front.  (no, the female kestrel hasn’t yet been recaptured, but I believe efforts are continuing). For those new to this issue, a quick summary:  Occasionally, falconry birds escape through no fault of the handler.  When they do, they typically still have falconry gear attached – jesses, anklets, telemetry gear etc.  Every effort is made by the falconry community to recapture these birds, usually with success.  The larger segment of the problem comes from unethical “rogue” or “wannabe” falconers who capture wild birds illegally and then try to fly them without proper knowledge and experience.   Due to negligence or inexperience these illegal birds sometimes escape with their “gear” attached, which puts them at a distinct disadvantage in the wild.  My good friend and constant photography companion Mia McPherson and I have come across and photographed three of these escaped birds in the last three years.  At least two of the three were most likely the result of rogue falconers rather than the organized falconry community.  More details of what has already transpired can be found here. When someone spots one of these escaped birds in the wild, getting through to the “right” person for reporting and appropriate action is cumbersome, time-consuming and frustrating (believe me, I know!).  It’s difficult to get through all the layers of DWR’s bureaucracy, finding a rehabber who can help isn’t easy and there hasn’t been an efficient avenue for a non-falconer to report a found bird to the falconry community.  The North America Falconer’s Association (NAFA) website…

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Barn Owl Hunting Low In The Phrags

Usually when I’m photographing hunting Barn Owls they’re flying above the stands of Phragmites so I typically get a sky background.  If I’m lucky they’ll be low enough so that I include some of the phrags at the bottom of the frame to include habitat in the image.    1/1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But occasionally the bird will drop down low enough so that I get only phrags in the background and no sky.  For the sake of variety I like the effect, though it sure makes it difficult to keep focus locked on the bird with the vegetation in the background so close to the owl.      1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in  On the very next pass the owl was high enough that I got some sky in the background, along with the frosty Phragmites plumes.      1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Two shots in the burst later the owl was slightly past me and beginning to turn away but this angle gave me a strong catch light in the eye and a somewhat dramatic look at the fully extended left wing. It’s fascinating to watch these birds in the air.  Their buoyant flight with deep, slow wingbeats as they cruise rather slowly will change dramatically when they twist and turn at the beginning of a dive for prey. These owls…

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Good News Regarding The Escaped Peregrine Falcon and American Kestrel

Recently I’ve photographed and posted about two escaped falconry birds – a female American Kestrel and a Peregrine Falcon.  Both were flying free with attached jesses and/or anklets in the vicinity of Antelope Island.  Both were reported to wildlife authorities and to the falconry community but each bird has been a challenge to recapture for a variety of reasons – among them the difficulty of getting proper permission for the licensed trapper to attempt the recapture of the kestrel in a state park.  There were lots of hoops to jump through. It is very likely, for a variety of reasons, that both of these birds were originally captured illegally by “wannabe” falconers and not by anyone in the organized and licensed falconry community. Two days after we found the kestrel we met the licensed trapper out on the island to point out the area where the bird was hanging out and to try to find her, which we never did.   But yesterday morning we spotted the female Kestrel once again, in the very same area where we found her before.  She was far off but when she scratched her face one of the jesses became obvious, as you can see in this photo.  I immediately called the trapper to report that the bird was in the area again and she was enthusiastic about making the attempt but as far as she knew, permissions from the state still hadn’t been obtained. A little background before I get to the good news.  When Mark Runnels (master falconer from Oklahoma) saw my first post on the female kestrel,…

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