Today I digress from birds or even mammals. Our subject will have no feathers or fur – instead we’ll see paired wings, body segments, antennae and an incredibly long “tongue”. And we’ll have close-up looks at a fascinating insect in flight.
When common birds perform uncommon behaviors it catches my eye. And hopefully my lens. This was a behavior completely new to me for this species.
In my experience Red-tailed Hawks in flight most often carry prey in their talons but this molting adult surprised me a little.
Moose encounters aren’t everyday occurrences for me so three weeks ago I was delighted to come across this very dark cow moose and her calf as I explored the back roads on the border of southwest Montana and Idaho.
The distinctive bright yellow feet and deeply contrasting jet-black legs of the Snowy Egret can really grab your eye when they’re visible above the water’s surface or even when the egret is in flight – so much so that both the bird and its feet are often referred to as “golden slippers”.
Generally the White-faced Ibis is non-aggressive as it feeds in large groups of its own kind. Even when they accidentally bump into each other there is usually no aggressive response. But there are exceptions…
I tend to like quirky photographs that make me think for a moment or send mixed signals to my brain. Or both. For me, this image is one of those.
American White Pelicans eat fish almost exclusively and the size range of fish they’ll attempt to swallow can be extreme. If they show poor judgment they can get into serious trouble.
Juvenile Black-billed Magpies have significantly less iridescence in their plumage than the adults so the amount that appeared in this young bird surprised me.
Yesterday morning at Farmington Bay I photographed a subtle but interesting bit of kingbird behavior that caught my attention and piqued my curiosity.
On a visit to Glover Pond last week I found this Greater Yellowlegs resting on a rock surrounded by relatively clear, still water which I thought made a nice setting for the bird (even though the rock also provided some compositional challenges).
Rabbits, both wild and domestic, are notorious for heavy tick infestations and the cottontails and jackrabbits on Antelope Island share that miserable fate.
Yesterday morning I decided to break with one of my long-standing traditions and brave the potential crowds by visiting one of the more popular birding sites in the area on a weekend – Glover Pond near Farmington Bay WMA. One of my goals was to locate and photograph the Little Blue Heron that has been hanging around in the area for the last couple of weeks. That bird is causing a lot of excitement in the birding and photography communities because it’s so far out of its range. I never did find that heron but this one more than made up for it.
I make every effort in the field to “read” the behavior of my avian subjects. Sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m not but either way it’s a learning experience for me and my percentage of accuracy does seem to be improving. One of the payoffs can be better bird photographs for a variety of reasons.
Typically I tend to not be a fan of flight shots where the bird is already past me but though this Swainson’s Hawk has already done so I keep coming back to the image for a combination of reasons.
