Ringing in the new year with older images. Each of the following six photos was published in the two month period between December 1, 2010 and January 31, 2011.
- I’ve been posting photos daily to Feathered Photography for about ten years now. Many of them haven’t been seen since the first day they were published and I think some of them deserve better than that. So it’s my intention, once or twice each month, to post a few images from the distant past. They won’t all necessarily be my ‘best’ photos – some will have behavioral significance and others will be images I have a sentimental attachment to for a variety of reasons. Long time followers of Feathered Photography will have seen some of them before but I think most of us enjoy the occasional ‘golden oldie’.
A recently fledged Great Horned Owl youngster greeting the morning with an enthusiastic yawn.
The owl was perched on the east side of an old abandoned granary on our Montana family farm that was built by my grandfather and/or uncle back in the 30’s. This was one of the first times I managed to photograph one of the beloved farm owls after I bought my 500mm birding lens so between the perch with family history significance and the adorable young owl this photo has special meaning for me.
Besides, I love old wood and owls.
A Black-billed Magpie with nesting material in its bill taking off in the direction of the nest it was refurbishing. Long-time blog followers have seen this image several times before but since it’s one of my favorite photos of all time and it was taken in the proper time frame I had to include it.
A Pied-billed Grebe with a fish trying to run on ice in an attempt to escape the thieving intentions of the grebe swimming in the background.
The leg attachment at the rear of the body makes walking on solid surfaces next to impossible for all grebe species so this was a very unusual behavior that I was highly pleased to document, despite the obvious technical inadequacies of the photo. Readers know that I’m a sucker for documenting interesting behaviors.
A banded adult Bald Eagle performing a wing stretch in the elm tree in my side yard.
This was one of several eagles that roosted in my tree in midwinter for four or five years running. The pose is unusual for an eagle and the bird is in my own yard so how could I not include it.
A Cinnamon Teal x Green-winged Teal hybrid performing a wing flap at Bear River MBR.
This is a hybrid mix that isn’t often seen and I like both the setting and the pose. Large prints of this photo and the Black-billed Magpie photo above hang in the new Eccles Wildlife Center Auditorium at Farmington Bay.
Two Northern Harriers in a nasty fight over the remains of a Mallard mostly hidden behind the bird on the right. Yes, all those puffy white things on the ice are Mallard feathers.
The talons of one harrier are actually buried in the chest of the other. This is likely to be the only photo with clipped wings that makes it into my “Favorite Photos from the Distant Past” series but I had to include it because of the timing of the action I captured. The speed of the talon strike was so incredibly fast I didn’t even know it happened until I looked at my images at home.
I took an entire series of photos of harriers fighting over the Mallard but many of them will never see the light of day because I’m not sure the harriers weren’t baited. It’s possible that another photographer had placed the Mallard in a photogenic spot on the ice early that morning before I arrived. This is one of the photos I’d already posted on a bird photography critique forum (NPN) before I became suspicious of the possible baiting.
Last night as I lay in bed long before midnight after being rudely awakened by #!@%ing fireworks I figuratively gave 2020 a swift kick in the ass and slammed the door behind it. We probably have at least 20 more days of misery before things begin to get better but I have at least some hope that they eventually will. For all of us.
Happy New Year everyone!
Ron
Dear Ron,
It was after seeing your photo of the Black-billed Magpie on your blog in 2010 that I decided to write my blog and illustrate it with my photos. I certainly don’t have your skills as a photographer or storyteller, but that’s not important. The important thing is to share our encounters and our discoveries with other people and to give them the desire to do the same. You inspired me in 2010 and you still do. This is priceless.
Wow, I didn’t know that Laval. Thanks very much for telling me.
2 months? Astounding collection. I’d be happy for one of those in my lifetime.
And I thought American Coots had the weirdest feet. The Pie-billed Grebe may have it beat.
Lyle, not all of these shots were taken within those two months. But I posted each one to my blog within that time frame.
And yes, coots and grebes do have some of the weirdest looking feet.
Wow! What a great way to start the new year. Thanks, Ron! There’s a lot to like about ALL of these, but the … flow of the magpie really caught my eye. Here’s to health and good light in 2021.
Thanks very much, Ellen.
What a way to start 2021! Thank you, Ron! Every time I see that beautifully weathered granary, I imagine the sight it must have been right after it was built, with all that fresh, gleaming wood. The yawning former fuzzbutt is icing on the cake.
I feel like I could write a paragraph about each shot, they’re all so wonderful! I’ll save you from my verbosity and simply wish you and the entire FP community a safe and happy 2021.❤️
Marty, to get the lumber for those old granaries my grandpa had to drive a ’29 Ford grain truck 160 miles over the mountains to Kalispell and then return with it. Each granary took multiple trips. And then it had to be built. Those were hard times back then near the end of the Great Depression.
That ’29 grain truck was still running when I started driving it during harvest in the late 50’s when I was a pre-teen so I heard lots of stories about it.
Now THOSE are pictures I’d love to see!
Hi,
Wonderful photos! Until you get a magpie in the right light, you think it’s “just”black and white.
Where was your property in MT? East of Browning along the Hi-Line?
I’m from Helena and now live in Oregon.
Kathryn M.
Kathryn, the farm is 17 miles northwest of Cut Bank, quite close to the Alberta border. Looking to the west the view includes Glacier National Park, Marias Pass and Chief Mountain.
Aha, got it. There’s some serious weather there. Not for the faint of heart. Was your family growing wheat?
“Serious weather” is an understatement. We grew both wheat and barley but in most years it was more barley than wheat.
Happy New Year Ron, I love the pied on ice, it made me laugh out loud.
I had a few delicious rum drinks before bed, probably too many, slept like a log! Jon said there were a lot of big fireworks at midnight.
April, if you slept like a log it probably wasn’t TOO many… 🙂
Happy New Year to you and your followers, Ron! New Year’s Day is perfect for the flashback photos, they’re all worth recalling (even as the year just behind is not). Looking forward to a mix of the old with the new in 2021! 😉
Thanks, Chris. I hope they’re mostly new in 2021 but for that to happen the weather and my luck will have to improve significantly.
Our rescue girls are getting better about the F*(&&(&ing fireworks. I only had to get up once to calm them. They just needed some sweet words and nose cuddles. I love the magpie one. 😀 That color!
Good. Some progress.
Fantastic post Ron! Thank you so very much for your daily dose of nature’s bounty.
Rick
Thank you, Rick. I didn’t think there was any kind of fireworks I liked but the example you emailed me was an exception… 🙂
I suspect a lot of us felt a bit like that harrier with a talon in his chest this year. Happy New Year and thank you for your wonderful blog! 🦉❄️
Your first sentence was gloriously perfect, Cathy. Wish I’d thought of it for my text.
I keep going back to look at the owl. It makes me smile every time! Thanks again, Ron, for your commitment to photographing our feathered cousins. Without your work and willingness to share it all with us, our days would be a little more dull and lacking a bit of the joy we feel. It is such a huge gift you give to the world.
Thanks very much for the kind words, Nina.
Superb series Ron! Thanks for sharing! Happy New Year!!
CharlotteNorton
Thank you, Charlotte.
In 2021–I wish you many days of good light and ample beautiful– and even
unusual– subjects to “capture”–not to mention a healthy and painfree ( or
pain-controlled, at least ) body with which to function . I never tire of seeing
the images and reading your recollections around the owls living in your
family’s farm and barn . Thanks, daily, for beauty and education !
Good to know you appreciate the farm owls as I do, Kris. For me they’re very special. And I also appreciate your wishes for me to be pain free, or close to it.
As a never golden oldie I am more than happy to see this series. And have already scrolled up and down several times and no doubt will revisit during the day. Many, many thanks.
Hiss and spit at the fireworks – which the dread virus pretty much eliminated here. There has to be something good in everything and this may have been covid 19’s time to shine.
EC, here in the states we’re not smart enough to eliminate fireworks or any of our other “freedoms” because of the virus.
Cheers to a Happy New Year Ron! Love these photos – the eagle looks like he’s doing a yoga pose! The photo of the black billed magpie is simply magnificent! And the harrier talon pulling the chest of his opponent is a miracle photo. Thank you for sharing virtual tea with my husband Brian and me each morning (virtual coffee for you by request). Looking forward to a year filled with bird wonder and awe. 😊
“virtual coffee for you by request”
I’m glad you remembered, Kathleen. Tea just doesn’t click my shutter button.
Love your blog, love this feature – keep them coming!
Well, you’ve twisted my arm so I will Stephanie. 🙂 No more often than twice each month though.
I seldom comment here now but it is always a pleasure to see your photos and read your lessons.
Happy New Year to you too.
Thanks, Jorge. Good to know you’re still hanging out here.
Happy New Year, Ron.
Thanks so much for the daily email with your beautiful photography. First thing I look at each morning. Lifts my soul.
Stay safe!
Very good to know, Tom Thank you.
Outstanding all. My favorite is the eagle on your old tree. Looks like he or she is doing eagle push-ups or made a badly misjudged landing. Beautiful photo though. Let’s hope for a better 2021 and that these vaccines really work.
Thanks, Everett. That’s the only time I’ve seen that pose from an eagle of either species.
Happy new year 2021, Ron! Thank you for a daily dose of wonderful bird photos throughout the years. I’m looking forward to them every morning. Wishing you good health, good gear and lots of cooperating feathered subjects in 2021!
Thanks, Miriam. I’ll consider 2021 a major improvement if any one of your wishes for me come true.
Fun and beautiful photo’s. Of course, I’m crazy about the owls so that’s a favorite……😀. The fighting Harriers’ is REALLY something – that talon in the chest could REALLY do some serious damage 😲
I love fireworks in the appropriate setting. Annual thing for me to watch the display over Sidney Harbor…….😍 It’s one more thing “special people” are SO inconsiderate about…….
Happy New Year to all – sure hope it’s an improvement over 2020!
Thanks, Judy. If you look closely you can see that the chest wall of the harrier on the left is actually being pulled outward by the talons of the other harrier.
Saw that! Appears to be skin tearing……..😳
My New Year’s celebration was also swearing at the fireworks in my area that awakened me as well. Love the pictures and the prose. Hope we can survive the next 20 days without too much stress and I look forward to a much more civil life after the 20th. Take care.
Betty, If I were King of the World I’d ban fireworks altogether, with the possible exception of public municipal displays. And I’d have to think about that possible exception…
And a hearty second to that – you King, and no fireworks!
We’re having an ice storm here, which started last night. That, plus we live out of town, so no fireworks and amazingly no gunfire… they do love firing their rifles and shotguns from time to time.
I wish you and yours and all your followers a better, brighter year ahead. May all you have be all that you need.
Wonderful series of winners! Yes to saying goodbye to smelly old 2020!!
Thanks, Dan.