And an avian spectacle along the Antelope Island causeway.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Two days ago my whiskey delivery to Jaimi Butler on Antelope Island paid off with an unexpected close-up encounter with a female American Kestrel along the causeway on my way home. She was hunting intensely, alternating between hovering over potential prey and perch-hunting, so she paid little attention to me.
But the light angle was a problem. She was always on the south side of the causeway so she was side lit or partially back lit. And she usually had her back to me. The only time I had a side view of her she was on this perch where she allowed me to take many photos but I’ll be damned if I could get a catch light in her eye. The thick clouds that had moved in earlier while I was talking to Jaimi didn’t help.
But she was very patient with me and for that I’m grateful.
1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
A few minutes later, while she was hunting from another perch, I managed to get some light in her eye while she had her back to me. I was unusually close to her, especially for a normally skittish kestrel, so I had to take these shots vertically to keep her comfortably in frame.
1/500, f/13, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 114mm
If you’re local and have the opportunity I highly recommend a trip to the island if for nothing more than to experience the hundreds of thousands of Northern Shovelers near the west end of the causeway.
They’re quite close to the road and there’s so many of them I couldn’t come close to fitting them all in the frame, even in photos like this one taken with my “baby lens” at only 114mm. There’s a few other species mixed in but in the very brief time I spent with them they appeared to be mostly shovelers.
But there’s at least one bird in this photo that very obviously isn’t a shoveler. Can you spot it?
An adult Bald Eagle (circled in red) hanging around the pantry for the next time it got hungry. It’s almost like the pantry was so full all the eagle had to do was open the door and a few shovelers would fall out.
OK, I’ll fess up to something a little embarrassing. My intention was to get a shooting angle on the shovelers that allowed me to get as many of them in frame as possible so I drove right past that eagle without spotting it. I didn’t even know it was there until I looked at my photos at home. If I’d known it was there I’d have hung around with my big lens in an attempt to capture the eagle hunting shovelers, which had the potential of getting some pretty spectacular photos.
Once again my far from 20/20 visual acuity bit me in the butt.
Ron
I DONT HAVE A LOT TO AD EXCEPT th female Kestral has always been a favorite with her big do-like eyes. The fluff on her chest should keep her warm. As for the Shovelers, yes, it was fascinating to see the numbers1 My eye went to the Eagle and I thought it may be one. What a bummer you missed it. Good of you to “own that”. Happy shooting. I formerly lived in Carefree, AZ but we came to St. George over a year ago. Ice to see your blog again. Linda.
Excellent, excellent, excellent!!
I absolutely love the Kestrel, but blown away by the number of shovelers!
I’m surprised you didn’t see any other predators.
Hey at our age we do OK – tough not having the vision we were once known for!!
I really like the second pose, my favorite position, and I like the subdued light. I was great of you to take Jaimi a treat and visit. Was she one of your past students also? I am thrilled with the work she is doing.
Yes, the causeway has been a treat. Now that I am working again I have less time to get out, however with the sun rising earlier and my work schedule starts at 10am I might be able to sneak in a fast trip to part of the Island.
No, she isn’t a former student April. The first time I met her was in her office at Westminster about 10 years ago.
Wow. How I love the reward that your good deed gave you.
I would be completely blown away to see that many birds of any species. And no, without your helpful red circle I would have looked for a long, long time without seeing the eagle.
EC, I’m a little surprised I spotted the eagle in the photo. But my eye kept going back to that semicircle free of shovelers surrounding the ice that “something” was on. So I looked at the high res version of the image to see what it was and sure enough – an eagle.
I just wish I’d spotted it while I was there.
Sweet!
Thanks, Michael.
She is beautiful even in that challenging light. Sure hope she found something to eat somewhere on that cold hard ground. Excellent shots Ron. I’ve mentioned before that I work with the Kestrel restoration folks here in Prescott and so far this winter it appears that we are seeing more of them than usual, and that of course is what we hope for.
The Northern Shoveler photo is truly remarkable. I had no idea there were that many of them anywhere. I’m just guessing, but here in our lakes I think it is really exceptional if we have even fifty at any one time. Thanks for included that information.
Thanks, Everett. A lot of folks mostly ignore shovelers, maybe because they look so much like Mallards. But in the right situations they can be a lot of fun to photograph.
The kestrel shots are exquisite. I especially like the way you caught the
puffy “halo” of breast feathers –being blown back by the wind-? In the
second shot……do that many shovelers routinely show up at the Great Salt Lake annually in winter ? “Science Friday” ( NPR )yesterday played a report about an exponential INCREASE in Monarch butterflies which showed up this season in their California wintering grounds……reason still unknown…….no reference was made to the population which winters in Mexican forests…..
Kris, actually there was no wind. She had her feathers out in order to keep warm – yes it was very cold.
This time of year we often get a lot of shovelers along this particular part of the causeway but not always this many and often they’re not clumped up so tightly. The low lake level contributed to their clumping.
I thought I saw the Bald Eagle but I guess it’s a rock closer to the center of the frame.
The over the shoulder pose of the Kestrel is a winner. The puffed up feathers attests to the temperature, as Sterling alluded to. Looks like she could use a shot of whiskey to take the chill off.
Lyle, I was fresh (emphasis on the “fresh”) out of whiskey so Mrs. Kestrel was out’a luck.
Luv the Kestrel, of course! 😉 That IS a lot of Shovelers! Spotted the Eagle tho sure didn’t know what it was….
We’ve been doing huge flocks of Canada Geese in some of the fields on the way to town. Lots of fertilizer tho may not be helping the winter wheat seedlings… 😉
Have you done the cataracts yet?
“Have you done the cataracts yet?”
After I posted I wondered if someone would ask that question. Nope, I’ve been putting it off until Covid settles down, if it ever does.
Sure was Ron. I was just making a quick trip to the rangers office and the only camera I had was a cell phone. All shots were blurry. Still drive the red truck. With temps in the low teens I hadent planed on getting any great shots.
I’ll watch for you out there.
When I saw the eagle four days ago it was having dinner in the foreground of your law shot. He sure didn’t have to go far for his meal. It was hard to see any water with thousands of shovelers bobing around.
Pretty neat isn’t it, Sterling. I’ve missed seeing you around and jabber-jawing a little. Still driving the red pickup? If so, I’ll keep an eye out for you.
These photos of a kestrel are exquisite, Ron!
Thank you, Alison.
Exquisite shots of the Kestrel, especially the second one. That’s really quite a good look at all her markings. What a lovely bird. And, to echo other comments, who knew Shovelers congregated like that? Astounding! Thanks as usual, Ron.
Glad you enjoyed them, Kathryn.