And attempting to regurgitate a pellet.
1/4000, f/9, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Yesterday morning this Loggerhead Shrike that I had no idea was anywhere in the vicinity popped out of a sagebrush right next to me, landed on top of it and actually stayed there for a few moments with me quite close. I haven’t been this close to a shrike in a very long time. Having him on good light was a bonus.
1/5000, f/9, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
He didn’t stay there long but very soon after he took off I got this flight shot that I really like. At this point I thought he’d fly far away but almost immediately he…
1/5000, f/9, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
put on his air brakes for a landing nearby.
This shot isn’t as sharp as the others and I didn’t have enough room on the right for a horizontal composition but I decided to include it to show that he didn’t go far.
1/5000, f/9, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
He landed on another sagebrush just a few feet to the right of his previous perch and struck almost exactly the same alert pose he’d been in on the first sagebrush.
1/5000, f/9, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
While he was there he tried to hack up a pellet.
1/5000, f/9, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
He tried several times but without success. As birds often do when they’re trying to regurgitate a pellet he scratched his throat with the toes of one of his feet in an attempt to facilitate the movement of the pellet up his throat. But he turned away from me when he did it so I’m not including that shot.
While I was processing these photos I wondered if I was seeing an insect leg stuck to the underside of his lower mandible so I cropped very tightly on his head to see if doing so allowed me to tell for sure.
It didn’t. I still can’t tell for sure if it’s an insect leg but I think it might be. But the bonus of cropping in so tightly is one of the best looks I’ve ever had in my photos of the tomial tooth (falcon tooth) on his upper mandible.
For those who may be wondering, no I don’t think I’d have been able to get both flight shots, and get at least one of them sharp, if I hadn’t been shooting with the R5. The huge file size of the R5 combined with the full frame sensor and animal/eye detect allowed me to keep him in frame, mostly sharp and still have more than enough pixels for good image quality.
It doesn’t always work that well but it does often enough to make this bird photographer happy.
Ron
PS – I’ve been successful in the past a number of times at photographing shrikes hacking up pellets. If you’re interested, photos can be seen here.
Definitely noticed the leg tucked under his chin (what an odd violin!). He’s a handsome fella — hope he was eventually able to hack up the offending pellet.
Love the tight crop showing off his tongue, tomial tooth, and rictal bristles (the latter two “vocabillary” words are known to me thanks to you, Teech!).
And why does my spellcheck keep wanting to make that “rectal” bristles — that’s a whole ‘nother kettle of fish!
Thanks, Marty. It’s always good to pass stuff along from “teech’ to ‘teech’. Don’t they call that something like collegial sharing?
Excellent series Ron, Thanks for shsaring!
Charlotte Norton
Thank you, Charlotte.
Ron,
Only this group would enjoy following a link to see a bird hock up a lugi! LOL!!
Stephen
And that’s why I love the group, Stephen!
Better out than in!
Great series!
Thanks, April.
I admire the markings of these handsome little bandits ! Wouldn’t want to get
on the business end of that tomial tooth, though…..I hope you get notification today of an appointment coming very soon– maybe this one will be the one that will turn your life around in an excellent direction ! ( we all should have bypassed that “upright” posture– but then, how would we ever have become artists and photographers ? )
Good point about upright posture, Kris. But if I walked on all fours I wouldn’t have a shutter finger!
It DOES look like an insect leg. That landing looks like a lot of work, but he nailed it.
Another wunnaful series. Huge thanks.
Thanks, EC. I looked for this shrike again this morning in the same area I found him yesterday but didn’t find him
Beautiful takeoff capture. I’ve come to think of that as a signature FP image, reminiscent of the Magpie and others.
The landing shot is a puzzle. The feet and claws and I don’t know what, all ajumble.
Other than an an extremely aberrant rictal bristle, it sure looks like a bug appendage.
“it sure looks like a bug appendage”
Lyle, it doesn’t have any articulated spines (bristles) like one might expect if it were an insect leg but I still think there’s a good chance that’s what it is.
I see why you love that new camera! Terrific photographs of one of my favorite birds.
Excellent closeup of that “tooth”.
Thank you, Wally.
I bet you didn’t have to crop this one much! Fantastic closeups.
“I bet you didn’t have to crop this one much”
This should give you the idea, Kent.
My old camera, the 7D Mark II, took 20 MP images. The first flight shot above, taken with the R5, is cropped from 45 MP to 18.1 MP.
So even though I cropped away far more than half of that image I still had almost as many MP’s as an uncropped image taken with my 7DII.
In addition, I had a lot more room in the frame to keep the bird in when it took off. As far as I’m concerned it’s a win all the way around.
Wow – great series Ron. Like the takeoff and the landing is a little soft like you say, but still a very interesting shot. Take off photos for all of us are very common, but landings are not. One of the toughest birds to really see the catch-eye, but that close up is super.
Take it easy on that back.
Thanks, Everett. I have one more fairly physical chore that I feel has to get done before surgery. I’m planning on doing it today and really hoping it doesn’t cause a setback. Gonna be as careful as I possibly can.
NICE! Glad the Shrike cooperated for you……they sure do clear out the yard when they come through. 😉 Whatever it is certainly appears to be “stuck”. New camera seems to be working out well for the most part……
50 this morning – “may” get a bit of rain later – “may” being the operative word 😉
Any word yet on possible surgery date? Would be nice if it were “winter” for it rather than screwing up the summer, BUT take what you can get.
Judy, I saw my surgeon two days ago and they’re supposed to let me know my surgery date sometime today. We’ll see if that happens.
I did not know Shrikes expelled pellets. Learning every day. Thanks teach!
That close crop of the head is amazingly sharp. Geez. Now you have me lusting after a R5.
Michael, the R5 is a bird photographer’s dream in a lot of ways. But there’s a lot of weird things to get used to and the learning curve is steep. I may never have it really mastered.
I don’t think I’ve seen before a photo of a loggerhead shrike in flight that’s nearly this detailed and sharp. You and your new camera continue to make great photos.
“You and your new camera continue to make great photos.”
Nancy, “we” still screw up our share of photos but there’s no question that I’m getting shots that I would have missed with my old camera.