Under the right conditions I like what fog can do to light when it isn’t too thick. Antelope Island at dawn this morning was a jumble of moving, thick pockets of fog. I drove around in an attempt to find some clear spots with birds present but when I would find some sun it wouldn’t take long for the fog to envelope me again. But in one spot, just for a couple of minutes, the effect of the fog on the light was dreamy and ethereal and I loved it.
I was able to get five consecutive shots of this Black-billed Magpie as it took off from the top of its dome-shaped nest last spring on Antelope Island.
Black-billed Magpies feed primarily on carrion, ground-dwelling arthropods and seeds. But yesterday morning I photographed a magpie with an apparent kill, a vole.
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.
On my last Montana trip I think I figured out part of the reason why Black-billed Magpies often perch high on power poles in some areas. I’m sure this apparent behavior is known to others but it was something new for me.
Female Black-billed Magpies beg aggressively for food from the male prior to and during incubation.
Photographing birds as they take off is tricky but with a little luck and perseverance it can be done. Landing shots are much more difficult and often require creative innovation.
Around here Black-billed Magpies are among the first species to begin nest-building activities. It tickles my fancy to see another sign of spring after this miserable winter.
By definition there is often a price to be paid for ethical nature photography since the image you get may not be the one you envisioned or hoped for.
One of the reasons I like to see iridescence in Black-billed Magpies is that it brings out detail in those areas of the deep blacks where you normally don’t see any. Flight shots are inherently more difficult than static shots but ironically I find it easier to get the iridescence to show in flight than I do when they’re perched.
Magpies aren’t among the most glamorous of birds so they don’t get a lot of attention from photographers but I enjoy them for their fascinating behaviors, their gutsiness and their apparent intelligence. And if you want a particularly challenging photographic subject you can’t go wrong with the Black-billed Magpie.
I’ve been watching a Black-billed Magpie nest in a greasewood bush on Antelope Island all spring but the adults are very spooky and always fly off as I approach (the nest is very near a road and I stay in my vehicle on the road). But I’ve been looking forward to seeing the fledglings and I finally got a good look at all five of them last week.
This post is largely about behavior. The image quality ranges from good to mediocre but I think each photo contributes something to a better understanding of magpies. Black-billed Magpies begin nest-building as early as January and these particular birds have been at it for several weeks now. Actually, in this case it’s more a “remodel” than it is “new construction” since this nest has been used for at least the last three years. All of these photos have been taken this week, which accounts for the relatively bright snow and ice background in some of the shots. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light One of the first things you may notice is the fact that sometimes these Black-billed Magpies don’t seem to have black bills. Part of nest construction involves mud gathering and the drying mud on the bill can significantly alter the appearance of the bill. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light Both sexes contribute to nest construction and they’re quite industrious in their efforts. The size of the twigs they bring in is often impressive. 1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light The nest is buried deep in a greasewood bush at about eye level for me. Typically a bird bringing in construction material will land on a nearby perch and look over the nest for a few moments – seeming to plan placement of the twig and an approach path through the myriad of vertical greasewood stems that present significant obstacles to proper placement of such an unwieldy…
I’ve spent the last two mornings photographing Black-billed Magpies in the midst of nest construction. These birds often re-use old nests and this is at least the third year they have used the same one. Even when “recycling” the nest like this, weeks of work go in to refurbishing it – they bring in a completely new lining of grass, mud, rootlets and even bison fur. And they add an amazing number of new twigs to the basic structure. These are industrious birds! I’ve said before that this species is my most challenging avian photographic subject and that fact has been reinforced this week. There are several reasons for that, including: the deep black and bright white combination is hugely difficult to expose properly that aggravatingly long tail makes composition difficult and it is very easy to clip or cut off in action shots they close their nictitating membrane more than any other bird I’ve photographed and when they do its color is a blue-white which is almost shockingly apparent against the black head when they take off from an elevated perch they typically flap once and then fold their wings tightly against the body at exactly the moment when it’s easiest to get them in flight, resulting in what I call a “torpedo-bird” flight posture that is less than desirable the dark eye set against a black head makes it very difficult to get a good catch light in the eye In the last two days I’ve taken over 1200 shots of these magpies and about 95% of them were garbage, largely due…
Black-billed Magpies are loud, flashy and conspicuous black and white birds. And they’re a challenge to photograph well because of the exposure difficulty – getting detail in the blacks without “blowing out” the whites. I probably discard a higher proportion of shots of this species than I do any other. But if you work hard at it (with a little luck thrown into the mix) you can get some pretty spectacular shots that have detail in the blacks and whites and their showy iridescence. The actual plumage of these birds is truly black and white, with no other colors. But in the right light the feather structure (and other factors) on the tail and wings of these birds bends the light much like a prism and produces a variety of colors, predominantly blues and greens. When I’m photographing magpies, one of my goals is usually to capture some of that iridescence. 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light Three days ago I found this magpie perched on a snow-covered boulder on Antelope Island. As you can see the whites are well-exposed but there’s not a lot of detail in the blacks. This is the type of magpie image that I normally wouldn’t do much with except for purposes such as this post (my high shutter speeds were due to the snow and the fact that I was attempting take-off shots). 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light This is the same bird on the same perch but the image was taken…
