Category: Magpies and Ravens

Some Random Recent Images

I have an appointment early this morning so I don’t have time for a detailed, organized post so I thought I’d present a little potpourri from the last few weeks.  Though none of these images are spectacular, there’s something about each one of them that appealed to me in some way.   Common Ravens are a hugely challenging subject for me because of their uncooperative behavior and the difficulty of getting detail in the blacks.   For some reason, these birds really seem to eat a lot of snow, which this one had been doing just before take-off.  I do wish the head were slightly sharper but I like the remnants of the snow-eating behavior and how cleanly the bird is presented against the background which is the Great Salt Lake with the snow-covered shoreline at bottom right.     Finding water that isn’t ice-covered around here isn’t easy, for me or for the critters, but I think that’s the only reason this Muskrat came as close to me as it did.  I found this one at a pond close to my home.     Ok, not a classic wing position for sure but the aerodynamic profile of this fast flying Prairie Falcon still appealed to me.  I also like the eye contact and crisp detail in flight.     Life is tough for Coyotes right now as they live in a stark white world of deep snow which makes survival difficult.  Many of them wear an almost perpetual snow mask from pushing their faces through the snow as they try to follow…

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An Osprey, A Fish And A Thieving Magpie

Yesterday Mia and I returned from a three day camping and photo trip to Flaming Gorge.  We had great weather for most of our time there and as usual the scenery and ambience were awesome.  At an elevation over 6000′ many of the birds that we usually see there apparently haven’t arrived yet but we spent some quality time with a pair of nesting Osprey – a species that I’ve had little luck with in the past.    1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This pole with all the attached ugly hardware was within a few feet of the nesting platform and early one morning this Osprey landed on the pole with a freshly caught fish.  At first I figured that this bird would deliver the fish to its mate on the nest (I have a lot to learn about this species) but it didn’t.  It’s intention was to eat the fish itself but as you’ll see, those plans were delayed by an interloper.     It didn’t take long for this Black-billed Magpie to show up and torment the rightful owner of the fish.  This Osprey removed and dropped the intestines in pieces and it seemed obvious to me that the magpie had learned that particular feeding pattern and came looking for  tidbits that had landed on the wires below the Osprey.  Here you can see one of those bits in the beak of the magpie that it had picked off of the metal above its head.   So far the Osprey doesn’t seem too…

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Just A Shot That I Like… #16 – Black-billed Magpie In Flight

Black-billed Magpies aren’t appreciated by everyone.  Their raucous behavior and scavenging habits put some folks off but I’m quite fond of them for their relatively high intelligence and incredibly interesting behaviors (examples – they conduct ritualistic “funerals” of up to 40 birds around the dead bodies of other magpies and you haven’t lived until you’ve seen one tormenting a cat by repeatedly pulling its tail).    That said, they’re very difficult photographic subjects.  Their black plumage soaks in the light while the bright white feathers reflect nearly all of it so getting exposure and detail in the overall bird is incredibly challenging.  I probably delete a higher percentage of images I take of magpies than I do of any other species I regularly photograph which makes getting an image I like especially rewarding .  I enjoy meeting the challenge…         1/1250, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4 When the light’s at the right angle you can sometimes get impressive iridescence in the blacks which also helps to bring out some of the detail there.  This bird had just taken off from the sagebrush that its nest is deeply buried in.  And it was even considerate enough to give me a pleasing head turn and eye contact as it did so. I’ve photographed this bird and its mate at their nesting site for three years now (and yes I’m very careful not to disturb them).  Can’t wait for early spring to try it again.  Ron  

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Critters Among the Sunflowers of Antelope Island

Antelope Island is ablaze with color this fall, provided by the common sunflower Helianthus annus.  The sunflower display is really quite spectacular this year – the most prolific I’ve ever seen it.  I suspect it’s because of the very wet spring we’ve had.  The sunflowers can provide a very pleasing setting for wildlife photography, whether the flowers are in focus along with your subject or out of focus to show off some  pleasing and unusual color in the background bokeh.      Canon 40D @ 72mm, 1/800, f/6.3, ISO 320, EV +0.33  It’s unusual for me to get so close to a pronghorn that I don’t have to use a telephoto lens but these bucks are in rut right now and they’re so intent on herding their harem of females that they’re not nearly so wary of people and vehicles.  So I quickly pulled out my old 40D and shot this handsome fella at only 72mm while he was right next to my pickup and staring intently at his ladies close by.  This allowed me to keep many of the sunflowers relatively sharp and gave a different “feel” to the image than I usually get with my big glass.       Canon 7D, 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 640, EV + 0.33, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In contrast to the previous image, this Vesper Sparrow was shot with my 500mm and 1.4 teleconverter (1120mm with the crop factor of the 7D) at f/5.6 which gave me very little depth of field – just enough to get the sparrow sharp but the sunflowers in the background…

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Short-eared Owls Defending Their Nest Against Predators

Recent reports from others indicate that bird activity on Antelope Island is slowing down now and our experience out there recently would agree with that assessment so yesterday when Mia and I were trying to decide where to go shooting birds we were a little hesitant about another trip to the island.  But even with things slowing down we almost never fail to find something interesting to photograph and yesterday was certainly no exception!   Canon 7D, 1/800, f/7.1, ISO 500, EV 0, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Soon after arriving on the island we noticed a pair of Short-eared Owls, obviously mated based on their behavior.     Canon 7D, 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 500, EV 0, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This owl was carrying a vole and we immediately suspected that the pair had a nest in the vicinity, which turned out to be true.  It was quite a distance from the road and buried in vegetation but we could tell its location by watching this owl deliver food to the nest site – either to the mate or to both the mate and chicks.  We watched and photographed the birds for a while but when things slowed down we went further down the island.     Canon 7D, 1/1600, f/8, ISO 640, EV + .67, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc On our return to the area of the nest we immediately saw a quickly developing drama.  A young coyote had apparently just crossed the road and was approaching the nest area and the owls were in…

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Common Raven Disposing of Eggshells

 When this Common Raven landed on a large rock fairly close to me last week on Antelope Island I could see that it had something in its beak and assumed that it was some type of food.  It wasn’t until I got home and processed the images that I could tell what it was.   Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/2500, f 6.3, ISO 500 It turns out that it was eggshell, presumably from its own nest.  In researching Common Raven eggs I found that they have this kind of marking and color (though there is some variability in both) and this shell remnant seemed to be about the right size for a raven so my assumption is that it’s a raven eggshell and not leftovers from a meal from raiding the nest of another bird.  There is a raven nest relatively close to this rock.    Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/2500, f 6.3, ISO 500 Here the raven is very carefully placing the shell in a crevice in the rocks.  At the time I took the photo I couldn’t figure out why the bird would simply abandon what I thought was food.      Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/3200, f 6.3, ISO 500 Here the raven has dropped the eggshell…     Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/2000, f 7.1, ISO 500 and then it hopped to the peak of the rock to “crow” about its accomplishment. Birds of North America Online says this about raven eggshell disposal – “No…

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Black-billed Magpie Nesting Behavior

This past spring and summer I had the opportunity to observe and photograph nesting behaviors of Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island in northern Utah.  Magpies are common in Utah and much of the western US but they’re typically difficult to approach (and very challenging to photograph well because of the contrast of their coal-black and almost pure white plumage) but this pair of birds was so intent on their nest-building activities that they virtually ignored my presence.     Mated pair of Black-billed Magpies Magpies are monogamous and typically mate for life.  This is a mated pair on top of their domed nest in a sagebrush.  The male is on the left, the female on the right – males are about 20% larger than females so they are sexually dimorphic.  As you can see from the muddy bill of the female they’ve been actively building the mud-bowl found inside the nest.   Typically the male provides the heavier branches and sticks for the nest and the female delivers most of the mud for the mud bowl, which probably explains why the female’s bill is so muddy while the male’s is not.      Obtaining mud for then nest    The mud for the bowl of the nest was obtained wherever the birds could find it.  When we’d had dry weather they would have to fly quite a distance to get any but after a recent rain they would often get it very close by.  This bird has just scooped up a bill-full.  When it’s available they’ll sometimes use fresh cattle or bison dung in place…

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Photographing Birds on Antelope Island

  My previous post was an overview of the geology of Antelope Island and its non-bird wildlife.  Here, I’ll focus on its birds.   Juvenile Loggerhead Shrike begging for food Loggerhead Shrikes are common on many parts of the island during summer.  They can be a challenge to approach but those few that nest close to the road eventually get used to traffic so if you photograph from your vehicle you can often get quite close.  Here this juvenile was begging for food that was being delivered by a parent just out of frame to the left.    Loggerhead Shrike with dragonfly  Shrikes are often called “butcher birds” for their practice of temporarily impaling their prey on thorns or other sharp projections.   This juvenile had done just that with the dragonfly but it wasn’t very good at it yet and in the end just decided to eat it instead of store it away.     Loggerhead Shrike with spider Shrikes are opportunistic carnivores known to feed on insects, spiders, amphibians, small reptiles, rodents and other birds.   This one also attempted to impale the prey before eating it.     Juvenile Burrowing Owl practicing its parallax technique on me Burrowing Owls are one of my favorite species on the island though they can be difficult to locate from year to year as they often don’t seem to nest in the same burrow the next year.  In the summer of 2009 there was an entire family of owls along the causeway to the island nesting under concrete rubble, as in the…

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