For the first six years of my bird photography “career” I rarely encountered banded birds but in the last two years or so I encounter them regularly, some species more than others. Usually when I see a bird with bands or transmitters strapped to their backs I don’t even click the shutter except for documentation purposes.
During our last Montana trip we had multiple sessions over several days with a very cooperative Savannah Sparrow – “cooperative” in the sense that the bird could always be found in the same spot along the shore of Lower Red Rock Lake in Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
Occasionally (very occasionally) I can’t resist the cuteness of a duckling and post it to my blog. It hasn’t happened for a long while now but this little guy put me over the edge.
The 5″ x 8″ (interior dimensions) tree nest hole of the Williamson’s Sapsucker with as many as 6 growing nestlings inside presents a significant potential hygiene problem. This post is about how the adults dealt with that situation as I was photographing them about three weeks near the Montana/Idaho border.
I occasionally use Saturday morning’s post as a testing ground for images that I like personally but are just a little bit different from my usual fare. This is one of those images.
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.
On my Montana trips Short-eared Owls are always one of my primary target species but sadly I seldom see them in recent years. This bird was one of two owls I found in almost five days of searching at the end of last month.
The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the western hemisphere and I was glad I had my lens on this handsome buck when it suddenly began to accelerate.
Sometimes the presence of a tiny, almost miniscule arthropod can make or break a bird photograph.
On our recent camping/photo trip to southwest Montana I observed and photographed a Ferruginous Hawk behavior that has me baffled.
On each our Montana trips we try to explore some new country. We found this Red-naped Sapsucker and its mate at their nest-hole on July 1 near a small lake at the end of a long dirt road.
On the mornings when we leave Montana’s Centennial Valley the 27 miles of dirt road until we hit pavement are always a little depressing because we’re so reluctant to leave that wonderful place. But occasionally our melancholy is assuaged and our spirits lifted by birds and other wildlife we see on the way out.
We were very lucky to find the nesting pair of Williamson’s Sapsuckers in Clark County, Idaho early this summer. For starters, they’re “uncommon” and not often seen. Birders and researchers typically locate most birds by their calls but this sapsucker species is “generally quiet” and doesn’t spontaneously advertise their territories that time of year so passive listening tends to be ineffective in locating them. For this and other reasons Williamson’s Sapsuckers are poorly sampled and studied and there is little data on their numbers.
Believe it or not it was at that moment that a Loggerhead Shrike with a chip on its shoulder swooped in out of nowhere to harass the hawk. Because I was ready for it I was able to get two shots with both birds in the frame. In this first one I don’t believe the hawk yet knows the shrike is there.
The elk near the Centennial Valley spend most of their time in the nearby mountains that border the valley on the south. They’re spooky of humans and our trappings for good reason as they’re hunted relentlessly in season and poachers are a risk year-round in that remote location.
