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.
Last month we ventured out into the west desert in an attempt to locate and photograph buteos and Golden Eagles. With the exception of one adult Red-tailed Hawk and a (mostly uncooperative) Golden Eagle who let us get close it was largely a frustrating morning.
The red-tail was perched in a tree that was swaying in the wind and it was quite entertaining to watch it rockin’ and rollin’ as it attempted to remain stable on its unstable perch.
Handedness is a preference for using one hand (or limb) as opposed to the other. It’s a phenomenon many of us associate strictly with humans but other vertebrates can also show handedness, including birds. For example, many parrot species have a strong and consistent preference for using their left foot when bringing food to the beak.
Based on my own observations in the field I believe that Short-eared Owls may also display handedness.
Chukars continue to be one of my preferred subjects during the winter and spring due to their distinctive and colorful plumage and their often comical behavior. They are abundant on Antelope Island and even somewhat approachable there – at least in comparison to their skittish and wily ways elsewhere (hunters consider them to be among the most challenging of upland game species).
This past summer I posted these first two Loggerhead Shrike images as evidence that the ventral colors of the species change from white to almost black as the summer wears on and asked my readers why this occurs. Several responded with a logical explanation.
Three days ago I photographed a Horned Lark that may demonstrate that those readers were right.
As a bird photographer I continually struggle with the tendency to ignore the more common species. This is a bad habit I’ve tried to break over the years but my success has been limited so I still too often pass on opportunities with species like the American Robin, House Finch, American Coot and Mourning Dove. Many fellow photographers have the same tendency and I think we miss some wonderful shots as a result.
Images of birds in fog often have a unique mood and “feel”. The tendency of many photographers is to attempt to minimize the effects of the fog during processing but I try to resist that temptation and let the image sink or swim on its true merits.
Fog tends to reduce detail and color saturation and causes the subject to appear slightly overexposed. It also often results in high key backgrounds. Some of those effects can be reduced by increasing contrast/saturation during processing but then you are losing the mood provided by the fog in the first place. All I’ve done with this image is crop and sharpen.
Life is far from a bowl of cherries for the Bison of Antelope Island and recently I’ve seen more evidence of that fact. Some of it is caused by natural behavior, some by unfortunate circumstance and some by the thoughtlessness and ignorance of humans.
Two days ago we found this coyote exploring along the Antelope Island causeway. We watched it gnaw on a duck or shorebird carcass (possibly falcon leftovers, based on past experience) and then it continued to look for something, almost anything, to eat. When it reached the end of a rocky spit jutting out into the Great Salt Lake it entertained us with some interesting behavior.
This first image is almost six years old but it includes an owl and a storm that I’ll never forget.
The seriousness of confrontations between Northern Harriers varies with the situation. Conflicts over food, especially during harsh winters, can be intense and dramatic but they often seem to spar with each other just for the “fun” of it. I’ve often seen and occasionally photographed both extremes of aggressive behavior.
It’s been a tough summer for me with Burrowing Owls. Normally I spend a lot of time photographing them but this year they’ve been mostly uncooperative to the extreme – too skittish, too far away, too buried in vegetation and too scarce.
But I had a pleasant surprise two days ago on Antelope Island.
I’ve been photographing Northern Harriers for years now and I still get a thrill whenever I can get close to one of these shy hawks. And if it’s an elusive adult male (the “Gray Ghost”), well that’s just icing on the cake.
