The Greater Sage-Grouse is a spectacular bird in many ways. They’re our largest grouse – males may approach 7 lbs. The dramatic breeding display of the males on the lek is mind-boggling. And to have one of these birds flush at your feet is literally a heart-stopping experience – something I know from experience.
But these birds are in great danger of extinction due to dramatic loss of habitat.
No great photography this morning but this Chukar just might bring a smile to your face.
Some folks wonder why I don’t photograph flowers. Well, I do. When they’re in the background or setting of something with feathers!
The bird was so enthusiastic about its morning stretch that it even stood on its toes at the end (reminded me of some people when they stretch).
I’ve mentioned before how very reluctant Chukars are to fly. They much prefer to scurry away through the grasses whenever they feel insecure or threatened.
And that reluctance also applies when they’re ready to leave an elevated perch. They’ll nearly always find a way to scramble down a big rock rather than fly from it like most other birds would. That tendency was demonstrated to me twice yesterday morning on Antelope Island.
The Gray Partridge has a fairly limited range in North America and most folks don’t get to see them so I thought some of my readers might be interested in a post on the species. This bird prefers the grasslands and grainfields of our northern wheat-belt so they’re fairly common on our family farm in northwest Montana.
Gray Partridges are often called Hungarian Partridges, or “Huns” for short.
Early last Sunday morning was a good time for Chukars on Antelope Island. It was too early for the weekend crowds who were mostly still home snoozing away, the light was great and the Chukars cooperative.
I’ve never been able to get a Chukar in flight or taking off, largely because they’re so hesitant to fly. Even when they’re perched on an elevated rock they usually just hop to the ground when they’re ready to leave. And when they do fly, typical of most upland game birds, they fly very fast, low to the ground and away from you which makes for an almost impossible target. But I got one yesterday morning, taking off. 1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 100-400 @260mm, natural light This bird was acting as a sentry (also called a sentinel) for a small group of other Chukars nearby. It’s observation perch of choice was a sign post that was high enough that it had to actually fly when it decided to leave. I was too close to this bird for my 500mm lens so I quickly grabbed my 100-400 zoom lens and when it looked like it might be thinking of taking off I zoomed back far enough to give the Chukar enough room to fly into. I had plenty of light for a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the wings of even this buzz-saw flier (those relatively short wings on such a chunky bird really have to churn to get it airborne) and was lucky enough to catch the wings in a position I like. A more appealing perch would have been nice but I’m pleased with the way most everything else turned out. Ron
Our Chukars are generally easier to approach in the spring and early summer than they are the rest of the year. Right now, pair bonds are being formed and the birds seem more concerned with others of their own kind than they are about me and my pickup.
Sometimes a change of position of just a few inches can have a fairly dramatic affect on the overall “feel” of an image. That was the case with this Antelope Island Chukar. 1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light I found the bird on a rock ledge and slightly above me which gave an almost eye-level perspective that I like. Occasionally it would call, as they’re very prone to do. 1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light But then it began to walk a short distance to my right (I’m always surprised that the bottoms of their feet are yellow)… 1600, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light which brought the snow-covered hillside in the background into play. At first there was a mix of snow and blue sky back there… 2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light but then I deliberately raised my window a couple of inches (as usual I was shooting from my pickup) to take the blue sky out of the picture. And the bird obliged me by calling once again. Most of the snow is finally gone from the island now. Even the roads to the Frary Peak trailhead and White Rock Bay are open – they’ve been closed for months due to snow. Hopefully that’s a sign that the curlews and Willets (and other spring birds) won’t be far behind. Hope so – it’s been a long dry spell on the island. Ron
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…
Chukars typically forage in small flocks and when they do one of them often sits on an elevated perch and serves as a sentry while the others are looking for food. 1/2500, f/8, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light This bird chose a pile of snow that had been pushed up high by a snow plow along the edge of a road. 1/3200, f/8, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light When the rest of the flock wandered off it decided it was time to look for a safe way down from its lofty perch. 1/2500, f/8, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light When they do so they’re very deliberate about it. This bird investigated several pathways down before settling on this direction. It’s quite a ways down so “he” was pretty careful about it. 1/2500, f/8, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, natural light Most birds would at least open their wings to soften the landing. Not Chukars. I’ve often been impressed by how far they’re willing to free-fall without using their wings. I sometimes refer to Chukars as “rock-hoppers” – guess I’ll have to add “snow-hoppers” to the list. Since I was using my 100-400mm zoom lens for this sequence I wish I’d had time to back off a bit on the focal length for the jump, but I didn’t. Consequently I had to add some canvas for composition. It’s harder to get them in mid-air, sharp and composed well than it looks. Ron
Two days ago we had great fun with Chukars on Antelope Island. The afternoon before had been relatively warm, melting the top layer of snow which then froze into a thin crust on top of the snow during the night. Our timing was perfect as we found a large covey of Chukars flitting between sagebrush and rabbitbrush for cover just as the morning sun was beginning to soften the hard crust. As you view these photos, keep in mind that most of the sequences were shot in bursts of 8 frames per second. The action was pretty fast. When these birds were walking, the crust would support their weight but they just couldn’t resist the impulse to run. And when they did… the crust, which had only become soft in the last few minutes, would usually give way… leaving a very surprised bird stuck in the snow. The bird would then pull out of the snow. This one almost looks like it’s looking around to see if any of its buddies saw its silly maneuver. Usually they seemed to know that they needed to walk instead of run, which they did for a few steps but then they nearly always tried to run again. It was hilarious to watch and it happened repeatedly. This was one of those few times that I wish I’d been prepared to shoot video but I think the still shots still give a pretty good sense of what was happening. Another…
Native to Asia, the Ring-necked Pheasant is one of the most successful introduced bird species in North America. They are exceptionally prized by hunters and may be the most studied game bird in the world. In Utah, as in much of their adopted range, their numbers are declining due to modern farming technologies and practices which are responsible for degradation of their preferred habitat (small farms with diversified crops and many patches of idle habitat). Collisions with vehicles are a major cause of pheasant mortality. In a Nebraska study, 7,195 (known) pheasants were killed by vehicles in a 439 mile section of Interstate 80 in 7 years. (I once hit a beautiful male pheasant while driving a very large U-haul truck at 65 mph. It glanced off the windshield, which definitely got my attention, then wedged in the side-mirror, which it broke. I expected to be charged for the mirror but the U-haul folks were fly fishermen and were so delighted to get the tail feathers for tying flies that they let me off with no charge). During winters with heavy snowfall and severe cold these birds require dense winter cover such as cattails in wetlands, which is part of the reason they do well at Farmington Bay WMA where these photos were taken recently. Because of the snow and bright sunshine my camera techs were all over the map and pretty meaningless so I’m not including them this time. These heavy-bodied birds are somewhat reluctant to fly so deep powdery snow presents some problems for them. Typically they push their bodies through…
