Tag: black billed magpie

Golden Eagle In The Wind And Cold

It was a brutal morning on the island yesterday with 25 degree F temps, winds of over 4o mph, fresh snow and icy roads.  It was eerie-sounding to drive on the roads as the night before the snow had partially melted and then froze hard into a bumpy, icy and noisy sheet.  I knew there’d be no sneaking up on any birds because my pickup sounded like a freight train approaching on that crunchy ice.   The gulls were just about the only birds out and about.  They seemed to enjoy soaring in the wind but when they’d settle into the water they chose areas partially protected from the wind, like this cove where the causeway meets the island.       The night before the wind had pasted snow onto the sides of the bison and then it froze to their hides.  Some of them were mostly covered with ice.  This image and the next one should give regular readers of my blog some idea of why I occasionally grumble about all the dried sunflowers we have this year.  They make it virtually impossible to get a clear shot of any subject on the ground.       1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc We had just about resigned ourselves to being essentially “skunked” for the morning when we spotted this Golden Eagle not too far from the road.  It was feeding on what I assume was a jack-rabbit (it was relatively large and there are lots of them in the area) but of course it was buried in the sunflowers and I…

Continue reading

A Wonderful Antelope Island Morning – Including A Long-tailed Duck

It’s been a frustrating photography week for both Mia and I for a variety of reasons but it’s primarily been because the weather and light have seriously sucked – big time!.  So when yesterday’s dawn showed promise we headed for the island with high hopes but low expectations because there haven’t been many bird opportunities out there recently.  We were in for some pleasant surprises. I’ll present these images in the order they were taken to give a feel for the morning.    1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc We had barely made it onto the causeway before this Rough-legged hawk began to entertain us.  We watched as it ate a vole and then it immediately walked about two feet to its left and picked something else up with its foot.  At first I assumed it was another vole, either alive or from a food cache.  But in looking at close-ups of some of the photos I’m pretty sure it’s only a rock with old brine fly larvae cases and small twigs frozen to it.   Then this hawk did something strange – it transferred the “rock” to its beak and deliberately flung it a good distance – here it’s flying through the air  Then the bird walked over, picked up the rock in its left foot and flew off with it.  My curiosity is killing me as to just what was going on.  Obviously this isn’t a great shot but I was fascinated by the behavior.         1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  Next this Northern Harrier gave us…

Continue reading

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  

Continue reading

Strategies for Photographing Birds at Take-off

Photographing birds at take-off is very different from shooting them in flight, for a variety of reasons.  In fact in some ways it’s more difficult.  First, I’d best define what for me is a take-off shot.  I think it’s a take-off and not a true flight shot when any of the following conditions are met: a.) the bird’s feet are still touching the perch, b.) the feet are still extended down or behind the bird from the effort of pushing off the perch and not tucked up against the body in an aerodynamic position or c.) it’s obvious from the flight posture of the bird or the presence of the just departed perch in the image that it has just taken off.  I realize that this is an arbitrary definition and that technically as soon as the bird has left the perch it’s in flight but that’s how I’ll define it for this discussion. Take-off shots have lots of appeal for many, largely because the effort required for lift-off often provides a very dynamic flight posture with the wings, tail and legs/feet in exaggerated positions compared to “simple” flight.  Many novice bird photographers are intimidated by the difficulties of flight photography and attempt take-offs instead, in the mistaken assumption that they should be relatively easy.  Not so.  Following are some strategies and tips for getting good take-off images that have worked for me.  I hope they’ll be helpful to some of you.   Plan ahead to avoid clipping body parts – particularly the wings: Many novice avian photographers are unpleasantly surprised by the amount of wing extension during take-off and they cut…

Continue reading

Early Spring Birds and Craziness on Antelope Island

 Typically our first spring camping trip is a shake-down cruise for the trailer to Antelope Island.  If anything goes wrong with the trailer (and it sometimes does after sitting all winter) I’ll be relatively close to home.  This year we spent the last two days of March on the island.  Most of the photos in this post were taken on that trip.   1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500  There’s been a few Western Meadowlarks on the island for much of the winter but they’ve returned in large numbers now.  In all my travels in the west I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other area with such a high concentration of this species.   At times their beautiful song resonates all over the hills of the island.  Meadowlarks always bring back fond memories for me of growing up on the Montana farm.      1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500 Loggerhead Shrikes are another very common species, especially on the northern part of the island.   They’ve been absent all winter but we’re seeing more of them on each visit now.   It was cloudy when this image was taken and I didn’t get a lot of light in the eye but I think there’s just enough.      1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500 I always look forward to the return of the Long-billed Curlews with great anticipation and they started appearing about 10 days ago.  I was happy to get this shot of the male on the right displaying for the female.  Male and female curlews are almost identical but they can be differentiated by their…

Continue reading

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…

Continue reading

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…

Continue reading