Tag: winter

Birds Dealing With Snow And Cold

Birds use a variety of tactics to deal with the harsh conditions presented by an unusually cold and snowy winter.  Some are more effective than others.  I thought it might be interesting to see a few of them that I’ve been able to photograph in the last several weeks. My usual disclaimer for posts relating to behaviors; many of these images are technically lacking but I think they do illustrate some of the conditions these birds are having to cope with.    1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light After a fresh snow, the food source for many small birds is largely hidden and unavailable without some extraordinary measures.  This juvenile White-crowned Sparrow, and others in the flock, were flitting from one snow-covered perch to another in an obvious attempt at knocking the snow off so they could get to the seeds underneath.  Here you can see the snow falling away and immediately afterward the sparrow fed on the uncovered seeds.      1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in When it gets very cold most water sources freeze up completely which makes fish largely inacessable to Bald Eagles so many of them turn to scavenging as their primary food source.  But this species adapted very well  to scavenging eons ago which is one of the reasons Ben Franklin looked in disfavor at the proposal to make the Bald Eagle our national bird.      1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or…

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It’s Been A Tough Winter For Birds (and it’s getting worse)

Typical winters are hard on birds in northern Utah (and elsewhere).  But when the season is unusually frigid with lots of snow as we’re having this year they struggle even more to survive. All of  these images have been taken since January 2 of this year.   Upland game birds like this Chukar seem to have adapted to extreme conditions fairly well.  This bird was all puffed up and sitting high on a rock to catch the earliest warming rays of the sun as it rose over the nearby Wasatch Mountains.     Another upland game species that can apparently take harsh conditions quite well is the Ring-necked Pheasant (this is a female).  They seem to forage for seeds at the base of plants where the snow isn’t as thick and their food is more readily available.     But many other species have a difficult time and quite a few birds don’t survive until spring.  The waterfowl that winter over here congregate in the few areas of open water where the flowing water is the last to freeze over.  But when it gets very cold, even those small bits of open water freeze.  I’ve seen  ducks and coots frozen into the ice, some of them still alive.  This female Green-winged Teal has just left one of the last unfrozen patches of water and is approaching an area of frost flowers.     This Northern Flicker is using the protection of the underside of the eaves of a building on Antelope Island State Park.   I thought the angled…

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Black-crowned Night Heron On Ice

Black-crowned Night Herons are the most widespread heron in the world, breeding on all continents except Antarctica and Australia.  They’re relatively common in northern Utah, although it’s somewhat unusual for me to see them around here during winter.    1/1600, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light So two days ago I was surprised to find this juvenile still lurking around the wetlands of the Great Salt Lake.  We’re in the middle of an inversion which means it’s very cold (I was shooting in temps of -10 degrees F yesterday morning) so most still water is frozen solid.   This bird was standing on ice with a thin layer of snow on top.      1/1600, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light  Juveniles look very different from adults.  Instead of the basic black, white and gray colors of the adults these young birds are brown-streaked ventrally…      1/1250, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light  and mostly solid brown dorsally.  This orange-chrome eye color will turn bright red in the adult.      1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light I didn’t realize it at first but this bird was in hunting mode.  There’s a patch of open water just out of frame in front of the heron and the bird is watching it for fish activity.  One time it made an incredibly fast move for a fish from this position but it missed.  The heron didn’t stand any closer to the open water because the ice is…

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Great Blue Herons On Snow and Ice

Christmas Morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was nothing short of spectacular.  We had great light,  wonderfully clear blue skies and lots of birds.  And it was cold – as low as 6 degrees F.  Perfect! On this trip (which included the Promontory Point area) we saw a plethora of raptors – Bald and Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, American Kestrels, Short-eared Owls, a Prairie Falcon and one Barn Owl hunting in daylight because of the cold.   And I’ve never seen as many Great Blue Herons in one relatively small area as I did on that morning.  Just before I stopped to take this photo there were over 100 of them on the ice of the canal to the right and along the far bank in less than 1/3 mile – which led to a topic of conversation.  Mia is from Florida and we discussed how seeing Great Blue Herons on snow and ice seems incongruous to many folks from warmer climates.  That conversation was the inspiration for this post.     1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, natural light  As is typical for western herons, these birds were difficult to approach (in some areas like Florida one can almost walk up and touch them at times).  This juvenile was fishing in a patch of flowing water surrounded by ice and snow.      1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, natural light Then the same bird flew off and then came back to land within a few feet of where it had been fishing – almost like it was…

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Getting Close To The American Kestrel

One of the first lessons bird photographers learn (often to their great frustration) is that you must get close to your subject in order to get good detail.  Very close.  Even if you’re shooting with a long, expensive lens.  And getting close usually ain’t easy!  Large crops rob detail.  I’m of the opinion that cropping away any more than about 50% of the image generally does unacceptable damage to image quality. Some species are relatively easy to approach – around here American Robins,  Mourning Doves and House Finches come to mind.  Other species have a reputation of being particularly skittish and at the top of that list for many photographers is the American Kestrel – a strikingly beautiful little falcon that is found throughout most of North America. For many years I’ve posted bird images on an internet avian critique forum and whenever I’d post a shot of a kestrel I’d invariably get comments that went something like this: “How in the world did you ever get this close to a kestrel?  I always see them perched up high on poles or wires and whenever I even begin to get close they fly away”. Well, here’s the secret – photograph them when it’s cold.  Very cold!  That means in the depths of winter.  It also means in the early mornings on those days when it’s coldest of all.  I’ve found that many species of birds are more reluctant to fly in the cold but that tendency seems to be magnified with the kestrel.  I’m not sure why but as a photographer I’m more than happy to…

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Winter Barn Owls In Flight

Normally it’s very difficult to find Barn Owls hunting in daylight but an extremely cold winter a few years ago caused some of them around here to continue hunting into mid-morning.  They were looking for voles in the wetlands and it was fascinating to watch and photograph them as they effortlessly cruised over the phragmites and grasses, occasionally turning abruptly and diving for prey.   1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in It was very cold and frosty with lots of moisture in the air which turned the sky background a color that appeals to me.     1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Sometimes they were low enough to get the Phragmites in the setting.  Phragmites is a scourge to wetland managers but I’ve always liked it for backgrounds. When the owls would fly west I would often get light on the entire  bird.     1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But when they flew east they were sidelit.  I like both effects.     1/3200, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Partly because of their deeply set eyes it’s a challenge to get catch lights in Barn Owls.  But here the bird was hovering over prey and looking down at it so because of the behavior you wouldn’t expect to get…

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