Swans, Ducks and Geese

Bird Sampler for April 28 through May 4, 2013

By Mia McPherson, on May 4th, 2013%

Burrowing Owl adult

I wanted to share a sampler of bird images that I have taken over the past week in Davis and Box Elder Counties.

I took this Burrowing Owl image two days ago. There is just something about these owls that delights me every time I see them.

Canada Goose

Canada Geese are common here in northern Utah but they aren’t common every where, just ask people in Florida. I like Canada Geese.

Killdeer on a rock

Some of the noisiest shorebirds I have ever come across are the Killdeer though this one was silent it did perched nicely on top of a rock at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area. I really like the smooth background.

Male Ring-necked Pheasant

I photographed this male Ring-necked Pheasant displaying near the road that goes to the auto tour route of Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, if there was another male in the area I could not see it but this pose indicates the type of territorial behavior I see when two male pheasants are getting ready to have it out.

Hundreds of (thousands) swallows at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge

The air is alive with midges and swallows at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, I can’t tell how many of the 5 species that inhabit the refuge are in this frame but the huge numbers of swallows is very impressive.

Turkey Vulture in Box Elder County

The Turkey Vultures came back to Utah several weeks ago but I haven’t had many opportunities to photograph them this spring, two days ago we came across some that were warming in the early morning sunlight in Box Elder County. I’m not sure Turkey Vultures could be called beautiful but they are a fascinating species and they do clean up the environment.

Western Grebes in a courtship display

I saw these two Western Grebes displaying and hoped that they would rush, they did but they rushed with their backs to me. I’ll keep trying to get them rushing towards me.

Western Meadowlark stretching

Western Meadowlarks are every where, singing from the tops of their perches, flitting about in a hurry, preening and stretching like this one on Antelope Island.

I saw many more birds in the past week, all of them wonderful, all of them fascinating and every one a great subject to photograph.

Mia

Funny Monday Birds

By Mia McPherson, on March 25th, 2013%

Upside down Chukar

Just some funny images of birds for a Monday. These photos just beg for humorous captions.

This one could be “I swear I heard something rip” or “Boy, my skinny legs make my butt look fat”.

Ring-necked Duck attitude

This one could be “I told you get off MY pond!” or “Get outta my face, no paparazzi allowed!”.

Hiding female Ring-necked Pheasant

I think this female Ring-necked Pheasant thought if she crouched down that I couldn’t see her. I couldn’t come up with a great caption for this image, maybe you can? For any of them for that matter and the funnier the better!

Happy Monday

Mia

Wierd Canada Geese behavior and a Red-tailed Hawk building a nest

By Mia McPherson, on March 16th, 2013%

Canada Geese and odd behavior

I went camping & photographing in northern Utah this week and came across something that made me scratch my head. Ron and I were traveling down a road when I saw some birds high up on a cliff face and at first I couldn’t figure out what the birds were. My mind raced and it took a few seconds to figure out that the birds I was seeing were Canada Geese!

Squawking & flying Canada Geese on top of a cliff

It was very odd to see Canada Geese perching on the cliff face, I’d certainly never seen them perched on a cliff before. They would take off squawking, circle and land again and repeated that behavior several times.

Canada Geese landing on top of a cliff

We traveled on down the road and I was puzzled by their behavior and, when we passed back that way on our way out I kept my eye on the cliff face. The Canada Geese were making a racket, flying in circles and landing on rocks at the top of the cliff. The cliff was several hundred feet high so these images are not my best quality. The light was a little better from our position than it had been earlier so we took more images. When I am looking through my viewfinder with my right eye I often have my left eye open to catch movement outside of the viewfinder and this time it paid off nicely because I did detect movement and trained my lens on the area where I saw it.

Red-tailed Hawk with nesting material

It was a Red-tailed Hawk hopping & walking around on the ground. I wondered if the hawk was ground hunting but as it moved towards a bush it picked up a stick and I knew it had nesting material.

Red-tailed Hawk carrying the nesting material

As soon as the Red-tailed had a firm grasp on the stick it took off flying towards the cliff face. You can see how long the stick was in this shot.

Red-tailed Hawk on the nest

The Red-tailed Hawk landed on a area of the cliff about a third of the way down from the top and I could clearly see it moving the stick around in the nest. After the hawk got the stick situated it came to the edge of the nest and looked around all the while the Canada Geese were high on the cliff top squawking and flying in and out. From their vantage point they could not see the nest but I’m sure they were aware of the hawk’s presence. I don’t know if their odd behavior was caused by the hawk but it sure was interesting.

The strange behavior of the Canada Geese on the top of the cliff led me to finding a Red-tailed Hawks nest though and I am tickled about that. You never know what fascinating things you will see in nature.

Has anyone else seen Canada Geese high on cliffs? I’d be interested in hearing if you have.

Mia

Snow Geese on the shore of the Great Salt Lake

By Mia McPherson, on March 4th, 2013%

*Sorry for the double post this morning, I thought the other post on Capitol Reef National Park had already been published a long time ago, but it had been marked “private”. Oh well, it IS a great place.

Adult Snow Goose in the Great Salt Lake

Spring is arriving and there have been reports of Snow Geese in the area. I edited some Snow Geese images I took in November of last year to post today.

I love the way it looks as if this goose is grinning.

Juvenile Snow Goose on the shore of the Great Salt Lake

The immature Snow Goose hung close to the adult. These two geese were seen along the causeway to Antelope Island for a few days last fall.

Adult Snow Goose walking the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake

They walked the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake. The early morning light seemed to make this adult glow.

Young Snow Goose walking the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake

The juvenile Snow Goose was starting to get the pure white feathers of adult plumage on its back. I wonder if by this spring it looks just like the adults.

I’m hoping to go on a “Goose Chase” this morning, the sky is supposed to be clear so there should be good light and I would be delighted to see some snow, Snow Geese that is! I’ve had about enough of the other snow for now.

Mia

High Key winter Geese, Swans and a Black-billed Magpie

By Mia McPherson, on February 16th, 2013%

White on White – Winter’s Delight – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

This winter’s snow cover has given me many opportunities to photograph high key bird and wildlife images and while some people might not find high key photos to their tastes I find that I enjoy them because of their simplicity and how the high key background allows my eyes to focus clearly on my subject’s form and beauty.

I find this image of three Tundra Swans that I photographed along the Antelope Island causeway yesterday very appealing because it is white on white. The swan on the left must not have been feeding where the two on the right were because it doesn’t have the stained plumage that they do.

Tundra Swan - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

This Tundra Swan stayed closer to the road than the three in the photo above so I was able to capture more detail in its plumage and in the snow that covered the frozen water of the Great Salt Lake.

Canada Geese landing - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

While I was photographing the Tundra Swans I heard the familiar call of Canada Geese flying in and as they got closer I started photographing them as they landed near the swans. I wish I would have had a little more light in both bird’s eyes but I find the poses rather dynamic and I like how I can see their shadows on the snow below them.

Black-billed Magpie on a snow-covered rock - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

It is difficult to believe that Black-billed Magpies will start building or rebuilding their nest in just a few days. They take between 40 and 50 days creating or strengthening old nests and when I start to see them carrying twigs in their bills I know spring is just around the corner. Black-billed Magpies are very industrious when it comes to nests and they will build them even when snow is falling or when the bush they are building in is covered with it too.

Mia