By Mia McPherson, on May 13th, 2012%  Male Brewer's Blackbird displaying - Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light While out on Antelope Island State Park on Friday I spotted a male Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) on top of a bush, the light was just great for viewing and photographing the iridescent teals, blues, greens and purples that can show up on these “black” birds. I was even more tickled when the blackbird started to display because that really made the iridescence even more delightful. I have a lovely series of photos of this male now.
I can’t say that the call of the male while displaying is enchanting or melodious but I am almost certain the female Brewer’s Blackbirds must think so.
 Female Brewer's Blackbird with nesting material - Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light This female Brewer’s Blackbird is the mate of the male above, she flew up from the other side of the road with nesting material in her bill and perched for a few moments before flying into another bush with the twig. When the female left the male followed her across the road, she went down onto the ground and he perched high watching over her and when she flew back to the nest with more nesting material he followed her and stayed close. That behavior happened several times. I wish the female had perched a bit closer with her nesting material than she did. but I am still pleased to get a series of images of her with this twig.
Mia
More Brewer’s Blackbird images
By Mia McPherson, on April 26th, 2012%  Portrait of a Western Meadowlark - Nikon D300, f/13, 1/500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 328mm, natural light During the spring Western Meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta) can be easy to locate and then approach because they spend so much time singing from the tops of boulders, bushes, posts and other manmade objects.
I photographed this Meadowlark singing while perched on a sign on Antelope Island State Park this past Monday. The bird was so close that unless I took off my teleconverter I couldn’t fit the whole body of the Meadowlark into the frame. I wasn’t sure how long the bird would stay so I opted to take close ups of it instead of removing the TC.
Mia
More Western Meadowlark images
By Mia McPherson, on April 20th, 2012%  Yellow-headed Blackbird male about to grab a midge from the air - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light This image was taken this past Monday at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge in northern Utah. The Midges have hatched and are flying around near the auto tour route. I’ve written about the importance of Midges before in a post titled Midges and Birds – Food for Thought .
Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) can perch on cattails, reeds, rushes or mounds of vegetation and snatch Midges right out of the air. Capturing it with my camera was a treat on Monday, that is a midge to the right of the blackbird’s bill.
Mia
More Yellow-headed Blackbird image
By Mia McPherson, on March 31st, 2012% Yesterday I was focused on photographing this Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) that was perched on a boulder with the Great Salt Lake below it in the background. I had nice light, a lovely setting plus the bird seemed more interested in singing than my presence.
 Western Meadowlark on a boulder - Nikon D300, f8, 1/1250, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light Western Meadowlarks are beautiful songsters and their call is one that makes me think of cool spring mornings and how much I enjoy my early morning journeys into the natural world. They are handsome birds too.
As I focused this bird I noticed some movement at the bottom of my viewfinder, there was a large tan, out of focus blob that appeared to be moving towards the Meadowlark. It was a little confusing at first until I moved the viewfinder away from my eyes a bit and saw a Chukar (Alectoris chukar) moving up towards the same boulder the Meadowlark was singing from.
 Chukar climbing down a boulder I - Nikon D300, f8, 1/1000, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light The Chukar was so close that I had to very quickly back up my zoom to fit the whole bird in. It was about the same moment the Chukar noticed our presence and it started moving down the boulder towards the grasses instead of making the climb to the top.
 Chukar climbing down a boulder II - Nikon D300, f8, 1/1000, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light I didn’t have time to change my exposure compensation which had been set for the Meadowlark perched with the blue of the Great Salt Lake behind it and I knew that these images might be slightly over exposed. Fortunately I was able to reduce the exposure in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) easily.
I could tell I loved the background through my viewfinder, the large boulder was far enough away that I didn’t need to worry about it being in focus but it still showed the lovely colors and textures of the rock.
 Chukar climbing down a boulder III - Nikon D300, f8, 1/1000, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light The Chukar didn’t seem to be in a great hurry so I was able to get a series of images as it carefully made its way down the boulder. I liked that I could see the red legs, spurs and dark toenails in this frame.
 Chukar climbing down a boulder IV - Nikon D300, f8, 1/1000, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light As the bird moved closer to the ground I noticed how fresh it plumage was and the beautiful but subtle coloration along the back and wings.
 Chukar climbing down a boulder V - Nikon D300, f8, 1/1250, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light Had I not seen that moving, tan blob beyond my viewfinder I could have easily missed being able to create these Chukar images. Sure, I have hundreds (if not thousands) of Chukar images but I am always looking for different poses, light conditions and settings to photograph my subjects in and this worked out very well.
Mia
By Mia McPherson, on March 30th, 2012%  Female Yellow-headed Blackbird on Curly Dock - Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) have begun to show up in large numbers in my area of the country. I’m seeing them perched on Cattails, Phragmites and in flight. The freshwater marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake provide excellent breeding grounds for this species.
Female Yellow-headed Blackbirds are brown and have yellowish throats and facial patches. I photographed the female above perched on Curly Dock at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area on the last trip I made to Utah before permanently moving here.
 Yellow-headed Blackbird male displaying - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light Yellow-headed Blackbird males are black with white primary coverts and have yellow heads, chests and throats. They are easily identifiable and unmistakable. I photographed this displaying male above at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge.
The males are a challenge to expose properly in photographs because of the high contrast between the yellows, blacks and whites. I generally expose for the darks and hope I don’t blow out the white primary coverts if they are shown.
Yellow-headed Blackbirds have a very mechanical sounding call, it can be heard here.
Mia
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Photographing a Tricolored Heron from a tidal lagoon
Focusing on Wildlife Contributor
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