Beaverhead County

Wired Western Wood-pewee

By Mia McPherson, on June 18th, 2013%

Western Wood-pewee perched on barbed wire

I saw several Tyrant Flycatchers on my last trip to Montana, Eastern and Western Kingbirds and a couple of Western Wood-pewees that were hawking from fence posts and barbed wire along a gravel road. I haven’t photographed many Western Wood-pewees so I was interested in their aerial forays after the insects as I watched and photographed them through my viewfinder. These small birds flew off their perches rapidly to go after prey and were difficult to track in flight.

I hope to have more opportunities with Western Wood-pewees soon.

Mia

* I am on the road again, please feel free to share this post.

Adult Red-tailed Hawk in a Montana Sky

By Mia McPherson, on June 17th, 2013%

Adult Red-tailed Hawk in a Montana Sky

There are issues with this image which I will cover shortly but I really liked the pose of this Red-tailed Hawk, the spread of the wings, the flared tail and the great eye contact I was able to capture as the Red-tail looked down towards me as it flew in a bright blue Montana sky.

The issues I spoke about? Well I wish that the sun had been lower so that the underside of the bird was completely lit up instead of just a portion of the bird’s right wing and a sliver of the hawk’s tail. I also wish there had been a few fluffy, white clouds in the sky to break up the expanse of blue.

You might notice also that the Red-tailed Hawk is going through a molt, there are two shorter secondaries on the right wing and one that is visible on the left. I won’t hold that against this handsome raptor though!

Mia

*I am away again, please feel free to share this post with your family and friends, I would appreciate it if you did!

More Red-tailed Hawk images

A Mountain Bluebird Tribute to Fathers

By Mia McPherson, on June 16th, 2013%

Male Mountain Bluebird in a breeze

Yesterday my post focused on female Mountain Bluebirds and today I am presenting males in honor of Father’s Day. I was blessed to have two fathers, one who died when I was very young and later 0n my second Dad came into my life. Both of them are deeply missed, especially on this day.

Mountain Bluebird males help the female feed their nestlings and they are great providers, that is if you like insects, spiders and caterpillars! This male Mountain Bluebird was photographed in Montana, the breeze was blowing hard that day and for a few seconds he struggled to keep his balance on his perch. I guess some human dads struggle to stay on the pedestals we as children place them on too.

Male Mountain Bluebird with prey for its nestlings

Mountain Bluebirds hover at times like American Kestrels do when they are hunting. They must have great eyesight to see small insects and spiders before they dive down to capture them. I think this one caught a spider in the shrubs in a valley in Montana.

Mountain Bluebird male bringing in prey for its young

This male Mountain Bluebird brought in a rather hairy looking caterpillar to the nest box for his young.

Mountain Bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters and the bluebird boxes that have been put up all over the country has helped the bluebirds return from serious declines in previous decades.

Thanks to Neil Paprocki of WildLensInc.org I found out about “The Bluebird Man“; Al Larson, who has been putting up Bluebird nest boxes and monitoring them since 1978 and he has banded and astonishing 27,000 plus bluebirds in Idaho and who is continuing to monitor them at 91 years of age. In the near future I will do another post on this fascinating man and the movie that WildLensInc.org is producing about Al Larson, bluebirds and other secondary cavity nesters.

Beautiful blue Mountain Bluebird

This male Mountain Bluebird was photographed in Fremont County, Idaho not far from Henry’s Lake and Island Park. The blue of these males outshines sapphires!

I wish every dad who reads my blog a Happy Father’s Day!

Mia

*I am on the road again, you might think I am trying very hard to not let moss grow under my feet and you would be correct! Please feel free to share my posts with your family and friends.

Female Mountain Bluebirds in Montana

By Mia McPherson, on June 15th, 2013%

Mountain Bluebird female with prey for her young – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

There were Mountain Bluebirds everywhere I looked on my recent trip to Montana where flashes of their brilliant blue plumage were a delight to my eyes. Mountain Blue birds are secondary cavity nesters which means they don’t create their own cavities but do use the cavities that other birds create, for instance Woodpeckers create their own cavities and bluebirds can use them later. Mountain Bluebirds have made a comeback since people started placing nest boxes in areas where they breed.

Female Mountain Bluebird on barbed wire - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

Mountain Bluebirds inhabit grasslands, open canyons, and alpine meadows in western North America. These females are more subtly colored than their male counterparts but I find that subtlety very appealing.

Both sexes were very busy bringing insects to their young in the nest boxes on my recent trip north, by now perhaps some of the chicks will have already fledged. Last year there was a late snow in the Centennial that caused mortality for the chicks of the earlier nesters, hopefully this year there will be far more flashes of blue in the Big Sky of western Montana!

Mia

Swainson’s Hawks in Montana – And the chase is on

By Mia McPherson, on June 9th, 2013%

Swainson’s Hawk sub-adult – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

I’ve just returned from spending six wonderful days photographing in western Montana, the weather was lovely, the scenery spectacular and the birds; as usual, were awesome including these two Swainson’s Hawks. On the last evening we came across two Swainson’s Hawks on the way back to the campsite, the sub-adult Swainson’s Hawk was chasing the adult while at the same time some people in a small pick up seemed to be chasing us to see what we were looking at. Using a vehicle as a mobile blind works great but having two vehicles in close proximity did make the hawks more skittish.

This sub-adult Swainson’s is on its way to getting its adult plumage but it isn’t quite there yet. Who knows, I may have photographed this bird on another trip to Montana after it fledged.

Sub-adult Swainson’s Hawk lifting off - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

The people in the small pickup were making it difficult to photograph the Swainson’s Hawks and they were making both of the hawks a bit nervous, the sub-adult bird had enough of it and took off flying to the south. I wish I would have had a bit more of a head turn towards me as the young hawk lifted off.

Perched adult Swainson’s Hawk - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/800, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

The adult Swainson’s perched on a post after the people in the pickup left and relaxed, it lifted one foot and may have spent the night perched there but in the distance I could see a huge truck rumbling towards us and I knew that the hawk would take off when it got closer so I took as many close up portraits of the bird before the approached.

Swainson’s Hawk with blood from its meal on its belly - Nikon D300, f8, 1/500, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

This adult Swainson’s Hawk still has some blood on its belly from its last meal. Unfortunately when the hawk lifted off from its perch I wasn’t able to maintain focus but I am still very pleased with the portrait images I was able to create.

In the days or weeks to come I will be posting more images from my six day journey in Montana. As usual I was exhausted but elated after spending time in the wilds of Montana!

Mia