Great Salt Lake | on the wing photography

Too many Eared Grebes to Count

By Mia McPherson, on May 9th, 2012%

During spring and fall migration there can be so many Eared Grebes (Podiceps nigricollis) on the Great Salt Lake that they are impossible to count.

Eared Grebes on the Great Salt Lake - Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 130mm, natural light

The diet of Eared Grebes include brine shrimp and alkali flies that are found in hyper saline environments such as Mono Lake in California and the Great Salt Lake in Utah. For most of the year Eared Grebes and Wilson’s Phalaropes are the two bird species that spend the most time in highly saline environments.

It is amazing to stop on the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and see thousands upon thousands of Eared Grebes. Yesterday day most of the grebes were north of the causeway and even with my high-powered lens I couldn’t see where the birds stopped.

Eared Grebe in breeding plumage - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/2500, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

I think that Eared Grebes are gorgeous in breeding plumage with their primarily dark body and neck combined with the dark head in contrast to the wispy yellow plumes and cherry red eye. I like that crest too!

My portfolio is seriously lacking in Eared Grebe images, something I should remedy.

Mia

American White Pelican in flight

By Mia McPherson, on March 19th, 2012%

Not far from where I live there is a small pond where I photographed this American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) just after it had lifted off from the water two springs ago.

I woke this morning to find the ground blanketed in fresh snow. Later this week the forecasters say it will be in the 70′s, crazy spring weather.

American White Pelican in flight - Nikon D200, tripod mounted, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 320, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 215mm, natural light

I don’t have to go far from home to photograph birds because of that pond being nearby but it can be a challenge trying to frame a shot where the hand of man isn’t obvious when the birds are in flight. There are power lines, power poles, tall lights from a baseball field and quite often airplanes in the sky.

What can not be seen in this image is a huge power pole just outside the left side of the frame. I cropped this image to remove it.

Mia

* Check out my monthly post over at BirdingIsFun.com

A Coyote and Falcon Leftovers

By Mia McPherson, on January 3rd, 2012%

I had a marvelous photographic experience with Coyote along the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake last week and wanted to share some of the images that I created.

Coyote (Canis latrans) with Falcon leftovers ~ Shoreline of the Great Salt Lake
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC 230mm, natural light, not baited

The temperatures have fluctuated often the past few weeks in the Salt Lake Valley, for a while it was very cold and the Great Salt Lake became covered with ice, then it warmed up and the wind blew huge sheets of the ice onto the shoreline where it piled up in some areas at least four feet high and after that we had a freeze that left everything frosty the morning I took these images.

Coyote eating
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 315mm, natural light, not baited

I watched as the Coyote walked the shoreline of the lake until it stopped and picked up something with feathers and started to eat it. The Coyote hadn’t caught the duck, its dismembered carcass was laying in the frosty vegetation. I had seen Prairie and Peregrine Falcons feeding on ducks in the same location and the only thing they ate was the body of the ducks so I am presuming that the Coyote was feasting on the Falcons leftovers which consisted of wings and possibly legs.

Coyote with piled up ice from the Great Salt Lake in the background
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 315mm, natural light, not baited

The Coyote didn’t seemed at all concerned with being observed while it ate but it did keep its eyes facing towards me most of the time. It also consumed almost all of the feathers, I only saw the longest feathers fall to the ground.

Coyote after finishing eating one of the falcon leftovers
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/500, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC 315mm, natural light, not baited

I really like how this one small feather stuck to the side of the Coyote’s mouth even while it was licking its lips.

Ack!

Ack!
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/500, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 315mm, natural light, not baited

I must admit I felt a little squeamish while watching the Coyote eat, not because of the blood, bones or that the food was a duck but because I kept imagining how those feathers must feel in my throat.

Coyote hunting the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/400, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 280mm, natural light, not baited

As I recall the Coyote found and ate 3 of the left over duck bodies but it also pounced and leapt into the grasses, after voles I believe though I didn’t see it catch one.

Stalking Coyote
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 220mm, natural light, not baited

Coyotes are efficient hunters and they also appear to be very beneficial in cleaning up leftovers. Plus I believe they are extremely interesting critters too.

Mia

More Coyote images