Before I start the rest of this post I feel that it is important to address the ethics on photographing nesting birds or birds with chicks in light of the fact that very soon birds will be nesting for the season. Sure, chicks are cute but that isn’t a reason to endanger, harass or distress chicks and their parents. EVER. In bird, wildlife and nature photography the subject is always more important than a photograph.
Ethics on photographing nesting birds:
Do not approach too closely
If the birds show any sign of distress, back away
Don’t trim leaves, twigs or branches to get a clearer shot, you may inadvertently attract predators or cause the eggs/chicks to over heat
Follow local, state and federal guidelines concerning nesting birds
Don’t harass the birds to get an action shot
Don’t stay a long time with nesting birds or chicks, that disrupts their normal behavior
Always remember that your scent may draw predators to the area of nesting birds or birds with chicks.
Wilson’s Plover adult in my face – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
In Florida I was used to seeing Wilson’s Plovers year round on the beaches of Fort De Soto County Park, it was always easy to identify them because of their large, thick bills.
One June morning in 2008 I was laying on the sand at the north beach when this plover appeared in front of me, my lens was very close to ground level and I believe this Wilson’s Plover thought its reflection was another plover because it kept inching closer and closer all the while keeping its eyes on the end of my lens. It came so close that a few times I was unable to focus on the plover. I held my breath for fear of frightening this curious shorebird and when I couldn’t hold it anymore I tried slow, shallow breaths.
Three Wilson’s Plover chicks near some Sea Purslane – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
Eleven months later I was photographing shorebirds while laying on the back slope of a sand dune and using the Sea Purslane on the dune as cover when I spotted three tiny birds dash from my left towards the Purslane and moved my lens to see what they were and as soon as the camera focused on them I could tell they were Wilson’s Plover chicks. I was photographing with a friend who was on my left so I nudged him with my elbow and motioned towards the three little puffballs. Both of us laid very still, we did not want to disturb the chicks at all.
The image above is a large crop.
Wilson’s Plover chicks- Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/750, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
It was a busy day on the north beach though and there were shell seekers and beach walkers close to the chicks who unwittingly forced the chicks to head north right in front of us. For a moment the chicks stopped in front of us and I was able to get a few images of them.
This image is also a large crop, and while I wish the chicks had been closer I wasn’t about to move closer to them or it would have distressed them more than the shell seekers and beach walkers already had.
Running Wilson’s Plover chick- Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
The adult birds came racing up towards the exposed chicks and with that the chicks took of running to the north where there was cover from some Sea Oats and Sea Purslane that they could hide in and avoid the human traffic on the beach.
This image was also a rather large crop. When the chicks were safe in their cover my friend and I slowly got up and moved down the beach away from them.
Wilson’s Plover juvenile with a Fiddler Crab- Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
About a month later I found this juvenile that had captured a Fiddler Crab on the shoreline of a lagoon and I photographed it from my position low in the water as it devoured the crab. A bird had just flown over the young plover when I took this frame. It seems they learn young to keep an eye on the sky for predators. This immature bird may have been one of the chicks I photographed a month earlier as it was in the same general location where I created those images.
It must be rough to be a tiny chick on a beach with lots of human traffic, fortunately Fort De Soto does have a roped off area where birds can rest, nest and avoid the ethical people who stay out of the protected area.
I enjoyed my brief, long distance opportunity to photograph and observe these Wilson’s Plovers and their tiny chicks, it was a small window into their life.
Great Horned Owl fledgling in Glacier County, Montana – Nikon D200, tripod mounted, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 272mm, natural light, not baited or called in
Currently throughout the breeding range of Great Horned Owls the owls have either begun to nest or have nested already. Great Horned Owls have a large range and are found in the U.S., Canada and Central America. Great Horned Owls can begin breeding as early as November in Florida and as late as May in the most northern part of their range.
This fledgling Great Horned Owl was photographed in the month of June in Glacier County, Montana in the window of an old granary, the strong winds in northern Montana have pushed the granary to a slant. Even at this young age the horns of the owlet were visible. Looking at this young Great Horned Owl I can visualize what it will look like as an adult and earns the nickname “Tiger of the Sky”.
*Because of Google’s changes it Image Search and how they have begun to hotlink to my larger images I will no longer post large versions of my files on my blog.
In 2008 I had the great pleasure of observing and photographing a family of American Oystercatchers from the day after the chicks hatched until three and a half months later. It is difficult to explain how amazing it feels to witness the growth of the chicks over a long period of time, I can tell you that I felt extremely privileged.
American Oystercatcher with two-day old chicks – Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
I found this adult American Oystercatcher family with these two-day old chicks on Fort De Soto’s north beach on June 13, 2008.
I have very strong ethics about nesting birds and chick photography and gave these beauties a lot of distance between where they were located and where I laid down to photograph them. This image represents 36% of the original frame which is far more than I normally crop but I would rather crop heavily and have the chicks small in the frame than to risk upsetting them or stressing the adults. These chicks and the adult were relaxed because I didn’t intrude into their comfort zone and I also laid very still so that I wouldn’t startle them by making any sudden moves. The young Oystercatchers rested and poked around in the sand while the adult preened and fluffed its feathers. I stayed just a few minutes with the birds and moved on.
The bills of the chicks are tiny compared to the adult’s bill and the coloration of the bill and their plumage blends in quite well with their surroundings.
Eight day old American Oystercatcher chick in low light – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
A week later I found the Oystercatcher family foraging on north beach very early in the morning, there was just enough light to capture a few images of them before they moved into the spartina marsh. This chick was on a mound of sand at the shoreline poking its bill into the wet sand.
Again, this is a large crop from the original frame. I stayed quite some distance from the young chicks and the adults that were close by.
Thirteen day old American Oystercatcher chick – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/200, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
Five days later the chicks are getting bigger, their bills and legs are longer and they ventured further away from the adults. Their bills are also more colorful. Feather shafts are visible on the wings. The chicks still need to be fed by the parents because their bills aren’t strong enough to open the bivalves that are their prey.
This is also a big crop.
Twenty-one day old American Oystercatcher chick – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/160, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
At twenty-one days old the bill and legs have gotten even longer and the chicks have gotten more adventurous. They wander further from the adults and appear very curious about what is food and what isn’t. The back and head plumage is darker.
Large crop.
Thirty-eight day old American Oystercatcher chick – Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1/400, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
At thirty-eight days old this Oystercatcher chick is almost the same size as the adult, the bill has gotten strong enough to pry open its prey and it can fly. I thought that about this time that the other chick had died because I wasn’t seeing it with the adults or its sibling but later found it much further down the beach feeding independently, perhaps it was the “rebel” fledgling.
By this time I could lay very still and the youngster would approach me so I didn’t have to crop as heavily.
Seventy-three day old American Oystercatcher – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
At seventy-three days of age the immature Oystercatcher was fairly independent but it still kept close to the adults. Its bill has just a few millimeters to grow until it is as large as its parents.
Oops – I pressed publish instead of save draft last night, there are more images to come…
Seventy-nine day old American Oystercatcher with adult – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
On day seventy-nine the young Oystercatcher was as large as the adult and was still staying with the adults. Its bill and eyes were still darker than the parents which made it easier to identify the immature bird.
Seventy-nine day old American Oystercatcher foraging – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 330mm, natural light
By day seventy-nine if I laid very still the Oystercatcher would approach me rather closely, here I had to zoom back to get the bird in focus. In this image I can see that the eye is getting lighter and will soon start to change to the lemony yellow color of the adults.
American Oystercatcher at 103 days old – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/2500, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
By day 103 the Oystercatcher chick spent most of its time foraging alone but the adults were often within sight. Except for the eye and bill color this young shorebird looked, sounded and acted like its parents.
Due to inclement weather and other obligations I wasn’t able to spend as much time looking for and photographing this bird after this date. I spotted it once again at what would have been day 122 and took a few images of it that I grossly over exposed so I am not sharing those (I only kept one to remind me of the date). On day 122 the young birds eyes were a dark yellow and the bill was losing the black tip.
I believe at about that time the adults may have chased the young bird out of their territory because I didn’t photograph it again.
Adult American Oystercatcher in the surf of the Gulf of Mexico, February 2009
Or did I? This adult Oystercatcher photographed in February of the next year might have been the bird I photographed the year before, it would be very difficult to tell. Or the bird may have picked a new territory nearby on Shell or Egmont Key.
I had such an amazing time watching that young bird grow up and felt I had been given a unique opportunity to follow its growth.
American Oystercatcher on nest with eggs – May 2009
In May of 2009 I photographed this American Oystercatcher from behind the boundary ropes on its nest with three eggs, it may have been the bird I followed the year before but I will never know. I moved from Florida that summer and didn’t have time to photograph more American Oystercatcher chicks growing up.
Nesting boundary sign
Ethics on photographing nesting birds:
Do not approach too closely
If the birds show any sign of distress, back away
Don’t trim leaves, twigs or branches to get a clearer shot, you may inadvertently attract predators or cause the eggs/chicks to over heat
Follow local, state and federal guidelines concerning nesting birds
Don’t harass the birds to get an action shot
Don’t stay a long time with nesting birds or chicks, that disrupts their normal behavior
Young Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 200, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Earlier this year in March I wrote an article titled “Burrowing Owls – Loved to Death?” and this post is a sequel to it. If you didn’t read the first post about these amazing Owls you might want to click here (opens in a new window) before continuing to read this post so that you might understand why I am writing this sequel.
A brief excerpt below:
“When we came around the hill where the burrow is visible we saw three vehicles parked on both sides of the road but that wasn’t the shocker. There were three photographers, all with long lenses, out of their vehicles plus another person who didn’t have a camera in hand. What made me sick was that there were three of those people tromping around the owl’s burrow. I mean RIGHT up on it. They had no need to be that close but they were.
I felt like my stomach had been punched. You know, I can understand wanting to have a close look at the burrow but not at this time of the year, not when there are chicks, not when fledglings are still present and certainly not before or as the adult owls are in the process of deciding whether to use the same burrow again.”
I was concerned that day after seeing those people stomping around on top of the owl burrow, I wondered what I would see during the rest of the nesting season for those Burrowing Owls after those people disturbing the birds and the nesting site.
Juvenile Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) flapping its wings Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah Nikon d200, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
After those photographers harassed the owls by approaching and standing on top of the burrow the behavior of one of the adult owls changed significantly.
The previous year I had found that by parking on the side of the road and using a vehicle as a mobile blind these owls were not disturbed by our presence and did not show any signs of distress. They went about their normal habits which made for great opportunities to photograph them.
But not any more. Even when slowly driving up to park the visible owl at this disturbed burrow would sound a series distress calls then fly far from the nesting site. It did that even weeks after the burrow disturbance. I kept hoping that things would go back to normal for the owls.
A pair of juvenile Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f10, 1/160, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Last year at this time the juveniles were out of that same burrow, perching on the sagebrush, hiding in the grass, learning to fly and interacting with the adults and siblings. They were enormous fun to observe and photograph and by using a mobile blind they were not harassed, distressed or disturbed. One day I counted 7 immature birds plus one adult. Quite often; first thing in the morning, both adults would be perched on top of nearby sagebrushes keeping an eye on their young.
It was amazing fun to watch the young birds last nesting season. The juveniles would preen each other, make silly faces, pose in the most comical positions and walk around peeking out from between the grasses or sagebrush leaves. They would stretch their wings, hop around, parallax and exlore the world beyond their burrow. I have hundreds of images from that burrow last year, all of them showing the birds just going about the business of being owls.
Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) juvie in sagebrush Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
About five to six weeks ago I thought I spotted a juvenile low on the sagebrush that grows over this particular burrow, it seemed to drop to the ground and hide well from sight. The grass under that sagebrush is much longer this year than last because we had such a wet spring. I think now that I just wanted to know that the March disturbance hadn’t affected the success of this burrow. Today I believe I wanted to see chicks at that burrow so much that my mind had only played a trick on me.
Right now I should be seeing the fledglings perched on this sagebrush or other bushes nearby. I should be seeing them testing their flight skills or basking in the light of the rising sun. I should be struggling not to laugh when the juveniles antics cause me involuntary giggles. I should be seeing them scanning the sky overhead for the predatory birds in their airspace or looking for fat grasshoppers to catch and eat.
Lonely adult Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Instead this is what I am seeing, one lonely adult Burrowing Owl perched on the sagebrush that grows over the burrow. It is almost always hidden behind the leaves, it doesn’t sound a distress call anymore and it doesn’t fly away. No chicks.
Of course I can not prove that the disturbance those photographers caused at this burrow that day had anything to do with the overwhelmingly apparent signs that this nest failed this season.
It does; however, give me reason to believe it might have played a part in it.
Juvenile Burrowing Owl in flight Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f7.1, 1/1500, ISO 400, Nikkor200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited and not harassed
I saw something yesterday that made me sick and it also made me angry.
I get it that Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) are beautiful, funny, comical, hilarious, adorable, cute, infinitely interesting to watch, universally appealing and great fun to photograph. I love to see them, observe them and photograph them too. I understand the desire to add Burrowing Owls to a photographers portfolio. Or any owl.
There is a location on Antelope Island State Park where Burrowing Owls have nested for years. The owls can easily be photographed by using a vehicle as a mobile blind using a DSLR with a longer lens or a point & shoot camera with some optical zoom by anyone. By not getting out of the vehicle you are less likely to stress or harass the owls. By staying in the vehicle the owls go about their normal behavior. The burrow isn’t that far from the road.
At this time of the year some of the migrant Burrowing Owls start to return to the island and those that remained there through the winter begin to look for mates and places to nest. Burrowing Owls often return to the same nesting site for years which is probably good for them because they only need to clean the burrow up and don’t have to expend as much energy in creating a new one.
A pair of juvenile Burrowing Owls Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f8, 1/250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited and not harassed
Yesterday morning I was out on Antelope Island to photograph birds, the day started without any clouds and I knew the light might be beautiful. I’ve been seeing one adult owl in the location of this burrow but haven’t yet seen a pair and I have been going past it to see if the other adult shows up to mate and nest when we go to the island.
When I came around the hill where the burrow is visible I saw three vehicles parked on both sides of the road but that wasn’t the shocker. There were three photographers, all with long lenses, out of their vehicles plus another person who didn’t have a camera in hand. What made me sick was that there were three of those people tromping around the owl’s burrow. I mean RIGHT up on it. They had no need to be that close but they were.
I felt like my stomach had been punched. You know, I can understand wanting to have a close look at the burrow but not at this time of the year, not when there are chicks, not when fledglings are still present and certainly not before or as the adult owls are in the process of deciding whether to use the same burrow again.
Burrowing Owl small in the frame Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited and not harassed
I’ve decided from now on I won’t list locations of raptors; nesting or not, other than the county the images were taken in. If a photographer emails me whom I believe to have good field ethics I will tell them the location but I won’t give that information out to just anyone ever again.
I don’t bait birds; specifically birds of prey, and I also do not harass birds in the field to get the “shot”. It goes against my personal ethics but there are some photographers who will “do anything to get the shot” despite the stress they may cause the birds. Especially nesting birds or birds with young. How they can have so little regard for their living, breathing subjects is beyond me. If everyone got out of their vehicle at this burrow and if a great many photographers stomp around it the adult owls may decide to nest elsewhere thereby disrupting the normal behavior of the owls and depriving people with good field ethics the opportunity of observing, photographing and admiring the beauty of this burrow of owls.
There used to be burrowing owls close to the park headquarters and close to the road that are no longer there. The park staff when asked about why the owls were no longer there said they thought “the owls had been loved to death”.
Personally I will always put the welfare of birds or animals above the desire to get a photograph.
Once I was trying to get into a better position to photograph a Barred Owl in Florida, it was perched and did not appear distressed by the photographers in the area. There was one photographer there though that kept playing the sound of barred owls on a player of some sort, perhaps he was trying to get the owl to open its eyes but he played it so much that it caused the owl stress and it flew away into deeper unreachable habitat. That person caused the rest of us to lose the opportunity to photograph that owl and caused the owl to be distressed.
I hear of rare owl sightings being reported and then throngs of photographers (and to be fair; birders) showing up, some of them get to close and even chase after the owls disrupting the bird and its normal behavior just to get the “shot” or check it off their life list. And it isn’t just owls, I’ve seen images of wild Bald Eagle chicks where the photographer was close enough to use a wide angle lens.
Here are a few links to some examples of this type of behavior:
Did the photographers yesterday consider what their behavior might do to the owls? Probably not. Did they think that walking right up to the burrow at this time of the year might cause the adults to nest elsewhere? Probably not. Did they know for certain that the owls hadn’t already laid eggs and that their presence might cause the adults to abandon the nest and eggs? Certainly not since the eggs would be back in the burrow and might not be visible. Perhaps they just didn’t care. I do know they left the area several times to return again (and again).
Later that day I spotted one adult owl on the ground well away from the burrow and nearly hidden by a sagebrush when it may have normally have been perched in the sagebrush over the burrow to warm up in the rising sun.
Didn’t happen and I don’t wonder why.
Mia
PS: As far as addressing good field ethics with those photographers in today society that could be risky and unsafe. Reporting the unneeded (and unnecessary) encroachment to the park staff? Their guidelines say on that end of the island people are free to walk about and they have every right to do so legally there might not be anything they can do about their poor field ethics. But that does not make it “right“.
I also wonder how these photographers would feel if complete stranger began walking around their homes, in the houses where they are raising their children. Would they like it? Appreciate it? Think that they deserve to have respect?
So do the birds.
Mia
A follow up on these Burrowing Owls can be found here
Wilson’s Plover adult in my face – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
Three Wilson’s Plover chicks near some Sea Purslane – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
Wilson’s Plover chicks- Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/750, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
Running Wilson’s Plover chick- Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
Wilson’s Plover juvenile with a Fiddler Crab- Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
