{"id":17278,"date":"2014-12-06T17:33:04","date_gmt":"2014-12-07T00:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=17278"},"modified":"2024-02-08T06:40:50","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T13:40:50","slug":"bison-birds-on-the-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/06\/bison-birds-on-the-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Bison And Birds On The Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Bison, European Starlings and a stormy sky background – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The light and clouds looked iffy this morning but Antelope Island didn’t disappoint when it came to bison and birds plus some dramatic light. After making the northern loop and seeing only a few birds that were close enough to photograph the southern end of the island started to call. I can’t recall how long it has been since I had been south of the Frary Peak Trail head but there was some light shining down there!<\/p>\n

There were stormy skies to the north when the sun broke through and lit up a few bison on a hilltop with a huge flock a starlings flying around them.<\/p>\n

\"BisonBison and birds on a hill – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I know a great many people don’t like starlings but the bison don’t mind them at all especially since the starlings will pick pests out of the thick coats of the bison. I have seen times when there have been around 25 – 30 of the starlings on the back of a single bison.\u00a0 It isn’t all the unusual to see flocks of starlings, cowbirds or blackbirds feeding on the ground either because the bison stir up insects. That doesn’t usually happen at this time of the year but it has been unusually warm here for “winter”.<\/p>\n

\"EuropeanEuropean Starlings and an American Bison bull – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I loved how dramatic the light was for the few minutes I photographed the bison and birds, it light up the hillside and the sky was moody looking above. The starlings didn’t stay put long before they would lift up, circle and come back around again.<\/p>\n

\"FlockFlock of European Starlings and an American Bison bull- Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

At one point there was stream of the starlings flying in front of the bison at the top of the hill and I wish I had used just a touch more depth of field to get all of the birds, the bison and the grasses in sharp focus but I admit that I like the grasses being out of focus in this shot.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne of these things is not like the others… Flock of Europeans Starlings in a ball\u00a0 – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The murmuration of starlings near and above the bison was interesting to watch as they turned and the light flashed on their wings creating shapes in the sky. When I took this image the birds were almost in a ball shape. It wasn’t until I came home and looked at this frame on my monitor that I noticed that one of these birds is not like the others… not all of them are European Starlings.<\/p>\n

Can you find the odd ball bird? I’ll post the location and ID below.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Bison photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my European Starling photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

The ID is: Red-winged Blackbird and it is the bird that is closest to the left side of the frame. That lovely red epaulet gives it away!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The light and clouds looked iffy this morning but Antelope Island didn’t disappoint when it came to bison and birds plus some dramatic light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[443,511,27,249,26],"tags":[4463,970,745,4350,3981,11978,251,4620,4052,4247,4122,4109,5777,4018,4815,4739,9390,2272,4262,102,4032,373],"class_list":["post-17278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bison","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-european-starlings","category-utah","tag-american-bison","tag-autumn","tag-bison-bison","tag-buffalo","tag-davis-county","tag-desert-island","tag-european-starling","tag-fall","tag-flight","tag-flock","tag-flying","tag-grasses","tag-hill","tag-sky","tag-starling","tag-starlings","tag-stormy","tag-stormy-light","tag-sturnus-vulgaris","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-photography","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-european-starlings-mia-mcpherson-2450.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4uG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32836,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/17\/flocks-of-birds-and-american-bison\/","url_meta":{"origin":17278,"position":0},"title":"Flocks of Birds and American Bison","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"November and December seem to be good months to see flocks of birds and American Bison together on Antelope Island State Park.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flock of European Starlings landing on an American Bison's back on a hill, Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-european-starlings-mia-mpcherson-2527.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-european-starlings-mia-mpcherson-2527.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up of a Bison and European Starlings on Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-starlings-mia-mcpherson-2525.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-starlings-mia-mcpherson-2525.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-starlings-mia-mcpherson-2525.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-starlings-mia-mcpherson-2525.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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moving to Utah in the summer of 2009 I have wanted to get some images of an American Bison standing with the Great Salt Lake in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"European Starling hitching a ride on an American Bison, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-6522.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-6522.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-6522.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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