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Aug
03
2011

Roadside Buteo: Swainson’s Hawk

We found this adult light phase Swainson’s Hawk, Buteo swainsoni, on the east side of the Jackson Hole Highway, just east of the airport.   Yes, remarkably, there is an airport in Grand Teton National Park…  A Google Map link to the site may be found here.

Although it is quite common to observe Hawks along the roadways of the mountain west, they are generally pretty skittish, and fly off as soon as you approach to within capture range .  This bird tolerated us very well, and only took flight as we were pulling back on to the highway.  I like this composition – in spite of the fact that the bird itself lies just about dead-center, the arch of the limb on which the bird is perched makes the placement seem natural.  Note that several extraneous small limbs have been cloned out in the upper left sky region.

Images in this entry were recorded at 19:30 MDT on June 3, 2011, using the Nikon D3s and the AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED lens at 400mm.  Exposure was f/8.0 and 1/2000, ISO at 800.  Hand held.  Yes, of course I could have lowered my ISO and made these captures at 1/800s or 1/1000s, however knowing that any capture is infinitely better than making no capture at all, I used the settings that were left in the camera from the previous location.  This is an important detail – even when there are no images to be made, I (try to) continuously check camera settings to keep them in a usable range, e.g., f/8.0 and 1/1000s.  Very little work on the processing here… Images spots (sky) were removed using the Healing Brush tool.  A few extraneous limbs were removed from the upper left hand corner of the images using the Clone Stamp tool.  Capture sharpening applied using Photokit Sharpener.  Nik Viveza 2 was using to enhance microcontrast (Structure set at 40), color saturation (Saturation at 10), and contrast (Contrast at 10).  Minor edge darkening applied using Nik Color Efex Pro 2 (Darken/Lighten Center).

Thanks to Dr. Jack Skalicky for the confirmation of the bird identification.

For additional information on the Swainson’s Hawk, interested readers are directed to the following websites:

All About Birds:  http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Hawk/id

Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk:  http://www.swainsonshawk.org/

Wikipedia Page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swainson%27s_Hawk

Copyright 2011 Peter F. Flynn. No usage permitted without prior written consent. All rights reserved.

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Jul
18
2011

One Less Yellowstone Cutthroat

While travel along the Jackson Hole Highway near Oxbow Bend, we encountered a Great Blue Heron fishing in the Snake River.  Due to its unique geographical location as a wide shallow bend in the Snake River, Oxbow Bend is a target-rich environment for photographers.  During the spring, Moose, Deer, Coyote, Coots, Cranes, Grebes, Herons, Pelican, and many smaller birds can all readily be observed here.

The fishing strategy of the Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, involves a slow wadding stealth walk.  When a fish is spotted the long sharp beak snaps shut around the fish and holds it securely.  The fish is then swallowed hole.  The quarry here is the much-sought-after Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri).

In the this sequence of images, we observe the entire process, from capture through consumption.  The result…one well-fed Heron, and one less Snake River Cutthroat Trout.

Images in this entry were recorded at ~18:00 MDT on June 2, 2011, using the Nikon D700 and the AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR lens with the AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II – that’s 1275mm effective.  Processing included capture sharpening using PhotoKit Sharpener, blending the blue channel into the red channel in luminosity blending mode, followed by contrast enhancement of the red and green channels using curves adjustments again in luminosity mode to preserve the native color balance.  Additional contrast enhancement was applied using Nik Viveza 2 and light edge darkening was applied using Nik Color Efex Pro 3.

For additional information on the Great Blue Heron, interested readers are encouraged to refer to the following resources:

All About Birds:  http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_blue_heron/id

NatGeo Wild Animals:  http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/great-blue-heron/

Peterson Guides:  http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/peterson/

Sibley Guides:  http://www.sibleyguides.com/about/the-sibley-guide-to-birds/

Wikipedia Page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blue_Heron

 Copyright 2011 Peter F. Flynn. No usage permitted without prior written consent. All rights reserved.

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Jun
30
2011

Brown-Headed Cowbirds in GTNP

Brown-Headed Cowbirds propagate by a most remarkable mechanism.  These birds practice brood parasitism, e.g., female Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.  Brood parasitism within a particular species is apparently common, e.g., a female bird which has lost its nest may lay its egg in the nest of the same species (Sibley).  In the more extreme example of brood parasitism, of which the Cowbird is an accepted style-type, birds of a parasitic species never build their own nest, but exclusively place their eggs in the nests of other birds.

Cowbirds derive their name from their tendency to follow herds of Bison or cattle.  A significant portion of the bird diet  is based on the insects that are flushed into the air by herds of grazing Bison or cattle – such herds are constantly moving in search of fresh grasses.  Thus brood parasitism in this species is believed to be the solution to the problem of being constantly on the move, and the consequent inability to maintain (their own) stable nests.

We found these birds in the Willow Flats Overlook parking area, Grand Teton National Park.  Images of the male (upper) and female (lower) Brown-Headed Cowbirds were recorded at 16:00 MDT on June 4, 2011, using the Nikon D3s and the AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED at 400mm. Exposures were at f/7.1 and 1/500s, ISO 1250.  Image processing was accomplished using Photoshop CS5 with Nik and PhotoKit Sharpener plugins.

Special thanks to Dr. Jack Skalicky for his identification of these Cowbirds and an introduction to their biology.

Additional information can be found in the excellent text entitled ‘The Sibley Guide to Bird Behavior’, D.A. Sibley (2001) and at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park website.

Copyright 2011 Peter F. Flynn. No usage permitted without prior written consent. All rights reserved.

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