Tag: perched

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Recent Publication – Bay Nature

A turkey vulture perches on a log along a beach in early morning
A turkey vulture perches on a log along a beach in early morning

I was fortunate enough to have an image selected for the cover of the upcoming issue of Bay Nature magazine. I shot this turkey vulture in soft diffused morning light out at Pescadero State Beach. Once I saw him, I dropped to my knees in the sand and slowly started making my way toward him, every few feet stopping to get a safety shot. Finally I was close enough to frame him in a portrait, and was able to get several head poses. It turned out that he was in no hurry to leave, so after I got the shots I wanted, I crept away from him so as not to disturb him.

While not the prettiest bird, when caught in the right light, you can bring out their feather detail as seen here. In bright sunlight, their dark feathers are usually rendered to an inky black, so it was nice to see some of the lightness of the feathers come through in this kind of light.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, grab a copy. It is a great magazine and will introduce you to new places around the bay.

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Evening Grosbeaks

An evening grosbeak perches on a branch of a chinese pistache tree, Sunnyvale CA.
An evening grosbeak perches on a branch of a chinese pistache tree, Sunnyvale CA.

I recently finished processing a series of photos I took of a flock of evening grosbeaks that invaded a neighborhood in Sunnyvale, CA, a little south of my home. For several days, the birds were repeating a pattern of flying into the area in the morning, and perching on a row of chinese pistache trees, so I decided to head down and see if I could locate the flock.

I arrived in the neighborhood just after dawn when I figured the birds would be busy eating. I began to walk up and down the streets, occasionally stopping to listen for the distinct crunching sound of the birds eating the fruit off of the trees. All the while I was under the watchful eyes of the residents, who probably don’t often see someone walking past their house with an 800mm lens mounted to a large tripod.

An evening grosbeak perches on a branch of a chinese pistache tree and eats a small seed, Sunnyvale CA.
An evening grosbeak perches on a branch of a chinese pistache tree and eats a small seed, Sunnyvale CA.

Finally, I was on the verge of giving up and decided to make my way back to my car. On my way back, I passed under one of the many chinese pistache trees and heard the soft crunch crunch crunch. Looking up I could just see one or two of the grosbeaks in the upper most branches. Thrilled, I set up my gear on the sunny side of the tree (so that the birds would be front lit), and waited until some of them ventured to lower fruit.

An evening grosbeak reaches for food on the branches on a chinese pistache tree, Sunnyvale, CA.
An evening grosbeak reaches for food on the branches on a Chinese pistache tree, Sunnyvale, CA.

In all I hung out for about 20 minutes before the birds lifted off and flew elsewhere. It is always a treat to get such opportunities to photograph seasonal migrants.

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White-tail Kite Fly By

A white-tailed kite perches on a tree stump, surveying the landscape around it
A white-tailed kite perches on a tree stump, surveying the landscape around it

A little while ago I visited Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto, CA in order to get some photos of some of the white-tail kites that live there. And I was certainly not disappointed. I climbed a large hill in order to get above some of the trees on which they perch while they are not hunting. I quickly saw one of the kites and slowly made my way toward its tree.

A white-tailed kite perches on a tree branch, surveying the landscape around it
A white-tailed kite perches on a tree branch, surveying the landscape around it

With my eye glued to the view finder, I had my lens tight in on this bird, capturing shots of it flying up and back to various branches on the tree. Suddenly a dark form darted by just above the kite. Luckily, my photography training was to shoot first and ask questions later, and I capture a single frame of what I later saw to be another kite flying at the first one.

A male white-tail kite flies past a female, which reacts to his close proximity
A male white-tail kite flies past a female, which reacts to his close proximity

I quickly realized what was going on, as the male came in for another pass, this time reaching his target, and landing on top of the female.

A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it
A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it

The male quickly mated with the female, and just as quickly flew away. And before you ask, yes I do have photos, but hey, this is a family friendly blog!

A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it
A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it

I’ve never seen this before or since, and I definitely know that I wouldn’t have been able to capture these shots if I hadn’t already had the female framed and in focus. Sometimes you just get lucky….

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Dark-eyed Junco

A dark-eyed junco perches on a tree branch and flashes his tail feathers
A dark-eyed junco perches on a tree branch and flashes his tail feathers

Dark-eyed juncos are most often seen on the ground, pecking around for bits of seed. But in this photo, I managed to capture one perched for a long period of time in a tree branch, seemingly displaying his tail feathers.

Normal courtship behavior for a male is to stand on the ground near the female, dip his head and raise his tail feathers while fanning them out to each side. I had never before seen one fanning its feathers up in a tree. And no females were anywhere to be seen. If this bird was attempting a courtship display, he was going about it all wrong.

But it was amusing for me, and I snapped away, capturing a behavior and location that I had never seen before with this bird.

Copyright 2017 Hank Christensen