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"Blackbird Moon." A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flies past the rising moon while on their way to an evening roost site in the cattails. Behind the lens. While camping in Arizona one winter, we noticed the blackbirds flocking in each night. Right after sunset, groups numbering in the dozens would flock in together. Flying at full speed, they'd dive into the cattails at the head of our small lake and roost there for the night. So the next evening, we kayaked out and parked in front of the cattails, and waited. The sun set, the full moon rose, and the blackbirds started arriving. I kept my camera pointed at the moon, and I pressed the shutter every time a flock flew across my view. Out of 20-30 frames, this was the only image I got that had a bird in front of the moon. A little observation, a little planning -- and a little luck.
"Pileated Portrait." A male Pileated Woodpecker inspects an old feeding hole in a weathered stump. The red mustache distinguishes the guys from the females.
"Short-eared Owl." A Short-eared Owl glides across a Montana grassland. Behind the lens. I was helping my good friend, Kuenhi, with the fieldwork for his master's degree on Ring-necked Pheasants, at a USF&WS Wildlife Refuge here in Montana. We were slowly walking the fields, parting the grass with long sticks to look for pheasant nests. Once found, Kuenhi would take all manner of measurements for one egg, and then we would cover the nest and move on as quickly as possible. Short-eared Owls are also ground nesters, and we must have passed close to her nest as she hovered above us for a few moments. But we moved on, and she went back to hunting.
"Pileated Woodpecker." A female Pileated Woodpecker flies low over a shaded winter snow bank. Both males and females sport crests of red feathers, and the males also have a red mustache. Behind the lens. There's more to the story of this bird. She's missing her central tail feathers ("retrices"), which is normal when the bird is molting. But when I showed this photo to my neighbors, they said, "We know that bird!" She was feeding at their suet feeder when a squirrel ran up the tree to chase her away, and a few feathers were seen floating to the ground after the altercation. They said that the strange thing is, the squirrel never eats the suet.
"Blackbird Moon." A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flies past the rising moon while on their way to an evening roost site in the cattails. Behind the lens. While camping in Arizona one winter, we noticed the blackbirds flocking in each night. Right after sunset, groups numbering in the dozens would flock in together. Flying at full speed, they'd dive into the cattails at the head of our small lake and roost there for the night. So the next evening, we kayaked out and parked in front of the cattails, and waited. The sun set, the full moon rose, and the blackbirds started arriving. I kept my camera pointed at the moon, and I pressed the shutter every time a flock flew across my view. Out of 20-30 frames, this was the only image I got that had a bird in front of the moon. A little observation, a little planning -- and a little luck.
"Eagle Talons." A Bald Eagle catches a fish from a small Montana lake. The progression is shown in 0.2 second intervals, and from beginning to end is 0.8 (eight tenths) of a second. (Note cards available here.) Behind the lens. As a biologist, I spent years monitoring Bald Eagles in Glacier National Park. I've seen Eagles catch fish and ducks many times, but it always happens so fast that I can never tell exactly how they do it. So I imagined this sequential photograph for a long time, in the back of my mind, before I was actually able to document the event with a camera. Like most birds, Eagles fly with their feet and legs held tight to the body for aerodynamic reasons. As they stoop on a prey item, the legs rotate forward and the talons extend, hitting the fish with force and locking down. As they start to fly away, they'll often turn the fish around head-first, again, for aerodynamic reasons. It's a beautiful sequence that's been perfected by countless generations of Bald Eagles -- and it happens in the blink of an eye.
"Red-winged Blackbird." Its takes two years before a male Red-winged Blackbird acquires its red and yellow shoulder epaulets. You can read more about Red-winged Blackbirds here at my "Wild & Free Montana" website. Behind the lens. This is the quintessential marsh bird -- everyone knows, or should know, Red-winged Blackbirds. The females are a cryptic brown, but the males are unmistakable in their breeding plumage. I love photographs that show birds' wings at work. They allow you to stop and examine each feather, how it flexes and how it's used. But if you don't include some blur, then the bird looks motionless and out-of-sorts. So I was especially pleased at how this photograph turned out. Every feather has a function, the wingtips are in motion, and the focus is right where it should be -- on the eye.
"Blackbird Moon."

A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flies past the rising moon while on their way to an evening roost site in the cattails.

Behind the lens.

While camping in Arizona one winter, we noticed the blackbirds flocking in each night. Right after sunset, groups numbering in the dozens would flock in together. Flying at full speed, they'd dive into the cattails at the head of our small lake and roost there for the night.

So the next evening, we kayaked out and parked in front of the cattails, and waited. The sun set, the full moon rose, and the blackbirds started arriving.

I kept my camera pointed at the moon, and I pressed the shutter every time a flock flew across my view. Out of 20-30 frames, this was the only image I got that had a bird in front of the moon.

A little observation, a little planning -- and a little luck.
A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flies past the rising moon while on their way to an evening roost site in the cattails. Behind the lens. While camping in Arizona one winter, we noticed the blackbirds flocking in each night. Right after sunset, groups numbering in the dozens would flock in together. Flying at full speed, they'd dive into the cattails at the head of our small lake and roost there for the night. So the next evening, we kayaked out and parked in front of the cattails, and waited. The sun set, the full moon rose, and the blackbirds started arriving. I kept my camera pointed at the moon, and I pressed the shutter every time a flock flew across my view. Out of 20-30 frames, this was the only image I got that had a bird in front of the moon. A little observation, a little planning -- and a little luck." href="javascript:openLB(568213237,'',XLarge,'',1024,683);">"Blackbird Moon." A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flies past the rising moon while on their way to an evening roost site in the cattails. Behind the lens. While camping in Arizona one winter, we noticed the blackbirds flocking in each night. Right after sunset, groups numbering in the dozens would flock in together. Flying at full speed, they'd dive into the cattails at the head of our small lake and roost there for the night. So the next evening, we kayaked out and parked in front of the cattails, and waited. The sun set, the full moon rose, and the blackbirds started arriving. I kept my camera pointed at the moon, and I pressed the shutter every time a flock flew across my view. Out of 20-30 frames, this was the only image I got that had a bird in front of the moon. A little observation, a little planning -- and a little luck.
"Blackbird Moon."

A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flies past the rising moon while on their way to an evening roost site in the cattails.

Behind the lens.

While camping in Arizona one winter, we noticed the blackbirds flocking in each night. Right after sunset, groups numbering in the dozens would flock in together. Flying at full speed, they'd dive into the cattails at the head of our small lake and roost there for the night.

So the next evening, we kayaked out and parked in front of the cattails, and waited. The sun set, the full moon rose, and the blackbirds started arriving.

I kept my camera pointed at the moon, and I pressed the shutter every time a flock flew across my view. Out of 20-30 frames, this was the only image I got that had a bird in front of the moon.

A little observation, a little planning -- and a little luck.
See photo in original gallery.
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