2406_1154 Fighting Pheasants
I thought I was done for the day. I had spent an hour walking in a light rain, photographing the profusion of wildflowers produced by this wet spring, and also some time sitting in the rolling red Toyota blind, not far from a Burrowing Owl nest. Thought I was done. Uh-uh.
I started driving home. Two red spots in the tall grass and silver sagebrush caught my eye: pheasants! I stopped and backed the car up about 75 feet; this almost never works, but I try anyway. Just as I got them in focus, they erupted in a dispute, all flapping wings and slashing talons!
It didn't last long - about a minute. Finally one broke and ran, the other chasing, both dashing across the prairie like roadrunners.The Cornell site describes it well: "Competitors sometimes resort to physical combat. After a series of escalating threat displays, fighting cocks flutter upward, breast to breast, and bite at each other’s wattles. They may take turns leaping at each other with bill, claws, and spurs deployed. Usually the challenger runs away before long, and these fights are rarely fatal."
I didn't get as many useable frames as I would have liked; that grass was tall and they were only visible when they rose flapping into the air for a couple of seconds. Then they would disappear and I'd lose focus. But the misses are irrelevant if the hits are good!
In all probability this was a once-in-a-lifetime photo op!
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2406_1154 Fighting Pheasants
I thought I was done for the day. I had spent an hour walking in a light rain, photographing the profusion of wildflowers produced by this wet spring, and also some time sitting in the rolling red Toyota blind, not far from a Burrowing Owl nest. Thought I was done. Uh-uh.
I started driving home. Two red spots in the tall grass and silver sagebrush caught my eye: pheasants! I stopped and backed the car up about 75 feet; this almost never works, but I try anyway. Just as I got them in focus, they erupted in a dispute, all flapping wings and slashing talons!
It didn't last long - about a minute. Finally one broke and ran, the other chasing, both dashing across the prairie like roadrunners.The Cornell site describes it well: "Competitors sometimes resort to physical combat. After a series of escalating threat displays, fighting cocks flutter upward, breast to breast, and bite at each other’s wattles. They may take turns leaping at each other with bill, claws, and spurs deployed. Usually the challenger runs away before long, and these fights are rarely fatal."
I didn't get as many useable frames as I would have liked; that grass was tall and they were only visible when they rose flapping into the air for a couple of seconds. Then they would disappear and I'd lose focus. But the misses are irrelevant if the hits are good!
In all probability this was a once-in-a-lifetime photo op!
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.