Chukar walking on fresh snowChukar walking on fresh snow – Nikon D300, f9, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 321mm, natural light

Snow fell on Antelope Island last night and it made for wonderful settings for the subjects I photographed like this Chukar in fresh fallen snow. I haven’t been seeing the Chukars regularly lately so I was very pleased to see them again. I noticed last year around this time that they were difficult to find too.

Chukar in the snowChukar in fresh fallen snow – Nikon D300, f9, 1/800, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 357mm, natural light

I love to photograph my subjects in all kinds of settings and light so fresh snow was a given, I had to get photos of the Chukars as they pushed their bills into the snow to find food. To me Chukars always look kind of rotund and I think that being in the snow makes that even more obvious.

Bad Seed? Chukar shows tongueBad Seed? Chukar up chukin’ – Nikon D300, f9, 1/800, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm with 1.4x TC 357mm, natural light

Sorry for the bad pun but it did look like this Chukar was up chukin’. It is really just eating and I caught the bill open and showing the bird’s tongue, you can see the food the bird was eating under the upper mandible.

I was going to post these tomorrow but couldn’t wait. I may have patience when it comes to bird photography but I lack some when it comes to sharing my images here. 🙂

Mia