Enjoying Spring Bird Photography in the Grand Tetons
A big raven perched atop an evergreen tree in Grand Teton National Park.
Written by Sarah Marino (all human, no AI)
In May, I picked Ron up at a work retreat in Utah and we headed to Grand Teton National Park on a whim (you can see his landscape photos from the trip here). With spring migration underway, we saw and heard all sorts of interesting birds and ended up spending quite a bit of time photographing and observing them.
I am a casual and opportunistic bird photographer, mostly because I do not have the patience to sit in one spot for hours when I could be wandering around and moving through the landscape instead. Still, we enjoyed watching a few specific birds for longer than typical for us, including a female Barrow's goldeneye squeezing into an impossibly small tree cavity, likely to tend to a nest of eggs or new babies, some territorial Canada geese with two males chasing and snipping at each other while a female sat on her nest nearby, a bunch of white pelicans feeding below the Jackson Lake dam, and a great gray owl moving from perch to perch in a dark, messy forest. Although I did not get any decent photos from that last experience, it was a highlight of the trip since I'd never seen a great gray owl in person before (see Ron's photo of it here). So fun!
As a landscape photographer first, I have a preference for showing birds in their environment rather than getting as close as possible with tight framing. Also, I find that this approach aligns with the experience of seeing birds in nature much more than the in-your-face portraits that are so common in bird photography. I also enjoy photographing plain birds, common birds, and female birds, and I don't really care if there isn't a catch light in the bird's eye, or if I wasn't able to get an eye-level perspective, or about any of the other things that are supposedly required for "good" bird photographs. Bird and wildlife photographers can be a dogmatic bunch, and I find photographing birds to be far more fun and enjoyable when I put all those "right ways" of doing things aside and just enjoy the brief company of avian friends in a more relaxed way.
I consider my bird photography to be a work-in-progress as I am still trying to infuse more creativity in terms of composition and light (for example, I find Mary Anne Karren's style of bird photography to be especially interesting right now). I've really enjoyed adding birdwatching and bird photography to my time outside as getting to know more about birds and their behaviors has also helped me learn more about the environments in which they live. And, as a fast-moving type of photography, it has been fun to develop a new set of skills.
You'll find a few favorites from our time in Grand Teton National Park below. If you'd like to see the full gallery, you can find it here.
A spotted sandpiper searching for food along a quiet, calm bank of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park.
A yellow-headed blackbird lands on a cattail at the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming.
A Brewer's blackbird hanging out in a stick in some of Grand Teton National Park's wetlands.
A glimpse of a male Barrow's goldeneye through some colorful willows growing on the bank of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park.
We watched these two Canada geese fight over a nesting spot on the side of the Snake River for quite some time. The rear goose was trying to keep the front goose away from a female sitting on a nearby nest.
A Barrow's goldeneye flying just above the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. We saw its mate entering end exiting a tiny tree cavity nearby.
A killdeer keeps a watchful eye on its surroundings in Grand Teton National Park.
