Common Raven in an Open Field

Will wonders never cease? The weather forecasters; who are usually way off on their predictions, were right yesterday. They called for partly cloudy weather and that is what happened. Of course when there were no birds the sky overhead was clear and when there were birds the hulking clouds blocked out most of the light. Maybe they used a Ouija board for the forecast yesterday instead of weather radars and other scientific information.

So, when there were clouds (and not much light) I came across this Common Raven (Corvus corax) perched on a small rock in an open field that had been feeding on roadkill on the shoulder of the road.

I grumbled about the low light earlier but it actually worked in my favor because I was able to bring out nice details in the Raven’s plumage and even got a hint of the blue sheen on some of the feathers and according to the histogram none of the blacks are blocked up. In brighter light there may have been blocked up blacks in the shadows.

I could lighten the Raven up because the histogram shows that I am nowhere near blowing out the whites but I don’t want to increase exposure if it will add unwanted noise and that can happen easily with blacks and other dark colors.

This Raven acted like it was going to expel a pellet for about a minute and I hoped to capture images of that but the bird must have decided it wasn’t time yet and flew off.

In Christian tradition Ravens are considered birds that herald death, evil, warfare or ill omens. I prefer to think of them as intelligent, playful and mischievous tricksters.

Mia McPherson, OntheWingPhotography.com

Mia McPherson

Mia McPherson is a nature lover, wildlife watcher and an avian photographer. Mia first become serious about bird photography when she moved to Florida in 2004. Her recent move to the Salt Lake area of Utah was a great opportunity to continue observing their behavior and photographing them. With so many birds species there easily accessible it wasn’t long before she was hooked. By learning more about each species, she can anticipate their behaviour and create opportunities to obtain ever better images of those species.

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