JULY 2017 • NEBRASKAland 41
day, and I was thirsty. I stopped my
ATV and dug my water bottle out of
my pack. As I was drinking, I saw a
flash of movement and looked over
to see a grasshopper sparrow on a
leadplant stem, maybe 10 feet away.
Just as I started pulling out my camera,
my companions came roaring past me
on their ATVs. Disappointed, I started
putting my camera back in my bag,
figuring I'd missed my chance at a nice
bird photo. To my surprise, however,
the sparrow stayed put, despite two
ATVs passing right by.
As I focused my camera on the
sparrow, I finally noticed the small
grasshopper in its mouth. I guessed the
bird was getting ready to feed hungry
chicks nearby and figured that was why
it didn't immediately fly away when
the ATVs drove past. I took a couple of
quick photos and then drove my own
ATV away, hoping fervently that none
of us had driven over a nest. ■
A note on ethics: Despite my
seemingly cavalier perspective on
wildlife photography, I really do take
great care not to unnecessarily harass
wild animals. In most of the instances
discussed here, I found myself close to
an animal while I was simply driving
along a road or trail. I didn't go
out of my way to purposefully chase
down animals that were minding their
own business. I never would have
approached the pronghorn or her
fawns if I'd known what was going
on ahead of time, and I stayed just
long enough to get a couple photos
before slipping quickly away without
spooking them. While it's acceptable
to take advantage of accidental
encounters with wildlife, it's never ok
to intentionally flush birds off their nest
or nighttime roost, or to do anything
else that might put an animal at risk or
cause it unnecessary distress.
With a grasshopper in its mouth, this grasshopper sparrow seemed to be waiting for me to go away so it could feed its young in a
nearby nest. Once I realized what was happening, I moved on and left it alone.
With a grasshopper in its mouth this grasshopper sparrow seemed to be waiting for me to go away so it could feed its young in a
Chris Helzer is
the Director of
Science for The
Nature
Conservancy in
Nebraska. He has
been a contributor
to NEBRASKAland
since 1994.
Chris blogs at prairieecologist.com l i t
