Bryce Denny
02-01-2011, 05:27 PM
I am new here so I hope I have posted this on the right thread. I am a railroad photographer, and so the equipment I carry is not the kind that one would use to take bird photographs. But, from time to time, I see birds engaging in some odd behavior around trains. My favorite was a pigeon that, for two years, would ride on top of slowly moving freight cars during cold, rainy weather. At first, I thought the bird was eating grain on top of grain hopper cars. However, I soon figured out that food was not the reason for the trip as the bird would ride on non-grain carrying cars.
The pigeon would take flight when the train picked up speed. I would then see it on the next slow moving train. This winter, however, I have not seen this pigeon.
Weekend before last, some opposums had been struck by a train and some buzzards (I'll let the experts provide the exact species) were feeding on the carcasses. One of the buzzards was fearless. He or she would move to an empty track as passing trains would roar by (it is a three track, busy main line with locomotives pounding loudly to make the uphill grade). I took a picture of a locomotive and noticed that the buzzard was in one corner of the picture, calmly watching the train roar by just a few feet from his head!
Look at the lower l.h. corner of this photograph, taken in Shreveport, and you'll see the ever so fearless buzzard: http://www.locophotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=114946
Excuse the link, but I lost my hard drive this morning and my online backup has not yet restored all of my railroad photographs.
One of these days I would like to combine nature and train photography. Surprisingly, they aren't that inconsistent and it would give rail photographers something to do while waiting for the next train (we have almost as much down time as bird photographers).
Bryce Denny
The pigeon would take flight when the train picked up speed. I would then see it on the next slow moving train. This winter, however, I have not seen this pigeon.
Weekend before last, some opposums had been struck by a train and some buzzards (I'll let the experts provide the exact species) were feeding on the carcasses. One of the buzzards was fearless. He or she would move to an empty track as passing trains would roar by (it is a three track, busy main line with locomotives pounding loudly to make the uphill grade). I took a picture of a locomotive and noticed that the buzzard was in one corner of the picture, calmly watching the train roar by just a few feet from his head!
Look at the lower l.h. corner of this photograph, taken in Shreveport, and you'll see the ever so fearless buzzard: http://www.locophotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=114946
Excuse the link, but I lost my hard drive this morning and my online backup has not yet restored all of my railroad photographs.
One of these days I would like to combine nature and train photography. Surprisingly, they aren't that inconsistent and it would give rail photographers something to do while waiting for the next train (we have almost as much down time as bird photographers).
Bryce Denny