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Just
before taking the photo in Figure 1 I was photographing
some wildflowers and heard a commotion on the nearby
dam.
I
walked up to the lake, arriving to see what at first
appeared to be a tranquil scene. |
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| Fig
1: Swans minding their own business, or so it seemed. But the
swan in the background is approaching fast, and is looking for trouble. |
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| Then
I realised that the swan in the back of this photo was
the one that had been causing trouble earlier in the day
(we'll call him swan "A" or Agro), and he was
making a beeline for the swan in the foreground (who I'll
dub swan "B" or Bilbo). Until
this point I'd been using my 300mm f2.8 with a 1.4
converter. This is a good combination resulting in
a 420mm f4 lens.
With
the light levels at the time I was shooting at 1/125th
wide open at f4. This shutter speed is stretching
the friendship for handheld photography with such
a long lens, but with good technique, and a static
subject, it can be done.
However
it was all too clear that Agro had mischief on his
mind, and that things would soon be hotting up.
For
this reason I removed the converter, and thus returned
the lens to its standard configuration as a 300/2.8.
This was a calculated act, with three benefits,
- A
one-stop faster lens, meaning that my shutter
speed went up to 1/250th.
- A
shorter focal length, easier to handle if there's
any action, but also more appropriate for hand
holding on the move. The new shutter speed/focal
length combination of 1/250th and 300mm will produce
sharper results.
- Wider
field of view, meaning that it would be easier
to follow the action, I can always crop an image
later if it's a little too wide, I can't add to
it.
Now
armed with a more appropriate lens, and checking that
I had plenty of frames left on the film, I felt ready.
As
Agro got closer, Bilbo spied him and started to run. |
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| Fig
2: Bilbo has seen Agro coming up behind, and is making a run for
it. |
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| I followed,
trying to take photos at the same time. Eventually Agro
got into range and flew into action. |
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| Fig
3: Agro launches his first attack. |
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| He
chased Bilbo around in circles, constantly biting him
on the back. |
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| Fig
4: Agro plunges his beak into Bilbo's back, sending the water
flying. |
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| Bilbo
tried to escape by exiting the lake and running up the
dam wall, but Agro persisted, chasing his unfortunate
victim right across the embankment and into the long grass. |
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| Fig
5: Poor Bilbo tries to escape, but Agro has latched onto some
feathers. |
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| A few
seconds later Agro reappears with feathers hanging from
his beak. He looks back into the grass as if to say "And
don't come back fella", then waddles off back to
the water. |
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| Fig
6: Agro, with evidence clearly hanging from his beak, looks back
at Bilbo in the long grass. |
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| After
checking that all seems clear Bilbo also reappears from
the grass, and stands as if saying "Waddi do? Waddi
do?". |
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| Fig
7: A bemused Bilbo, no doubt wondering what he'd done. |
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At
this point I think it's all over and I'm sitting on
the ground to get a steadier hold on the camera, assuming
that I'm now in for just a portrait or two of Bilbo.
As
I look through the viewfinder though I see Bilbo start
to walk towards me. Thinking that Agro has returned
to the lake, I figure that Bilbo has decided to walk
along the dam wall rather than take his chances in
the water.
Within
seconds though it's apparent that there's more afoot.
Bilbo starts running straight towards me at full throttle.
I
managed to fire off three shots before he's too close
for me to follow focus, the third photo (Fig 8) illustrating
the reason Bilbo was bolting, Agro had climbed back
onto the wall and had resumed the chase. |
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| Fig
8: Bilbo nearly knocks me over in his panic to get away from Agro,
seen here in the background, bearing down on the both of us. |
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Considering
I use old manual equipment, with no auto focus, I
was very pleased with the results, of the three shots
taken as Bilbo rushed towards me, the first and third
are sharp.
Check
out the body language on Agro at the rear. Although
he's well out of focus, there's no misunderstanding
his evil intentions.
Bilbo
veers at the last second and dives back onto the lake,
with Agro in hot pursuit. |
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| Fig
9: Bilbo hits the water on the run. |
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| Then
the chase continues, ending shortly after the next photo. |
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| Fig
10: Agro has one last go at pecking Bilbo, then gives up the chase. |
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What
this was all about I have no idea, was this the swan
way of letting immature birds know it's time to leave
home?, was this courtship, swan style, in which case
Agro is really Romeo.
Whatever
was happening it made a good sequence of photos.
NOTE:
I've since received an explanation about this
behaviour. See below.
There's
no doubt that the use of modern auto-focus equipment would
have improved the sharpness of most of these photos, but
I think this sequence illustrates that it's still possible
to get good action shots with older gear. At
the time of writing the modern equivalent of my 300/2.8
costs over $10,000, which places it firmly in my dreams,
and not my camera bag.
All
photos taken with a Canon FD 300mm f2.8 lens mounted
on a Canon F1N with a Speed Finder and FN Motor drive. |
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Explanation
of this behaviour
While "Bilbo" was clearly behaving in a submissive
way (notice his lowered curly feathers while he is swimming
away from "Agro"), he is a fully adult bird.
Immatures retain dark spots on their white primaries,
which "Bilbo" doesn't have. The behaviour is
also not courtship - that is a LOT more subtle!
Black
Swans do not hold permanent territories like Mute
Swans, but dominant birds will regularly chase others
away from where they are feeding. If the intruder
doesn't leave quickly enough they may throw in some
extra persuasion of the kind you observed.
However,
the kind of prolonged aggression you photographed
is usually only observed during the breeding season.
So, my guess is that "Agro" either had a
brood of cygnets nearby, or was establishing himself
as the 'lord of the lake' by chasing off all other
males.
Ken
Kraaijeveld
The Galton Laboratory
Department of Biology
University College London |
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