Typically Northern Harriers in flight studiously avoid my vehicle but occasionally (very occasionally) one will continue to circle and come in quite close. On the rare occasion when this happens I always wonder why.
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
A week ago today, as I was leaving Farmington to go home, this juvenile female (I believe) flushed from alongside the road just in front of me. Usually all I’d see after this is a good look at her butt but she circled back and came in again. Very close.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, not baited, set up or called in
Then she did it again. She was so close that I kept clipping body parts so I removed my tc.
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, not baited, set up or called in
I began to suspect that she had prey in the area and that turned out to be the case. Adjacent to the road was a deep, icy ravine and eventually I could see that she was after a dead duck at the bottom (I could barely see it through all the vegetation, even at that steep angle).
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, not baited, set up or called in
Then I noticed that each time she passed she was looking down at the duck and immediately after she passed over it she would look back and give me a furtive glance (I like this peekaboo look).
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, not baited, set up or called in
The ravine was so close to the road that I began to suspect that it was the passing traffic (and possibly my own presence) that might be keeping her off her meal. This feeling was reinforced when more traffic came by and she stopped circling and landed on this nearby post for a short time.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in
I wanted one last look at the duck but just as I began to scope it through my lens I noticed that she was already on the bird and I got two poor images as she took off with it. She dropped it in the ravine again so I decided it was high time to leave her to her meal. As you can see from all the plucked feathers she had apparently been feeding on this duck for some time earlier in the day. Harriers often come back to a kill like this several times in a day and I suspect that despite all the traffic this very determined bird got her fill from the duck more than once.
Mission accomplished.
Ron
In the “sneak peek” photo, she reminds me of an evil queen in fairy tales. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. What an impressive predator!
Wow! What a wonderful series. Thank you so much.
My favourite is that sneak peek one – great timing!
Thanks, Sonja.
Fantastic Ron, I photographed the same birds eating that duck last week!
Interesting, Jerry. When I was there only one harrier was working the duck – last Thursday at about 10:20 AM.
Love 48dodger’s “my job here is done…Darth Duck I’d dead”!…got a good laugh out of that one…very clever!
WHY DO COMPUTERS MAKE UP THEIR OWN SPELLINGS AND THIE OWN COCKAMAMIE WORDS??? I write “is”, it writes “I’d”…sometimes the computer’s choices are funny, but most of the time they’re annoying!!! I’m too old for this bologna!
IT DID IT AFAIN!!!!!!!!
I needed a chuckle right now Patty and this was a doozy. Thanks for that!
BTW, you or anyone else can contact me to ask that I edit typos when they happen. I’m hesitant to do it without being asked for fear of getting it wrong somehow (sometimes it can be difficult to figure out what was really meant…)
NOT FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would LOVE to have you, or anyone else 3rd grade or above, edit what my computer and I write, but not if turns out to be another full time job!!!
Patty, from what I remember from using a PC, I think the culprit is if you have the grammar check turned on. Auto-correct spelling is another thing to watch out for. I think those are usually found in the edit menu of whatever program you are using (I can’t swear to that – my brain is so adapted to my Mac these days that I can’t remember much of anything about PCs). 🙂
Thanks, Susan….but, I HAVE A MAC AND IT HATES ME! (YES, Bill Dove…computers CAN, and DO HATE?)….
Sometimes I think my husband’s Mac hates him, too. In the edit menu, when you are composing, make certain that ‘correct spelling’ is not checked and that ‘check grammar with spelling’ is not checked. I leave the auto correct spelling on, and a trick I’ve discovered, when the computer insists on changing a word in a way I don’t want is to make certain that I have a space already in place after the word I don’t want it to correct, or even better, another word. I then go back and correct the word and hit the tab key so that I don’t reactivate the auto-correct spelling. It’s the space bar that is the culprit, as I’ve discovered the hard way many, many times. I hope this helps you at least a little. As my husband is fond of saying, ‘computers are so stupid – they do exactly what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do…’
Susan-Your husband is a very wise man! You’re darned smart, too…I’ll give it a try. Thanks, Poor, Pitiful Patty
Poor pitiful????? I don’t think so!! As ones who didn’t grow up with computers, I think we do very well with them. And I’m a great believer in sharing knowledge – especially when I’ve gotten it the hard way!
Thank you, everyone. I’m mildly surprised at how much everyone seems to love that peekaboo shot. I thought I might be the only one…
LOVE the peek-a-boo pose. And that you left her to her meal. Thank you.
Love the look over her shoulder at you!
“Furtive Glance” is an absolute show stopper! Wonderful, wonderful sequence Ron.
Great series!!! I also love the caped crusader shot!! Every day is just an amazing adventure with you and your camera!
Ultimate jackpot peekaboo shot. I had been trying hard to get such shots for hawks and owls. Those moments were so fleeting.
Great story too.
What a wonderful series’s specially love the peeking over her shoulder image in the 4th frame…
Great shots Ron. She was really coming in close to check out your license plate 🙂
There’s a method to my madness, Ed…
Beautiful series of shots. The peek-a-boo shot is simply amazing…
Thank you, Susan.
Incredible shots Ron….really enjoyed the 4th image. It has a lot of emotion….a subtle subplot implied by the hawks backward glance.
Something a caped hero might do as they make their exit….”My job here is done”, “Darth Duck has been stopped”. 🙂
Tim
“Something a caped hero might do as they make their exit”.
Perfect, Tim. Perfect…
Ron, I just noticed how the bird’s body in your second shot is shown to be a perfect wing shape, well a wing shape with wings added on. I’d never thought of the entire body as an airfoil before. I just never put that together. Thank you for the morning’s wonder!
Interesting observation, Mikal. Yes, her body shape looks a lot like a cross section cutaway of an airplane wing.
The duck would be too heavy for the Harrier to lift. It may not have been the Harrier’s kill but a good find (possible grounded Grebe). Looks like the Harrier has ruffed up the deck feathers.
Bill
Bill, she actually carried it in flight for some distance before she dropped it but I suspect you’re right that it was too heavy for her to get far with it.
WOW WOW WOW! What sensational shots! what I had no ide?a that they left prey. Wonder what keeps other birds from getting it?
Charlotte
Charlotte, sometimes other birds do “get it”, especially other harriers. When they do, spectacular fights often erupt – see these links if you’re interested.
https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2011/01/22/northern-harriers-battle-over-a-mallard/
https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2012/05/07/northern-harrier-defending-its-meal/