I believe this dark morph Swainson’s Hawk was communicating with its mate as it screamed soon after take-off. Just before this bird took off both hawks of the apparently mated pair were perched next to each other on a power pole near the Centennial Valley and they made quite a contrast because the second bird was a light morph. I’ll post images of both of them when I return home in a few days.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
The light-colored bird launched first and then this dark bird took off in the same direction. I was able to get 23 shots of it in flight and in 14 of them it was calling out. I moderately underexposed all of them so I had to bring this one back up during processing. I was disappointed that the light angle and brow ridge prevented me from getting a catch light in the eye but there’s a little color there to partially make up for it.
Ron
PS – After three days of trying, last evening I was finally able to get some images of one of the Great Horned Owls on the farm. I have better ones but after all that effort it still feels good to have had some success. If they’re any good (at this point I’ve only seen them on my camera screen) I’ll post one of them soon.
Great shot of a beautiful bird. I know it’s anthropomorphizing, but the first thing that struck me when I saw it was that the bird was angry.
‘Whatcha looking at bud? Yes you!!! ‘
Really looking forward to seeing more of this bird and his mate. Travel safely.
Looking forward the GHO images…worried about fires….
Spectacular shot Ron!
Charlotte
Fantastic shot with that gorgeous raptor screaming! Is its mate by chance the light morph who recently starred in the athletic launch image? Good overall detail at that aperture. Dark birds give me fits!
Keep enjoying your trip. We’ll wait here ’til you get back.
I liked this one for the coloring near the cere. It almost looks yellow. Is it?
Yes, it is, Arwen.
Very nice shot Ron. It is tough to get the detail on dark feathers, but you did just fine!
Glad you got some images of the Great Horned Owl, looking forward to seeing them.
Thanks, Dick – though I did have to increase the exposure during processing in order to get some of that detail.