It isn’t unusual to get almost identical images of a perched bird but it’s another story when they’re in flight.
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I photographed this male Northern Harrier this past spring as it hunted along the causeway to Antelope Island. I would stop my pickup and photograph him as he approached me and then rush to get ahead of him and do it again. He gave me several opportunities that way.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Roughly a minute and 55 frames later I got this shot that is very similar to the previous one. The lighting, flight posture and background of the two images are almost identical but it’s the flight posture that surprised me the most. In both images the right wing is in a vertical position and the left wing is horizontal or nearly so. That particular flight posture doesn’t occur often so I was surprised to get two images so similar. Because of the side light I didn’t get a lot of light on the face in either image but I believe that bright yellow eye helps to compensate for that.
Because of internet problems this morning this post may not be as “polished” as usual. In fact I’ll be lucky to get it posted at all…
Ron
Fantastic shots Ron! Nature is amazing.
Charlotte
Both stunning, though the first speaks (slightly) louder to me.
I hope your internet woes leave the building. Permanently.
Thanks, Ec. Internet is working better but it still has the hiccups…
I really am amazed at the difference.
🙂
Aah, the Gray Ghost is back! Love it when you produce images of a male Harrier. Great shots, almost the same, but what a handsome devil he is!!
I have seen more males where we live now than I had ever seen before living here. Wonderful sight!
However, the downside is that at least around us here, the population of Harriers is down, compared to 2013′ and 2014′.
We are hopeful it is only a temporary downswing.
I was going to ask where you see them. But, once again, I got the Harriers mixed up with the Harris jawks, which I’ve only seen in the West and midwest…so ignore this, please….
GD evil IPad strikes again…that’s supposed to Harris HAWKS, not Jawks…ugh!
Seeing (and photographing) the males is always a treat, Dick. I do hope your harriers rebound soon. Thank you.
What an incredibly beautiful bird!!! And an amazing “repeat”… I find the first a tiny bit more pleasing. In both, the eyes are what caught me first…the bright yellow and the black eye ring…the under wing feather detail in the first seems a little sharper, too.
I like the first shot best too, Patty – partly for the softer and slightly more evenly distributed light on the wing.
I’m sorry you’re having Internet problems. Just went through that recently, when we discovered that our blog was totally down. Big mess. No fun! Both of these shots are beautiful. I’m always impressed by good flight shots, because they only flights I seem to be able to get (and not close up) are Turkey Vultures…
Thanks for the empathy, Susan. When stuff like that happens it’s a huge pain in the patoot!
That is interesting that you caught it twice – must not be unusual for them tho the stability of that position seems questionable. Nice detail on the wing. 🙂
Thank you, Judy.
Very interesting about the wing position, Ron. Is it possible that the bird was preparing to make one of those sudden U-turns that Harriers are noted for?
Yes, it’s very possible, Jeff. Another possibility is that wind might have played a part but I can’t remember now if it was windy or not.
Ron, how DO you remember so much about what’s going on when you take your photos??!!! Do you keep a journal or is your memory SO much better than mine is these days. This bird is so beautiful in flight!!
Jo Ann, Since I only get good shots occasionally (most are garbage) the circumstances of the better ones do tend to stick in my mind. It also helps (a lot) to go back into my photo organizer and look at other images I took that day – doing so helps to jog my memory. I do that almost every time I post, unless it’s a shot I took in the last couple of days.
When it comes to birds I’m pretty good at remembering stuff and I do well remembering things like scientific terms and latin (scientific) names but there’s a flip side to that coin – I’ve always been absolutely horrible at remembering names of people. Go figure…