I don’t think this adult Red-tailed Hawk was very happy with my presence.
1/500, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I photographed the bird early yesterday morning along the South Road of Montana’s Centennial Valley. Most of the raptors along that road are acclimated to traffic passing them by as they’re perched but if you stop it makes them a little nervous. After I stopped this bird pooped and then turned on its perch, lifting its left leg as it did so. Then it took off away from me.
This image (and others I’ll be posting on this trip to Montana) was processed on my laptop so I don’t really know what it looks like. If you see any glaring processing errors please don’t hesitate to point them out.
Due to a time-consuming 50 mile move of my campsite yesterday (it was necessary to improve my internet access) my time spent on bird photography was severely limited. Hopefully I’ll have more success today.
Ron
I notice that I am prepared to forgive grumpy behaviour in (beautiful) birds just as bad behaviour os condoned in ‘beautiful’ people. Mind you, I admire the birds more than any of the beautiful people. Much more.
EC me too–to a point. LOL!! The birds get away with FAR more than I’d put up with from humans 🙂
Yup. And I smile at them too.
Thanks foe efforts to get blog to me…I feel just like this bird looks….
Patty, does this mean that you are feeling bad tempered but beautiful?
You’re half right, Ellie Baby…scratch thr beautiful part and hang on tight to the grumpy half, and you’ve got it….
Nope. I am all right. You are beautiful. And sometimes grumpy is the only rational response.
Ron or Laura. Is this a juvie? Diana
Diana, I believe this is an adult. What I can see of the tail is pretty red and they don’t get their red tail until the end of the summer of their second year–the molt takes all summer to complete so they can continue to fly and hunt. Then, in their third year, they’re part of the adult breeding population. After they get their red tail, it’s mostly impossible to tell their age.
Thanks a lot, Laura. I didn’t see the red tail because it is cocked up above the barred primaries and in a line where the wings often lie. I was thinking it was the hawk’s tail that was barred.
I guess each of us has their own kind of optical illusions depending upon our experiences. I just learned that I must have “If it hangs down below the body, it’s a tail” and “wings are above tail” prejudices in my quick visual appraisal of images (GISS general impression, size, shape). Visually processing images is a learning experience on this site and it has helped me greatly in field work.
The bird looks wary and a bit agitated to me.
Beautiful shot of a clearly not happy bird. Hope you have plenty of good shooting time.
What a lovely shot. I don’t know the technical factors, but to my redtail-loving eyes, you done REAL good!
They’re still hormonal now, so grumpy is exaggerated. At this time of year, they’re probably trying to encourage their lazy kids to get on the wing and start living on their own. The kids are either getting ready to fledge, OR have just fledged and they’ve found a spot to lounge around, only flying a little bit here and there, screaming at their parents to deliver food and overall being just annoying kids. LOL!
Most of the year, Mariah tolerates me pretty well, but now, when I deliver her food, she grabs it, turns and SCREAMS at me–full redtail scream with stinkeye–to dismiss me from her presence. Most days, there are three screams, one after I’ve gone. Overall, I think redtails think we’re a lesser species and wonder how we get through the day 😉
Glad hands appear to be better tofay…
You did fine with it! 🙂 Beautiful bird with nice detail. 🙂
Looks good to me. It’s been my experience that while most birds don’t like us, the Red-tailed Hawk abhors us humans more than most.
Thanks, Zaphir. Whatever they’re actually “feeling”, red-tails can certainly look grumpy…