A Grumpy-looking Red-tailed Hawk…

to match my mood.

This will be a short post and at the risk of coming across as a drama king or wimpy whiner I should explain why. Late yesterday afternoon an emergency trip to the dentist revealed that my recent tooth extraction has resulted in a dry socket (I’m one of the lucky 10%…). Thankfully we caught it before the symptoms became truly excruciating but they’re bad enough to make concentration difficult so I chose to make a brief post instead of embarrassing myself by trying to make sense in a more extensive one.

 

1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in

I photographed this Red-tailed Hawk four days ago in northern Utah. To me the hawk looks a little grumpy (although that could be a reach to fit my title). This bird was almost like a statue – it barely moved a muscle in the several minutes I spent with it. Since it didn’t want to perform for me I soon drove down the road looking for other birds.

The hawk is partially side-lit and I’m (slightly) annoyed by those dark shadows in the background at right but I always appreciate lichen-encrusted rocks in my settings and I think the bird looks pretty good even in the side light. The one-legged stance indicates the hawk is very relaxed and I like that too.

Ron

39 Comments

  1. Patty Chadwick

    Large darker shadow on right looks like a set of wings…maybe your guardian angel is hanging around after all!!!

  2. That’s definitely a grumpy-looking Hawk. I think it’s because he doesn’t like those shadows… Hope your dental woes are over quickly.

  3. How I wish I could look that good when channelling my inner grumpster.
    Sigh on the dental nastiness. Good luck. And I am really glad that you don’t follow my partner’s pattern of insane stoicism. Really glad. And hope you get relief quickly.

  4. EEEEK!! Dry socket sucks from what I’ve heard. Haven’t been THERE yet, but I hope you got the pain meds this time. Suffering in pain is fun and all, but NOT!! Trust me on this 😉
    A redtail perched on a lichen-covered rock with one foot up? Yeah, that’s TERRIFIC in my world 🙂 That boy must have just missed a catch he thought he should have gotten and is now in a pouting snit. Mariah used to do that…for about 15 minutes, she’d just sit there with that kind of look until she worked through it. The next critter to twitch a whisker was toast! After she started taking ducks, pheasants and other challenging quarry, she’d really get POed if she missed a cottontail!

    • Laura,I’ve still never seen a red-tail go after a live rabbit. Maybe that’s because most of ours are big jacks.

      • Ron, I can hook you up with a fantastic falconer in the Provo area. His daughter flies an outstanding and gorgeous female redtail (Lilly), but she might catch a pheasant instead of a cottontail…or a jackrabbit. She’s like Mariah–not fussy. First to twitch goes DOWN! And if that doesn’t drop your jaw to the ground–but it will 🙂

  5. So sorry, hope you recover soon. Imagine what it must of been like 100 years ago with dental problems.
    I still have not gone out to photograph, a new record of 4 weeks. Hopefully Sunday. I am feeling restless and grumpy too.

    • “Imagine what it must of been like 100 years ago with dental problems”

      April, I’m reading a history of Dodge City that includes a lot about Doc Holladay in the 1870’s. He was a nasty man and a dentist to boot – a TERRIBLE combination.

  6. Well, crap on a cracker!!! That just sucks watatootanous! 🙁 I’m sorry you’re going through all this dental malarkey (I’m trying to keep it “PG” or at least “PG-13.”)

    I’m going to conjure up my “inner Pollyanna” and imagine that the RTH is simply chillin’ and is just unlucky enough to have “resting bitch face.” 😉

    I really like the light play — out of the darkness and into the bright. Hopefully, your dental woes will follow suit.

    • “Well, crap on a cracker”

      Ha, I haven’t heard (that version of) that one in a very long time, Marty. Enjoyed it.

      • Hey, at least it ain’t SOS (although that would probably be easy to eat — just not easy to keep down). 😉

  7. Hope you get to feeling better soon! (that’s Southern, right there, y’all.) And yes, the bird looks cranky as all get out. 😀

  8. Patty Chadwick

    I think that bird got out on the wrong side of the nest for sure! Still a beautiful image–bird, rock,grasses, lichens and a super-nice , very pleasing, background…(dry socket, though sounds awful!)…

  9. Beautiful (if grumpy) hawk … so sorry about your continued dental drama, truly a nasty turn of events. Feel better soon!

  10. Linda Berkemeier

    Relaxed and grumpy! Hawk must be on pain pills. Hope your discomfort is short and healing speedy.

  11. Humans should grow a whole new set of teeth at age 45. 😉 Hope you’re feeling better soon.

  12. Charlotte Norton

    Great shot! Speedy recovery!

  13. Good looking bird and a fine photo Ron. Hope you feel better soon!

  14. Jorge H. Oliveira

    Thanks to you I now know what a dry socket is (I went to Google). Not a nice thing to have that’s for sure.

    Wish you a good recovery and lots of patience to deal with the pain.

  15. Nice photo- you aren’t being at all dramatic about a dry socket – they aren’t a “minor” inconvenience! GEEZ! Hopefully they are able to get a handle on it quickly.

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