And it was even a “Gray Ghost”.
I photograph very few harriers in the summer months because around here at least these elusive birds are much more approachable when it’s cold. And since all of my camping trips up north are in the warmer months I don’t believe I’ve ever been able to get decent photos of a harrier in Idaho.
Until last week.
1/1600, f/8, ISO 800, 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 was cruising “Old 91” which used to be the major north south highway in the area (near the MT/ID border, now largely gravel, unused, abandoned and replaced by Interstate 15) when this male Northern Harrier landed on a fencepost very close to me (especially for a harrier). It’s my theory that this bird was acclimated to vehicles because of all the traffic on the nearby freeway.
He was actually hunting from the fencepost which in my experience is unusual for harriers (they nearly always hunt on the wing). At one point he dove on prey almost directly beneath the post and when he failed to catch anything he returned to an adjacent post to hunt some more.
I like this perched shot quite a lot because of the good detail, nice light angle and the similar colors of the bird and some of the background elements. And it’s a Gray Ghost which I don’t get every day.
1/1250, f/8, ISO 800, 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 didn’t get a great angle when he took off but he gave me a good look at his face and eye which saved the day. I do wish I’d had more shutter speed to get the wings sharper.
For me driving Old 91 brings back many fond and ancient memories. When I was a kid in the early 50’s my family traveled that highway in a 1952 Ford many times on our trips between Montana and California and I still remember some of the landmarks (bridges, ravines etc.).
To photograph an elusive male harrier up close along a stretch of the same old road and almost within sight of some of those landmarks made this bird a special one for me.
Ron
He is just magnificent!!! I envy your ability to spend time with these amazing creatures. On a side note, I love how your background often complements your subject. In this shot, there are purple? gray?? flowers in the green field that work really nicely with the gray feathers. Is this an editing trick or just good luck? 😀
OK, Everybody! Road trip to Ron’s house! 😉 Hee Hee.
How wonderful. This is a wonderful shot – and has planted the seeds for yet another precious memory on Old 91.
What wonderful photos. My eye go directly to the yellow feet, yellow eyes and the yellow marking near the beak. I too have memories of family car trips and enjoy the discussions by you and your readers. Those were the good old days, indeed!
Yup, they sure were, Alice.
Beautiful as always. I only have butt shots, they are so allusive.
Harriers and butt shots go hand in hand, April.
I have a related and long-held theory about harriers. When I’m approaching a fairly close harrier in flight in front of my pickup they usually veer off in the direction that puts them between me and the sun. That’s terrible for bird photography but it puts the potential threat (my pickup in this case) in good light for them to see better and it shades the harrier and puts the sun behind it which would be an advantage to the harrier and a disadvantage for any predator (ask any fighter pilot about that strategy).
In my experience harriers do this at least 80% of the time when the sun is low. I’m not sure about midday because I’m seldom out shooting then. And it isn’t a behavior I’ve noticed other raptor species doing, at least not often enough for it to get my attention.
Ron, your theory is absolutely 100% dead on! And redtails and Harris’ hawks (along with other longwing falconry birds do it, too! It’s terrible for keeping track of your hawk in the field, just so you know! LOL!! The other thing is that one of the reasons we avoid hunting when the leaves are out in the trees is that redtails disappear in foliage (but not so much HAHAs). You can know exactly where they are, turn your head for a second and they’re (seemingly) gone. Birds are so much smarter than us. Just watch how stupid humans are in horror movies, for example. Those folks are always doing stupid stuff, which is why I don’t watch them. 🙂
Blue Jays use the sun in the same way whenever I’m out birding, anytime of day.
What a beauty. What a thrill to have it land right in front of you!
Yes it was. Thanks, Jean.
Beautiful, beautiful bird! The takeoff image is so striking with all the colors.
I’m enjoying reading about everyone’s road trip experiences. We had many, many family road trips, first in my mom’s 62 Bonneville and then in her 76 Caprice Classic. The Bonneville had the perfect back seat for stretching out. Road trips meant AAA maps, license plate bingo, I spy, a new book to read, Coffee Nips, Butter Rum Lifesavers, and water from Dad’s and my canteens. Plus, we always had Dr. Pepper when we stayed in motels.
My last road trip with Dad was driving the Ryder truck towing my car from California to Illinois for grad school. We must have hit every severe t-storm between here and there. It was one of the best times I had with him and for years after, we remarked at how lucky (he said skilled) we were not to have ended up in a ditch along the way.
I still love getting in the car and just driving. I’ll take a road trip over a flight any day. 🙂
Many of your road trip memories are quite similar to mine, Marty.
We also feel the same way about airline flights. I’ve only been on a plane once (both ways so twice I guess) since 1990.
Somehow, I think our families might have been friends in a previous life. 😉
At this point, I’d rather eat glass than take a flight! And I’m talking big, nasty, ugly shards! Nope! Last flight, Delta lost my computer (AKA my brain)! I got it back three days later, but still! Not going there no more, although I’m loathe to say never. That word always comes back to bite me in the behind. That’s how I ended up in New York for pity’s sake!!
Oh yes, the Trip Tics, the roadway bingo, I Spy, license plate collection and oh how many books I’ve read as a passenger. Oh YES I love a good road trip 🙂
No doubt that bird saw your license plate and figured you were trustworthy! His bright eyes are such a stark contrast to his face and body colors — what a beauty!
Edit: … bright yellow legs & feet, too! 😁
Chris, believe it or not I often wonder about that when I’m photographing harriers from my pickup. I wish they could read my plate and it would bring them in a little closer!
Absolutely beautiful, especially the first shot. We got to watch a female Northern Harrier hunting when we led a hike on New Year’s Day this year. She sort of alternated between perching and flying. I don’t know if she caught anything because I was mostly occupied with navigating the rocks and checking on our group. I’m really glad you were able to get reasonably close to this guy.
Me too, Susan. Thanks.
What a beautiful bird. Love the colors. I never get many close up looks at most of the birds you picture. I have trouble seeing the Meadow Larks and Mountain Blue birds around here. lol Your memories of car travel reminds me of three kids in the back seat of our cars going from Wyo to Missouri. Took 3 days travel each way. The good old days. Anyway good pictures of birds I never see up close. Thanks.
Yep, road trips back then are sure different from today, Trudy. Including no AC – canvas bags filled with water just didn’t cut it!
Thanks once again for the great photos! I love reading your blog – just now in Google maps, I googled the Street View of the area of I-15 you mentioned, and woosh… my computer swooped down out of the sky like a hawk and landed in your territory. Sometimes computers are wonderful!
It’s fun doing stuff like that, isn’t it, Joanne.
Yes it is!! Living vicariously!!
What a beautiful bird! How exciting to catch such wonderful images!!! I’ve only seen these birds sweeping back and forth at fairly low levels, searching a field for prey…
That’s exactly the way they normally hunt, Patty. Thanks.
Congrats 🙂 Happy for you!!
Thanks, Zaphir.
Wonderful shots Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Oh MY! What a glorious image of a spectacularly gorgeous hawk! I often find a reason to stop and watch harriers fancy flying/hunting! It’s a big treat in my world.
Like you, I have many wonderful memories of traveling the U.S. from the early 50s through the early 60s. My dad was always up for a good road trip and I certainly inherited his itchy feet! The result is I’ve seen most of this outrageously beautiful country, and like my dad, I’m always ready for a good cross-country road trip! When I was little, I saw most of those miles from the going-away perspective while resting up on the back window ledge (above the seat) of our ’47 Ford followed by our ’55 Chevy until I didn’t fit up there anymore. I’m an only child so the sibling thing didn’t happen with me. But oh the things we survived that would be deemed some form of child abuse now!
Laura, my first car as a young teenager was a ’46 Ford Coupe. I have many wonderful (and a few scary) memories of times in that car.
Mine was a ’61 Chevy station wagon that was 20 years old, despite the real math of the situation! I’d only had it for a month-ish when the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings happened, and having been just above the fray with my very pregnant German shepherd for the Friday-night ROTC building fires/tear gas combined with the ugliness that followed the shootings, I loaded up said German shepherd and her 13 one-week-old puppies (that were born that Friday night) and headed away from Kent/Akron. I did three or four laps around the Akron highway loop having no idea where I was going. I decided to head west (in what became a lifelong pattern). I ended up in Denver, surprising my aunt and uncle who lived in Loveland at the time (BIG surprise!).
That old Chevy used more oil than gas (not a big exaggeration), and at 19, I had no fear or trepidation whatsoever about heading out cross country alone–none. Nor did I have any plans for how to get back. All I knew was I had to get out of THERE and the best place for me was anywhere west! To this day, I’m thankful that I grew up around race cars and knew to check the oil! Otherwise, I doubt I’d have made it to Denver (and back with $1.17 to spare)!
“That old Chevy used more oil than gas”
My second car as a teenager was a ’56 Chevy (265 engine – wish it had been a 283) that also used more oil than gas. The blue smoke cloud was embarrassing. In 53 years I haven’t owned another Chevy since.
HAHA! Me neither! I had a second ’61 Chevy a little later–an Impala convertible–and with both of them, if you turned on the left turn signal and then turned left, the horn would blow! After that, only Fords, Jeeps and Triumphs (yes questionable in the reliability department, but we raced a Spitfire so had all the necessary spare parts in abundance AND I’d learned how to balance SU carburetors).
I am so glad you were able to have this exciting time photographing this bird Ron, happy times! Very ominous looking bird!
“Very ominous looking bird”
They’re incredibly agile and skilled hunters, Barby. Thanks.
Beautiful! The 2nd one in particular really shows the contract between the top and bottom of the bird. The underside had me thinking it was a gull the first time I saw one! Glad you got some time down memory lane – LONG trip in those days – still not short, BUT!
Yes, it WAS a long trip “in those days”, Judy. Back then the almost 1500 miles took three days and sometimes more of steady driving (usually at 50-55 mph and never faster). We nearly always spent the two nights on the road in Pocatello and St. George. Lots of squabbling in the back seat between us kids. Mom provided us pillows for the occasional pillow fight so we could let off some steam. I remember one night (late fall of 1957 I think) watching Sputnik in the dark sky somewhere in southern Utah. Good memories.
It’s interesting that the same road trip today (Cut Bank, MT to Escondido CA) is slightly less than 1400 miles, largely because I-15 is a more direct route so it cut 100 miles off the trip.
Beautiful Gray Ghost!!!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Dick.
Thank you for sharing. I was wondering. Why did you decide to stop down to f/8 vs using f/5.6 and a higher shutter speed?
Marlo, I went to f/8 because I was relatively close to the bird and wanted more depth of field in case he took off (I have very little DOF with the tc attached). But it cost me more shutter speed than I hoped it would. In hindsight I wish I’d been at f/6.3.
As always, bird photography is a game of compromises, tradeoffs and quick decisions.
Beautiful photos, Ron. Thanks so much. When you go out camping,how long do you stay?
Elizabeth
Thanks, Elizabeth. We usually stay for 5-6 days, sometimes more sometimes less depending on weather and light. The weather up there near the Continental Divide can be volatile.
Where is “up there” more specifically. My husband and I may do some traveling in the late fall and you have found beautiful places to see.
“Up there” for me is almost the entire area within a 50 mile radius of where I-15 crosses the MT/ID border.