The background is blue sky (not my favorite) but it’s a Ferruginous Hawk, it was close and it was flying straight at me. For me all three of those factors have strong appeal.
1/4000, f/7.1, 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
Earlier this week I posted a photo titled The Big Stretch At Takeoff of this Ferruginous Hawk launching from a tree recently in Tooele County. This photo is of the same bird, taken 18 frames later and slightly less than two seconds after it lifted off.
It had taken off from the tree once previously and that time it was obviously after a meal but it soon returned to the same tree, sans prey. This time it took off directly at me and flew close over the top of my pickup with its eye on my truck the entire time. This happens occasionally with raptors and when it does I’m close to convinced that their sole purpose is to check out more closely the contents of the shiny metal box and the source of all those clicking sounds.
Sadly, due to what I believe were atmospheric conditions most of the flight shots in this series were a little soft but several were sharp enough and this is one of them.
Because of the scientific name of this species, Buteo regalis, their large size and the many physical and behavioral similarities between them and Golden Eagles I like to think of Ferruginous Hawks as “regal eagles”.
I think it fits.
Ron
Beautiful!
Tim
Sensational shot Ron!
My daughter’s favorite bird, she has long said they should be counted in the eagle family due to look and behavior.
I think this regal raptor had his/her eye on you the whole time — the intensity of its gaze in the image from Tuesday pretty well matches the intensity and focus in this one. Photographer beware! Beautiful shot, Ron, of a very impressive bird.
It had that same intense focus on me from liftoff until my last shot as it was about to pass overhead, Chris. I didn’t know I was all that interesting…
Like Arwen I would probably duck. And almost certainly forget to take photos as I watched in open mouthed awe.
Glorious sight. Thank you.
Photographers learn to ignore that impulse to duck in these situations. Miss a few nice shots because of it and it’s a fairly easy reflex to ignore.
As you always say, the light-catch in the makes all the difference.
Yup, even though this hawk has a light eye the catch light makes a noticeable positive difference.
Great shot. I like the look in the Hawk’s eye.
Thanks, Jean.
A pure image of flight. No distractions. The essence of what a bird does with little apparent effort. Freedom. Above it all, literally.
A nice description of the photo, Lyle.
Lovely, blue sky and all. Today looks like a great photo opportunity day. I hope it worked for you. Two days like this in a row. Wow.
It was very nice out there this morning, Betty. Not many birds but I got a few. Still haven’t had time to look at the images though.
Aah – love it when they come right at you! Every time that happens either by picture or in real time I have this thought about how a prey item must feel if it has a chance to see the hawk. Probably wouldn’t see it, but man, seen film of a Golden Eagle taking a small kid goat. Power, grace and focus, very strong image predator prey! Just glad we aren’t the prey!
Many thanks for sharing!
“I have this thought about how a prey item must feel if it has a chance to see the hawk”
I have those thoughts most often with harriers. Thanks, Dick.
Impressive. I’m not sure I could resist ducking!
I didn’t duck this time, Arwen – but I have before…
WOW! Great shot! 🙂 I know hawks/eagles here don’t like the camera pointed at them – hadn’t thought of the clicking sound possibly being a distraction…….
Judy, if you watch their behaviors carefully it’s often obvious that they can hear the clicking and sometimes it even disturbs them enough they fly off. More often though they just ignore it.
Great photo. ‘Regalis’ is the perfect name here. He certainly had zeroed in on you. Perhaps it was like you said, ‘the source of those clicking sounds’. I’m always surprised at how far away they can be and with the first click the head turns towards you. Something else I ponder about when sitting waiting for a bird…the Latin used for scientific names. If you know it, Latin, it is fascinating how closely the name describes the bird(or plant in horticulture). Too bad we don’t use it more often…🤔
Kathy, I’ve always regretted not taking Latin as a high school or college course. Thank you.
Beautiful shot Ron. Why do you not like blue skies? And yes the Ferruginous is a regal bird.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
“Why do you not like blue skies?”
I just think other backgrounds are more interesting, Everett. Blue skies are homogenous and a little boring in photos IMO.