A beautiful though portly hawk and a colorful photo.
1/2500, f/7.1, 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
A little over a year ago while I had this Rough-legged Hawk in my viewfinder I had high hopes for some nice takeoff and flight shots but they didn’t pan out. In most of my photos I clipped or cut off body parts and to make things worse most of them, including this one, weren’t quite as sharp as I hoped they’d be. As I’ve discussed previously, on cold mornings sometimes that just happens.
But I keep coming back to it anyway. I like the variety of colors in the entire image, especially those of the bird and the lichen and snow covered rock. And the apparent portliness of the hawk suggests to me that it must have been a good winter for prey because this bird appears to have been getting plenty to eat.
Today we’re in a lull between storms and we actually have a chance for light so I’m hoping to go shooting later this morning. Maybe I’ll find another cooperative Roughie and who knows, maybe this time I won’t cut off body parts when it takes off.
Stranger things have happened.
Ron
LOVE
You caught this RLH in a striking pose. Very nice composition with the lichen/rock, perhaps rabbit brush or sage in the background, patch of snow, and blue sky. I’ve been checking the guides trying to decide if this is an adult female or a juvenile.
Thanks, Lyle. If I remember correctly that’s sage in the background. I believe this is a first winter bird based on its eye color. In adults the iris is very dark brown.
The little bit of snow is the perfect icing on the rock…er…cake (or should I say chocolate donut?) in this shot! This is a nice shot all around. 🙂
After a couple of days of summer over the weekend, we’re back to crisp temps, some wind, and beautiful blue skies this morning. Went out to move the car for the gardeners and startled about 30 birds hanging out and excavating the seed pods in our Liquid Amber.
Marty, I wish I’d thought of “icing on the rock” for my text. That’s sure what it looks like.
What a gorgeous bird! Look at that eye! Did you ever think about doing some different crops of this shot? (No pun intended.)
Martha, the only different crop I considered is a tighter one on the bird but chose not to do it because that would just make the slight softness more apparent.
Portliness is relative.
A beautiful bird in beautiful surroundings.
I hope you DO have the light you need.
And yes, the nearby fire still burns.
“Portliness is relative”
Isn’t that the truth! This bird may not be portly at all but to my eye he at least looks like he is.
A great capture of this fella! Very nice colors and the way they compliment the Roughie is very pleasing to the eye; that pose is special too. The orange lichens and orange swelling buds on the trees is the ‘piéce de résistance’ here…it adds the right WOW factor. Love it. 😍
Thank you, Kathy.
The Roughie DID give you a wonderful pose on a beautiful rock with background just far enough away to set him off! 🙂 He DOES look well fed – always a bonus particularly in winter…… Good luck getting out and about today. Had a bit of snow last night – probably just enough to slick up the roads… 😉
Judy, potentially slick roads are the main reason I’m still undecided about going out this morning. Throw stupid drivers into the mix and you have a dangerous combination.
Very colorful photo Ron. Excellent pose for the photographer. He is a well fed looking Roughie though. Still have never knowingly seen one here. We do have them, but I think they might be more up into the mountains than down around the lakes where I spend most of my time. Hope you will have good luck out there this morning.
Thanks, Everett. I think you’re right about part of the reason you’re not seeing them. In their winter habitat this species prefers open, treeless areas.