Readers may remember that over the last couple of years I’ve become enamored with a certain rufous female Red-tailed Hawk. She and her mate have used the same area in northern Utah for nesting for two years in a row so yesterday morning I was on a quest to find her again. After all, it’s that time of year.
But sadly I struck out. She was nowhere to be found and my entire morning was filled with near-misses and bad luck.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
I had two potentially productive chances with red-tails taking off or in flight and neither one of them panned out. This shot is as close as I came to success. I like most everything about this photo except for the takeoff/head angle of the hawk. The bird took off slightly away from me and was looking even more to her right so I’m just not happy with the shot. If she had only turned her head my way a few degrees it would have made a huge difference.
Only one thing out of many has to go wrong to make the difference between an excellent photo and one that is barely a keeper.
So when I arrived home I did the next best thing and looked through some of my older photos of the rufous red-tail I’d been looking for yesterday that I’d never posted before. These are two of them.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
Almost exactly one year ago I photographed her soon after she launched from the side of a cliff. In this situation with the background so close to the bird it’s very easy (unbelievably so) for my focus points to lock onto the background instead of the bird so I was delighted that she turned out to be sharp.
It may not be the most attractive background but if nothing else the shot is testament to the possibility that my skills may be improving. Or perhaps I just got lucky.
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
She was sharp in the next shot in the burst also. She was fairly close to the lower left corner of the frame so I don’t have an ideal composition but I think it works well enough.
My bad luck yesterday morning wasn’t confined to raptors. I had two opportunities with male Ring-necked Pheasants in beautiful light and in interesting settings but each time they flew or moved off just before I could get my lens on them.
Another male pheasant flew directly across my windshield while I was driving, so close I had to slam on my brakes so everything in my pickup went flying. Thankfully my 500mm lens was secure in my strapped-down lens caddy on my seat but that’s not the case with my smaller 100-400 zoom lens that was laying in the passenger seat. That lens and camera went crashing to the floor which really got my attention. Thankfully neither was damaged.
But later in the morning while I was driving about 30mph on the remote road another male pheasant flew up from the left edge of the road and crashed into either my left front quarter panel or my tire. I couldn’t see it hit my pickup but I heard and felt the thump and fully expected to see the pheasant in my rear view mirror dead or dying on the road. I was pleasantly surprised when it flew off, apparently not seriously injured.
Those pheasant experiences gave me something to think about during the long drive home.
Twenty some years ago my parents moved from Colorado to Utah to live with me for what turned out to be the last five years of their lives. I drove the largest truck available from U-Haul filled with everything they owned from Olathe, CO to Salt Lake City. Near Provo UT on I-15 while I was driving about 70mph this male pheasant flew up, glanced off of the right side of the windshield and ended up being embedded in the passenger side mirror of the truck. The windshield didn’t break but that big mirror was completely destroyed.
This photo was taken in front of my house before we unloaded the truck. It’s poor quality but you get the idea. I was financially responsible for any damage to the truck so when I returned it to U-Haul I fully expected to cough up some cash to replace the mirror and have it installed.
But the guys at U-Haul let me off the hook. Any guesses as to why?
Turns out that 4 of the 5 U-Haul employees were fly fishermen and they wanted the pheasant feathers to tie flies. I just left the truck and the pheasant with them (still stuck in the mirror) and got the hell out of there with my wallet intact.
Luck comes in different forms, doesn’t it…
Ron
Note: All this talk about luck has me thinking about our recent loss of Kenny Rogers (probably because of his excellent song “The Gambler”.) I always enjoyed his music and even saw him perform when he was with Kenny Rogers And The First Edition (comedian Pat Paulsen was “running for President” at the time and he was the opening act.).
R.I. P. Kenny Rogers. It’s gonna seem strange and even lonesome not having you around.
So…this is shameless rambling? Nah. This was a great post — and now that I’ve recovered from watching the Kenny & Dolly duet, I will say I’m sad about the disappearance of your beautiful rufous red-tail mama, the poor pheasant that had the misfortune to meet up with your U-Haul, and the passing of Kenny Rogers. I’m not a country fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I do occasionally get my head turned. This duet was pure magic. So thanks for sharing all of it, shamelessly. 😉
Beautiful! I mean the rufous red-tail and the video. Kenny Rogers’ voice kept its smoothness even as he aged. Thanks for playing that. Love the chemistry between him and Dolly. Hope you find the hawk and her mate.
Nancy’s comment kinda hit the nail on the head. Hawks and pheasants; near misses and bad luck; parents and U-Hauls; knowing when to leave with your wallet intact. I bet Kenny Rogers could have written a song with all that.
Lyle, even if he didn’t write the song he would have done a helluva job singing it.
As usual, what a splendid post! I’ll bet that rufous female probably has a secondary nest site to let the first one rest a year while the sun and rain disinfect/clean it for future use. She’s a beauty, ain’t she? Of course, I’m really easy with redtails 😉 Pheasants scare the beejeezus out of me when they flush. So do quail! Thankfully, I usually have a hawk with me to take advantage of that situation! LOL! Like the rest of you, I’m saddened to hear of Kenny Rogers’ death. So many of my contemporaries are dying now. I must be old. Seriously, he’ll be missed!!!
I hope you’re right about the rufous female, Laura. I can’t help but worry about both her and her mate.
Your blog and “The Regulars’ ” comments seem sort of like a family discussion today… wandering a bit, feeling free to add in personal remembrances… not quite free association, but close. It says a lot about the atmosphere you’ve created among us as well as your wildlife photography.
Then it was good timing for such a post. Good to know because I was worried about all my rambling. Thank you, Nancy.
Great post and photos today…love the variety. ..a smorgasbord of thoughts so to say! Something we all love to get in our mailbox…like the days of olde when getting an actual letter in the mail from a friend meant sitting with a cup of coffee and enjoying every word. Exactly what I did! Thank you my friend! 🙂
I loved your analogy, Kathy. Thanks.
I thoroughly enjoyed all of this slice of life post today. The luck (good and bad), the stories and the photographs.
Many thanks.
Good. Thank you, EC.
Interesting rambling post today and great photos as yoooosh! I love when you go off into different subjects – it’s always engaging and thoughtful. RIP Kenny Rogers!
Yup, I sure went in a lot of different directions didn’t I…
Good to know there are mating pairs out there. Maybe she will still show up. she might be in higher ledges we can’t see in the area. Birds are creatures of habit. Your pheasant encounters are interesting. Scary, the pheasants flush so quickly and sometimes right into what startled them.
April, there was a fair number of red-tails that seemed to be paired up but I didn’t see any building nests.
I hope you’re feeling better soon!
Thank you for posting the beautiful Red-Tailed Hawks. The images you captured yesterday are of a young bird. The photos taken a year ago are of a lovely older lady with dark plumage and and dark irises. I hope she hasn’t been displaced from her preferred territory or worse. Keep looking for her and stay safe. Hope she turns up soon.
I hope so too, Melanie. Short of a complete lockdown I’m sure I’ll check on her again.
I never get tired of a takeoff picture. You get a good glance of everything they’ve got ❗️
I wonder how many pictures you’ve poo-pooed that we would have said wow ⁉️
Sad that Kenny was only 81..That’s for the video
Take care
Thanks, Diana.
Age is relative. I remember thinking folks were way over the hill as soon as they turned 40.
Kenny will be missed. I misheard Islands in the Stream as I love industry. (Wanders off giggling)
Arwen, I’ve done something similar with countless songs over the years.
I remember my mom turning 30 and think how time does she left 🤣
Good Morning, Ron!! I loved today’s blog. You do lead an interesting life that is almost as interesting as your stunning photos. I join you in being sad to have lost Kenny Rogers!! I had seen him in concert several times but the best one made me sad – it was his farewell concert In Ft, Lauderdale. He was wonderful as usual but there were 2 reason he gave us for no longer touring. The 1st one was to spend time with his twin boys but the other was a failing memory with not always remembering the words to songs he’s so famous for. Over all it was a wonder concert that was a B’day present – one I’ll always remember. You might also want to check out this song on YouTube which I’d just listened to the day before he past – So Special!! It’s a duet with Dolly Pardon & came out just before he was going out on his farewell tour. It’s “You Can’t Make Old Friends”
Jo Ann, I knew the twins were a big part of why he retired when he did but I didn’t know his memory was failing.
That’s an unusually poignant performance, especially considering the timing. Here’s the link for anyone interested in watching it:
Perfect! 🙂
Those two older Red-tail photos are excellent. Sorry your one from yesterday did not do a better job of setting up for you. Guess driving in pheasant country can be dangerous. I remember as a kid during WW2 in semi-rural Pennsylvania having pheasants fly up in front of us as we ran through the fields. Ron, we had a neighbor in Irvine that looked exactly like Kenny Rogers. He told me that he could never walk through an airport or supermarket etc without being stopped. The day they moved in and I saw him I thought what the heck is Kenny Rogers doing here?
If anything will scare the poop out of a person it’s a pheasant flushing out of the grass right in front of you. Damn, they can make some noise!
Interesting story about your friend, Everett.
Sad “the” hawk isn’t there or isn’t there yet……. 🙁 Knock on wood I haven’t gotten a pheasant yet but it’s been close more than once! They seem to be on the move right now here and aren’t the brightest when it comes to traffic. Nice they wanted the feathers for fly tying! 🙂 Robins started showing up last evening ahead of a storm – know “winter” can’t last forever now!
They “aren’t the brightest when it comes to traffic.”
Friend Jim DeWitt put it this way on Facebook, Judy:
“They don’t breed Ring-necked Pheasants for brains, do they?”
That’s for sure! 🙂 P.S. Kenny Rogers WILL be missed…….
Judy, I know someone who bought one of Kenny’s homes in Las Vegas. I never saw it but from the stories I’ve heard it was really something.
Love that U-haul story.
Thanks, Dan.