And an unusually light colored Rough-legged Hawk that literally glowed against the dark blue sky.
Yesterday was our coldest day all winter. And yesterday morning my shooting location was the coldest temperature I’ve seen in a very long time. Given the troubles I’ve had this winter with getting sharp shots in cold weather I knew my strategy of keeping the inside of my pickup (and thus my camera gear) cold was going to be put to the ultimate test. So I bundled up in warm clothes, cranked down my heater and girded my loins for several hours of frozen fingers, feet and ears while looking for birds.
It was 0° F. when I arrived on site shortly after the sun came up over the mountains. Temps like that get your attention, especially when you’re out in the middle of nowhere and the air pressure gauge in one of your tires starts warning you that the tire is losing air pressure. Thankfully it didn’t turn out to be a leak I needed to worry about. The cold temps had simply reduced the pressure in that tire to the point that the warning system was activated. Yes, I filled the tire when I got home.
To me 0° F. sounds even more impressive when I realize that it’s a full 32 degrees below freezing. Not that I needed to be impressed, the bitter cold was doing an excellent job of that all by itself. 40 below was a fairly regular occurrence in winter when I lived in northern Montana but at my ripe old age my tolerance for cold has diminished considerably.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 320, 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 did find a fair number of birds and this presumed male Loggerhead Shrike singing on territory was one of them. Given how cold it was I was surprised that he even felt like singing but his fluffed up feathers must have really helped to keep him warm and in the mood. He’s tilted to vertical because he was perched on an angled twig and squatted down on his feet to keep them warm. Either that or I didn’t keep my lens level…
One of the reasons I like this photo is because we can see his tomial tooth (falcon tooth) so well.
I heard at least three distinctly different “songs” from this shrike, even though to call it singing is a bit of a stretch. Many observers think that Loggerhead Shrikes “possess only rasping, harsh shrieks or unmelodious call notes”. I wouldn’t disagree.
Later in the morning, by the time I was nearly ready to head home, it had “warmed up” to 18° when I photographed this unusually light colored Rough Legged Hawk semi-hovering above me. I can’t even begin to describe to my readers how beautiful ‘he’ was against the dark blue sky – the photo doesn’t do him justice. The hawk literally glowed against the darker sky background, in part because there was a rim lighting effect along his feather edges that isn’t very apparent in this photo.
But in the end my strategy of keeping the interior of my pickup and my camera gear cold, failed. There was just too much difference between the outside temps and the inside of my pickup. The only truly sharp shots I got all morning were a few, very few, of the shrike.
I look forward to warmer temperatures every winter but this winter is different. I can hardly wait.
Ron
That hawk is stunning!
Lovely, sharp photos, Ron. The rough-legged hawk is stunning. I can only imagine how breathtaking it was to see that bird soaring overhead and have the where with all to capture it with your camera. Thank you for all you. Your photos make my heart sing.
Angel hawk 🙂
😊
Dang! You’re going to freeze your pupik off! Brrrrr! ❄️ So glad that one of your sharp shots was of the Roughie — still glowing off that sky.
And I’m fond of my pupik too.
Actually, the Roughie isn’t all that sharp but it’s the sharpest shot I got of him. Thanks, Marty.
You are a brave (or foolhardy) soul, fully committed to your craft, to even get out of bed knowing you’ll face temps like that at your destination. Could. Not. Do. It. Shaking my head thinking about that shrike singing away on such a cold morning, but I guess birds are fully committed to their craft, too!
I’m grateful that you are — that “glowing” Roughie is a sight to behold! 😍
“You are a brave (or foolhardy)”
Chris, when I look back on some of the things I do to photograph birds I’d have a hard time claiming I’m not nuts, given some of the evidence that could be used against me.
But I’m far from alone in that regard. Many other bird photographers have the same affliction.
Cold or warm, a Loggerhead Shrike is among my most favorite subjects to attempt to photograph. Superb photograph!
That hawk – words are inadequate. Beautiful!
I photographed a “Krider’s” Red-tailed Hawk recently and can’t stop admiring its pale plumage. We get so used to the “norm” that we can be gobsmacked by something “different”.
Zero and Degrees – a totally foreign concept to my sub-tropical system.
Thanks Wally. Neat about the Krider’s!
Indeed, you caught the Loggerhead Shrike at just the right angle and with beak open for a really good look at the tomial tooth. Sans head and tail I see a tennis ball.
The RLHA appers to be a juvenile? Love the curved fan of primaries. Knowing your antipathy to plain blue sky it must have been quite a sight.
Question: can you tell that a photo is soft on your camera display?
“can you tell that a photo is soft on your camera display?”
It depends on the degree of softness. If it’s very soft to moderately soft I can tell by looking at my screen. What I can’t tell on my screen is whether a photo is just acceptably sharp or very sharp. I have to wait until I’m home to find that out.
Yes, the Roughie is an immature bird.
It’s been running around -28C (-18.4F) at night here in Ottawa, and -20C (-4F) by mid-afternoon. Today is positively balmy at -3C (26.6F). But my cherry tree is starting to bud, eternal optimist that it is. The ice outline on its branches is really pretty…
Burrdoo, not only is it cold up there, summer comes pretty late at your latitudes. Even when I lived in MT I thought summer would never get there.
That albino looking Rough-legged Hawk is beautiful. That white against that perfect sky really makes for an impressive photo. Great work out there in those freezing temps Ron. In my 83 plus years here on the planet I have never experienced zero degrees.
“In my 83 plus years here on the planet I have never experienced zero degrees.”
Now that’s impressive, Everett. You must have been stationed in pretty warm places in the Navy. Marines?, can’t remember.
Both are beautiful shots – get a hint of the “glow” for the Roughie… 🙂 The cold gets harder to take every year…. 😉 Humidity and lenses don’t “play well” together. Sister in the UK REALLY had a challenge going into a butterfly house a few years back……
Had a Northern Goshawk in the yard a few days back…..
Thanks, Judy. Jealous of your Goshawk!
That roughlegged hawk looks translucent! Soft or not, I would love to see more. So beautiful. Thanks for getting out there in such challenging weather.
Thanks, Marty. I have other shots of the Roughie where I like his flight posture better but they’re just too soft to see the light of day.
Great shot of the hawk. In Florida I had the opposite problem with optics. The air conditioning at home caused the lenses to fog up when I walked outside in the heat and humidity.
Kenneth, I’ve never had that problem, even in summer heat. Probably because of our low humidity.
The only fogging problem I have is when I breathe on my viewfinder when it’s cold. That always seems to happen when I have an unusually promising opportunity with a bird but I can’t see it in my fogged up viewfinder.