Four days ago I was witness to a mostly aerial dogfight between 4-5 Northern Harriers and Cooper’s Hawks on top of Goose Egg Island at Farmington Bay WMA. In my post two days ago I provided more detailed information about the incident and posted one of my favorite shots of the extended brouhaha, but it was Saturday so that post didn’t have as many views as usual. If you missed it and you’re interested, here’s a link to that post.
Today’s post is longer on photos of the encounter and shorter on descriptions.
There were 2-3 Northern Harriers and 2 (I believe) Cooper’s Hawks involved in the altercation. This harrier seemed to be the most aggressive bird in the entire bunch.
Shooting conditions were difficult so this might be the best flight shot I got of an individual bird. I’ve cropped the photo as I have in order to include the horizon at bottom.
Overall, the harriers seemed to be the aggressors and the Cooper’s Hawks the ‘victims’. Here the Cooper’s Hawk at bottom had taken refuge on the edge of the hill, where refuge personnel have been adding fill dirt to the hill’s south side.
The harriers dive bombed the Coops repeatedly. Because of the steep slope of the hill and the breeze direction, the birds usually had their backs to me.
I took the photo below about 1 second after the photo above.
Immediately after the harrier passed the Cooper’s Hawk, the Coop took off, apparently in pursuit of its tormentor. But in all the excitement, when I took this photo I had my camera severely tilted. Because tilted photos drive me nuts, I’ve leveled it for this version but leveling it cost me something important.
Up to this point I thought there was only one Cooper’s Hawk involved in the fracas, but I now believe there were two.
Here’s the uncropped, tilted, version of the same photo. I believe the bird at lower left was Cooper’s Hawk #2. I completely ‘lost’ that bird when I leveled the image.
The harrier circled around and came back after both Cooper’s Hawks after they had moved closer together.
I like this photo as documentation of the absolute pandemonium that was occurring, with one Coop taking off in a dynamic takeoff posture and the other Coop ducking just prior to take off, both in response to the aggressive harrier.
At one point, one of the Coops landed on a cement table on top of the hill and while it was there the harriers buzzed it at least a half dozen times. Sometimes they didn’t come particularly close, but other times…
the perched Coop nearly lost its head. I love that severely tilted tail.
Two frames later I’d cut off a wing but we can finally see the Coop’s face.
This dogfight was already occurring when I got to the top of the hill and it lasted for quite a while, until another vehicle eventually came up the hill and scared off the participants.
While it lasted it was great fun for the photographer, even though the majority of my flight shots were soft.
Ron
Ron, that first posted photo of the Harrier is a beauty. It is a fine photo in my opinion and it really captures that unique look of the Harriers. Congrats!
Thank you, Brad.
Your blog post is messing with my mind again. Only some of the photos appeared and I didn’t get an email.
I will come back later and try again.
What an exciting encounter – for you and for them.
Back again. Success. That amazingly tilted tail was one of the hidden photos and I am v glad to have seen and marvelled at it.
I’m glad you came back, EC. And that it worked for you the second time
What a great thing to see and document! I love the photo of the harrier coming in hot with the tilted tail – makes it easy to see where they get their impressive maneuverability. Thanks for posting Part II.
I like that shot too, Bill. And that tilted tail. Thanks.
Much excitement and some neat photos in spite of the craziness of the situation.
For the word harrier the dictionary says – person (or in this case bird) who engages in persistent attacks on others or incursions into their land.
Fits our Northern Harriers to a T.
“Fits our Northern Harriers to a T.”
It sure does, Everett. It also fits the jump jet of the same name.
What an amazing experience – and we get a taste of the pandemonium with your fabulous photos. Number 3, with Harrier hovering and Coop screaming and showing its ruffled petticoat, wow, wow, wow! In all of them, the light on the Harrier is just beautiful. What incredible creatures, all of them! Thank you for expanding on Saturday’s post.
Thanks very much, Carolyn.
A terrific dogfight … er, hawkfight, sequence here! Love that third shot where Coop appears to be yelling at the attacker … makes me wonder if you could hear anything while all this was going on, but likely you were too far away.
Must add, Northern Harriers are hauntingly beautiful raptors!
Chris, I don’t think I was too far away but if they were making sounds I didn’t notice it – probably because I was so incredibly concentrated on trying to get the photos.
These are great! I so want to put words to a couple of these. 🙂 Thanks, Ron.
Thank you, Ellen.
Thank you for this exciting series of photos. Witnessing the confrontations first hand must have been breathtaking. What a fun, challenging adventure for you.
“Challenging” for sure. Thanks, Melanie.
Great series, Ron. I don’t mind the occasional “dutch” angled shot in an action series. It gives the sequence a bit of an edge.
Ha, in documenting this encounter I can give you all the “edge” you want. Thanks, Brett.
Quite the kerfuffle indeed! Thanks for sharing more photos today. Your post Saturday definitely left me wanting to see more.
Thanks, Mark. Good to know I’ve scratched your itch.
WOW! That was quite a “war” going on! Tracking the action definitely a challenge. Always impresses me how tiny (needle like) the talons on the Harrier’s are – sure get the job done though…. 😉
“Tracking the action definitely a challenge.”
That’s an understatement, Judy. It’s nuts how many potentially great shots I screwed up or missed entirely.
I can’t help but hope the Cooper Hawks got away safely. I’ve seen them even in a city, so I’m sure they can find a territory without a resident Harrier.
I’m sure they got away safely, Cheryl. It’s fairly unusual to see Cooper’s Hawks at Farmington so I suspect they’re long gone by now.
What a scene to come across. With the multiple players and all the action, it must have been a real challenge to decide when to assess it all as a whole and when to limit your eye to the viewfinder to get this documentation.
Sure looks like a second Coops to me. That must have been a fun moment when you discovered you caught that in frame.
Thanks for sharing. It was fun and interesting to see these and read your narrative. Not as good as being there to see it in person, but pretty darn good nonetheless.
“it must have been a real challenge to decide when to assess it all as a whole and when to limit your eye to the viewfinder to get this documentation.”
That’s a very insightful comment, Michael. That’s exactly what was happening. It drives me nuts to think of all the great scenes I saw but didn’t capture.