The Cooper’s Hawk And The Wasp

It’s been a while. It’s been 50 days since I’ve posted to Feathered Photography. I’ve had reasons.

A couple of months ago I was notified by Bluehost that my site had a “security problem” that put it in danger of going down if I didn’t address the issue. My bad back had recently taken a major turn for the worse so I put it off and sure enough, Feathered Photography soon went down. It was about then that my dearest friend began a rapid decline from metastatic melanoma. She died under hospice care eight days ago, on June 28. I spent my last precious time with her less than three hours before she passed.

With everything going on I made no attempt to resuscitate Feathered Photography until yesterday, when to my surprise (that kind of thing isn’t my bailiwick) I actually succeeded. So I’m up and running again. Hallelujah! 

OK, let’s get to some birds. Or at least one bird. And a wasp.

 

Two evenings ago I was sitting at my patio when Hannibal, the neighborhood male (I believe) Cooper’s Hawk, made a surprise attack on a couple of Mourning Doves who were foraging below my feeder next to my bird bath. The doves barely (and I do mean barely) escaped with their lives and Hannibal disappeared to the south. I thought he was gone for good.

But a little less than five minutes later he came from wherever he’d been and landed on the back of a patio chair that I had earlier placed next to my feeder and bird bath. There I sat, very close to him but without my camera, which was in my kitchen right behind me. But he’s become so used to me that he allowed me to get up, open the door and retrieve my camera from the kitchen and sit down at my patio again without flying off.

While I was in the process of sitting down, he hopped from the back of the chair to my…

 

1/5000, f/5, ISO 1600, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM

bird bath and it soon became apparent that he was after more than just a drink in the nearly 100° heat. Based on his behavior it became obvious that he also intended to have a nice cooling bath.

 

 

1/4000, f/5, ISO 1250, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM

The drink came first, with his nictitating membrane half closed.

 

 

1/5000, f/5, ISO 1250, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM

But before he could begin his bath a pesky wasp (upper right-hand corner) became a real pain in the ass, to both Hannibal and this photographer who wanted bathing photos. The wasp flew very close to Hannibal many times but this is the only photo I got where the insect was sharp. Small but sharp.

Eventually, thanks to the wasp I’m sure, Hannibal lost his bathing mood and…

 

 

1/5000, f/5, ISO 1250, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM

decided to get the hell out of Dodge. I was so close I had no chance of avoiding amputating his wings with them in this position, even with my teleconverter removed.

 

 

1/5000, f/5, ISO 1250, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM

But I got one takeoff shot I like with all of Hannibal intact.

You may remember, it wasn’t that long ago that Hannibal still had the more yellowish eyes of a juvenile. Now they’re deep orange and approaching the red of a full adult.

He’s a big boy now, or nearly so.

Ron

 

Notes:

• My bird bath may look pretty neglected but it really isn’t. I fill it to the brim with fresh water every morning while I’m hand watering some garden plants. But between birds bathing and drinking and evaporation in the extreme heat, by the end of the day there isn’t a lot of water left. And I clean it with a stiff brush a couple of times per week. That red microbial staining you see in the first three photos doesn’t come off easily.
• I had more shutter speed and a higher ISO than I needed but I didn’t want to miss the takeoff or other action so after making one feeble attempt at reducing my ISO between photo #1 and #2, I just went with the settings I had.