Raptors have several behavioral quirks that bird photographers who lust after takeoff and flight shots should be very familiar with because they signal imminent takeoff. Yesterday morning near Farmington Bay WMA this immature Red-tailed Hawk knew all the choreographed moves and performed most of them on cue.
Asymmetry in my images appeals to me, particularly with birds in flight. Yesterday I got two successive photos like that of a Northern Harrier as it quickly changed direction.
Plus my take on the merits of digital frames around our images.
I was mostly unprepared for this unexpected opportunity yesterday afternoon but thankfully I had my backup camera gear with me.
Largely because of all I learned from him this may be my favorite individual bird I’ve ever photographed.
It took me years to realize what saved this image. Prepare yourself for some photo and bird geekiness as I explain.
Even slight changes in shooting angle often dramatically effect our final results, positively, negatively or just differently. These two photos are so very different from each other it’s hard to believe it’s the same bird on the same perch.
For me this was an experimental photography technique for birds in flight. I’ll definitely be using it again.
Plus… Is backyard bird feeding comparable to the unethical and often illegal practice of baiting raptors? Yesterday’s post caused at least some confusion on that subject so I’d like to set the record straight.
Western Kingbirds are noted for their persistent belligerent behavior. This is one of nine different aggressive displays bird behaviorists have identified in the species.
Live and learn is what they say but on this occasion a brain fart led to my downfall. I should have known better.
Sometimes a dreadfully inadequate photo can be a treasure as inspiration. For me this image fits that description but prepare yourself, it’s a mess.
Kingfishers are hard enough to capture while perched but photographing them well in flight increases the degree of difficulty by several orders of magnitude.
