Northern Harriers are well-known for aggressive behavior toward larger raptors intruding on their territory but seldom chase off raptor species smaller than themselves. This interesting behavioral quirk apparently results from the ability of harriers to steal food from smaller raptors. It’s easier to pilfer prey from a smaller species than it is to catch it yourself so harriers let them hang around.
I have a strong affinity for Northern Harriers ( a little secret that’s difficult to conceal, given the vanity plates on my pickup). And though I love to photograph either sex there’s just something about the adult males that has a special appeal for me. Part of that attraction is probably the relative rarity of the adult male colors since the juvenile colors of both sexes resemble that of the female.
The males are called the “gray ghost” for good reason.
This hawk was attempting to gain altitude, thus the angled body with the wing raised high.
Baiting birds into close proximity for photographic purposes is a highly controversial subject, especially when it’s done to raptors. Often live bait such as store-bought mice are thrown in front of the photographer so that photos can be obtained of the bird in flight as it swoops down for the rodent.
Sometimes bird photographers have to be a little crafty to get the shot.
One of my favorite subjects is the male Northern Harrier. Because juveniles of both sexes are similar to the adult female, to the untrained eye most harriers look like females which is one of the reasons that many folks believe that they rarely see males – thus the name “Gray Ghost” for the ”elusive” adult male.
Just a single image today. I get my best Northern Harrier opportunities this time of year so I’ll likely be posting a few more shots of them over the next weeks. I hope you don’t tire of them… 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This bird was coming in for a landing but changed its mind right after this shot was taken five days ago. There were two dead, frozen fish near this pond that some of the harriers would pick at occasionally. They’d been there for most of the week and it’s my presumption that they were there naturally as refuge managers haven’t yet done the fish kill to destroy the damaging and invasive carp. I like the flight angle of the bird, the fully flared tail, the Phragmites stems in the corner and the pond reflections in the background. Ron Note: Some of you likely noticed that my blog was down from yesterday afternoon until later this morning – “hardware problems” at Network Solutions. I’ve not been a happy camper… Note #2 (1/7/13 @ 6:30pm). I just now learned that one of the “fish” I mentioned above turned out to be a chicken that someone had obviously used to bait eagles and maybe harriers. Of the two “fish” I mentioned above, one was obviously a fish but from my vantage point I could only see pink flesh with the second one and assumed it to be another fish. Instead it was a damned chicken. …
Images of birds banking in flight can be quite striking because the flight postures with wings fully extended and the tail spread (in order to catch as much air as possible for the turn) allow a good look at the entire underside or topside of the bird. But they’re very difficult shots to get because as soon as the bank begins the bird has abruptly changed direction which makes them difficult to track while maintaining focus. It’s easier when they’re further away but then you don’t get very good detail – the closer they are the more challenging the shot becomes. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I caught this adult female in a banking pose three days ago in the late afternoon (unusual for me, typically I only shoot in the early mornings). With the sun low on the horizon, this posture gave me good light on the underside of the harrier. Birds tend to keep their heads level as they bank which often allows the photographer to get good eye contact in spite of the steep angle of the body. 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Even when I do manage to lock on to a banking bird, maintain focus and not clip any body parts, I usually only get one successful shot (if I’m lucky). But two days ago I got three of the same harrier in the same banking turn. This bird…
It’s very cold here in northern Utah (8 degrees F. as I type) and there’s lots of snow on the ground – ideal conditions for photographing hunting Northern Harriers. And yesterday morning everything was covered with a thick layer of hoar-frost which turned the marshes into a frosty fairyland. I was able to get lots of shots of this particular bird and in the field I didn’t even notice that there was anything unusual about it. Most of the images were flight shots and there just isn’t time pay attention to detail when you’re concentrating so hard on keeping the bird in the frame and in focus. But when I got home and started reviewing my images I was taken aback. Something’s definitely going on with the right eye of this bird. At first I thought it might be just the closed nictitating membrane but I have dozens of shots of this bird and the eye is the same in all of them. It’s definitely not a normal membrane, if it’s the membrane at all. A better look at the right eye. This is probably the sharpest, most detailed image I was able to get of the bird. An extreme crop of the previous image to show the best detail I could manage. To my untrained eye it looks like there may be some kind of fungal growth in and around the eye that may have discolored the eye ring and nictitating membrane and closed the membrane permanently, but that’s only a guess….
Christmas Day is one of our favorite times to photograph birds. My daughter lives in Florida so I normally don’t get to spend time with family and for me bird photography is the next-best thing. Besides, we usually have splendid isolation when we’re “out there” while everyone else is at home celebrating the holiday in a more traditional way. A win/win situation for all. This post is dedicated to “Christmas Birds” – photos I’ve taken on Christmas Day in recent years. I often think of these birds as extra-special Christmas presents. 1/1600, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, called in or set up This beautiful male American Kestrel is perched on a short but thick wooden pole at Farmington Bay. The pole has been a favorite perch for kestrels and eagles for years but now an ugly bat box has been placed near the top of the pole, ruining it for photographic purposes. I’m all for bats but I sure wish the box had been placed a few inches lower on the pole. 1/400, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, called in or set up Two years ago, this Common Merganser hung around a Farmington Bay pond for much of the winter. I seldom saw it actively fishing. Instead, it would just wait around until one of the many Pied-billed Grebes caught a fish and then steal it away from them – very entertaining to watch. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4,…
I don’t post perched Northern Harriers often because they’re usually partially hidden in vegetation or the perch is an unattractive one. Add to that the fact that they’re very nervous birds and typically won’t let me get close. In the rare case where I can approach the bird, nervousness is usually readily apparent. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But three days ago this male made an exception for me. It was a cold morning and I guess he just didn’t feel like flying in the frigid air so he allowed me to approach reasonably close. The icing on the cake was that he was on a pleasing perch, in good light and I liked the natural setting and relaxed pose. I was also hoping for some take-off shots but when he launched he headed almost straight for me and I lost focus on him. Ron
Obtaining proper exposure on certain birds with high contrast colors has always been a big problem for bird photographers. When your subject has both very light and very dark colors it becomes problematic to get good detail in the darks without “blowing out” the whites, especially if the whites are very bright white. A partial list of bird species that are notoriously difficult to expose properly would include the Black Billed Magpie, male Wood Duck, adult Bald Eagle and many species of Terns. And because of the bright white rump patch found on all ages and both sexes of Northern Harriers, that species would also be on the list. One of the partial solutions to this problem is to photograph while the sun is low during either early morning or late afternoon because the light is much less “harsh” then and also because it has a better chance of striking the bird obliquely rather than at right angles (light at an angle tends to produce tiny texture shadows – “detail”). 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I like this image for a variety of reasons: the well-lit and detailed view of the topside of a harrier in flight, provided by the banking flight posture of the bird getting good eye contact with this flight posture isn’t easy, but this shot has it the background has some color texture – instead of solid blue sky or white clouds it’s a subtle mixture of both the harrier is sharp –…
It’s getting to be what I call “harrier time” here in northern Utah so I thought I’d do a significant post on the species. For me, watching these birds hunt is absolutely mesmerizing and I could do it for hours. And I have – many, many times. But before I get into hunting I’d like to cover some basics on telling the sexes and ages apart. Sexual dimorphism in harriers is exceptional among birds of prey – telling adult males from adult females is easy because their colors are so dramatically different. But because juveniles of either sex strongly resemble adult females, that distinction becomes very tricky and causes a lot of confusion. So, here’s a primer: Adult males – gray above, mostly white below, black wing tips, lemon-yellow eyes Adult females – brown above, buffy with brown streaks below, lemon-yellow eyes (but in my experience, the eyes of adult females tend to be less bright than those of adult males) Juvenile of both sexes – similar to adult female but darker chocolate-brown above and strongly rufous (reddish) below Juvenile male – pale, greenish-yellow eyes Juvenile female – dark, chocolate-brown eyes All sexes and ages have the unique facial disc (ruff) characteristic of harriers. It’s not as prominent as it is in many owls but it can clearly be seen in this image. Its function is the same as it is in owls – to direct sound to the ears. Most hawks hunt almost exclusively by sight but because of their excellent hearing, thanks largely to the facial disc, harriers depend at least…
A few weeks ago I was able to photograph this Northern Harrier along the Antelope Island causeway. I like both of these shots because of the good look at the topside of the bird. 1/2000. f/6.3. ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not set up, baited or called in The background certainly isn’t “classic” by any means but it’s one found in very few places on the planet, which makes me appreciate it. The lighter colors are Great Salt Lake beach sand and the strips of red are windrows of brine fly pupae cases that have been washed up by the waves into parallel rows. And hey, their colors even go well with the bird (I know, I’m reaching for that one…) 1/2000. f/6.3. ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not set up, baited or called in This was the next shot in the burst. I prefer the second image because of the slightly better head turn toward the viewer, the more appealing catch light in the eye and the aerodynamic wing position that suggests speed. But I’m glad to have them both because decent flight shots of harriers don’t come easy. Ron
