Diurnal Raptors – Page 85 – Feathered Photography

Swainson’s Hawk Take-off

A couple of weeks ago I watched as a couple of juvenile Swainson’s Hawks hunted grasshoppers on the ground in Montana’s Centennial Valley. The birds were often largely obscured by grasses so I waited for take-off. . 1/2000, f 7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In a situation like this it’s usually very difficult to lock and maintain focus on the bird as it takes off because of the closeness of the grasses in the background – typically autofocus tries to lock on to the background elements when they’re this close to the subject. But in this case there was enough contrast between the light-colored grasses and the relatively dark bird that I was able to get 13 images where the bird was sharp and no body parts were clipped. The problem with many of them (as often happens) was that the timing of the wing flaps was synchronized with the burst rate of my Canon 7D and the wing position in many of those shots wasn’t ideal. I wasn’t bothered by the flying insect below the bird for two reasons: 1), it amused me because it almost looks like the bug is taking flying lessons from the hawk and 2), it was natural and it was there. 1/2000, f 7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc When I get similar shots such as these I can’t help comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each. I prefer the better eye contact in the first image but like the wing and tail position and better light under the wing…

Red-tailed Hawk Double Serendipity

One of the frustrations with photographing birds on Antelope Island is the perches. There aren’t many trees on the island so many of the birds perch on the rocks. The rocks on the north end of the island are primarily Tintic Quartzite which is almost white in color, so getting the exposure right when a darker bird is perched on them is problematic. And even when you do get the overall exposure right, those white perches just don’t have a lot of visual appeal for me. The rocks on the southern 2/3 of the island are of a geologic formation called the Farmington Canyon Complex. They’re some of the oldest rocks on earth (2.7 billion years) and they’re significantly darker in color so they make much more aesthetically appealing perches for bird photography. The problem is that most of these rocks are relatively far from the road so I have very few images of birds perched on them. Almost every day we’re on the island (usually several times per week) Mia or I will comment about our frustrations in getting quality shots of birds on these dark and dramatic looking rocks. Last week our luck changed. Not only did we get a bird on those rocks – it was a raptor (yes, I’m a raptor freak), it was in good light and it let us get close for a good long while. And as you’ll see, it even approached us! 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Mia spotted this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk first (she usually does. After all I have to drive…) but…

A Mated Pair Of Red-tailed Hawks

Our recent trip to the Centennial Valley of sw Montana lasted 6 days. On the last morning, only an hour or so before we had to leave, we found these cooperative adult Red-tailed Hawks. I couldn’t believe our luck – warm, early morning light coming from the right direction, a clean natural perch, an interesting and varying background with clouds and blue sky, they allowed us close to them for over 20 minutes and there were two of them! 1/800, f/9, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc When we first found them they were perched together. I strongly suspect they’re a mated pair (though I don’t know that unequivocally) since they’re adults and many Red-tails stay paired year-round. 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc The two birds stayed together on the perch for almost 10 minutes as we photographed them and then one of them flew off. 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc The hawk left behind immediately decided to occupy the vacated perch… 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc and did so for some time. 1/500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc But the bird that flew off landed in a nearby conifer and immediately had to contend with a pair of very aggressive and persistent American Kestrels. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc Soon the kestral-harrassed hawk returned, only to find its preferred perch already occupied. 1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc There was some…

Finally – A Cooperative Ferruginous Hawk

We had to go all the way to Montana to find a cooperative Ferruginous Hawk but three days ago we found one in Beaverhead County. My files on this species are woefully lacking and it’s not because I haven’t worked hard at getting acceptable images of them. I’ve made many trips to the island mountain ranges of western Utah specifically to photograph this handsome raptor but until this last week I could count the number of nice images I had of them on one hand. They just won’t let me approach them. This single bird made the enitre trip well worth it. The Ferruginous Hawk has been described as “the largest, most powerful and grandest of our buteos – a truly regal bird”. In fact the scientific name for the species is Buteo regalis – a fitting descriptor of this hawk. 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc We found this bird on our way home, beside a long and isolated dirt road and I was even pulling my camping trailer which didn’t spook it. This first shot was taken from some distance because I assumed it would fly off when we got closer. It didn’t. Here it looks like the bird is upset with us for coming along but I think it was reacting to another Ferruginous Hawk that was in the vicinity (though we didn’t yet know it was there). This road has quite a bit of traffic (horse trailers, logging trucks etc) considering how isolated it is and since these birds are “sit and wait hunters” I believe this…

Red-tailed Hawk Take-off

We just returned last night from a 5 1/2 day camping/photo trip to sw Montana. It was simply an awesome journey with mostly great weather and light, lots of wildlife and birds (especially raptors), spectacular scenery, interesting characters and no significant mishaps but now the piper must be paid. I have an endless list of chores to catch up on which includes unpacking, washing gobs of dried mud and cow poop off of my pickup and camping trailer and then culling thousands of new images and processing the keepers. So, for obvious reasons this will be a short post. 1/2000. f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This image was taken last Thursday morning in Beaverhead County, Montana. Lots of factors have to play out to get a nice image of a bird taking off and for this shot I was able to get many of them right but I was missing an attractive, natural perch. In this case it was an ugly power pole insulator and wire so I decided to clone them out. I’m a very reluctant cloner but when I just can’t resist the temptation I always disclose. Because of the trip I’ve been slow in posting and commenting on other blogs. I’ll remedy both shortcomings in the near future. Ron

Rough-legged Hawk Hunting Voles

Out of pure habit I still look for Rough-legged Hawks whenever I pass one of their favorite perches, despite the fact that they’re now on their arctic and subarctic breeding grounds in northern Alaska and Canada. Last winter it seemed that these hawks were everywhere in northern Utah and it wasn’t unusual for me to see a dozen or more different birds in a morning of shooting. They’re a particularly handsome raptor and I love photographing them. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I found this one hunting voles along the Antelope Island causeway this past December. A moderate headwind slowed the bird down and made getting flight shots a little easier. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc When hunting they’re usually looking down which makes it difficult to get eye contact but occasionally you can catch them looking at you if you’re quick on the trigger. Here the wings are mostly horizontal but for me the tilt of the tail helps to compensate for that. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This eye/head angle is more typical of a hunting bird. The position of the left wing probably won’t appeal to many but there’s something about the curves of both wings that I liked. The sky color may seem a little funky but that’s the color it really was so I didn’t play with it. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Here the hawk has captured a baby vole. This surprised me a little…

Male Northern Harrier In Flight

When asked to name my favorite avian species I always bristle a bit at the question but if pressed on the subject I’ll sometimes provide a short list of candidates and I must admit that the Northern Harrier is likely to be the first one mentioned. The vanity plate on my pickup (and at the top of this blog page) is evidence that can’t be denied that I do play favorites to some degree. My admiration for the species is based on a variety of factors – their beauty, the stunning dimorphism of the sexes which is so unusual among raptors, the challenge of photographing such a wary subject, their incredible agility in flight (especially while hunting) and at the top of my list would be their admirable tenacity at survival in abysmal conditions which I’ve witnessed first hand. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I’m especially delighted when I can get close to the male (the elusive “gray ghost”) in flight with a wing position and background I like. Throw in eye contact (they always seem to be looking down) and no blown whites in the rump patch and I’ve had a good day. Ron

Male Northern Harrier In Warm Light

Just a single image this time. I found this male Northern Harrier trying to catch some warming rays soon after the sun came up on a cold morning this past winter. 1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I was too close to keep from clipping body parts as he lifted off but as you can see I was fighting for depth of field and shutter speed in this light anyway so I was reasonably happy to get what I did.. One of the few things I miss about frigid winters is the approachability of some of the raptors when it’s very cold. I could never get this close to a perched harrier in the summer months. Ron

Rough-legged Hawk on Tamarisk

I’ve said before that for me the Rough-legged Hawk is among the most handsome of North American raptors. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I found this bird perched on some tamarisk just below an elevated road on Antelope Island and was able to get some shots I like as it lifted off. I’ve posted another image of the sequence here. In late April of this year state park personnel cut down the stand of tamarisk. I fully understand the need to get rid of them because tamarisk is an invasive plant that is widely believed to degrade native wildlife habitat and disrupt the structure and stability of North American native plant communities. That said I will miss them as there aren’t many elevated and attractive natural perches on the island. Ron

Clumsy Prairie Falcon

This young Prairie Falcon had apparently been hunting ducks near the edge of the Great Salt Lake and got some of its belly feathers wet so it landed on a rock near the lake for some rest and preening. It posed for me for over 12 minutes which I appreciated but the light was low and variable due to the ever-changing thickness of the clouds. 1/800, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc At first the falcon was fairly wary of me because I was quite close. 1/800, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But after a few minutes it settled into its preening again. 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4 But this was a juvenile bird and not quite so suave and sure of its movements as an adult would be and suddenly it slipped on its perch and would have fallen backwards if it hadn’t caught itself with its wings and climbed back up on the rock. Even though I didn’t get much light in the eye I still got lucky on this shot. I’d been shooting this bird with my tc attached and at a relatively slow shutter speed and the falcon pretty much filled the frame. Just before I took this image I removed my tc and ratcheted up my ISO to get more shutter speed for a possible take-off shot. If I hadn’t done that the wings would likely have been soft from motion blur and I’d have cut off parts of the bird with the tc attached. …

An Osprey, A Fish And A Thieving Magpie

Yesterday Mia and I returned from a three day camping and photo trip to Flaming Gorge. We had great weather for most of our time there and as usual the scenery and ambience were awesome. At an elevation over 6000′ many of the birds that we usually see there apparently haven’t arrived yet but we spent some quality time with a pair of nesting Osprey – a species that I’ve had little luck with in the past. 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This pole with all the attached ugly hardware was within a few feet of the nesting platform and early one morning this Osprey landed on the pole with a freshly caught fish. At first I figured that this bird would deliver the fish to its mate on the nest (I have a lot to learn about this species) but it didn’t. It’s intention was to eat the fish itself but as you’ll see, those plans were delayed by an interloper. It didn’t take long for this Black-billed Magpie to show up and torment the rightful owner of the fish. This Osprey removed and dropped the intestines in pieces and it seemed obvious to me that the magpie had learned that particular feeding pattern and came looking for tidbits that had landed on the wires below the Osprey. Here you can see one of those bits in the beak of the magpie that it had picked off of the metal above its head. So far the Osprey doesn’t seem too…

American Kestrel Eating A Vole (graphic)

A couple of months ago I came across this female American Kestrel along the causeway to Antelope Island. She had captured a vole and was in the process of eating it while perched on a road sign. The images I’ve presented here aren’t pretty and won’t appeal to everyone but as I’ve said many times before I’m fascinated by behaviors. 1//1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc She had already decapitated the vole and was in the process of disemboweling it when I found her. Kestrels routinely discard the intestines and she had previously removed the small intestine (portions of which can be seen near the underside of the tail). Here she is dropping the coiled mass of the large intestine. As she attempted to eat the vole the large intestine was right in front of her on the perch and she apparently found its presence right under her face as she dined to be offensive and distracting so she repeatedly tried to drop it over the edge of the sign to get rid of it. Three times she picked it up and dropped it but each time it landed on the edge of the wooden post without going over the edge. 1//1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 t Finally, on the third attempt, she succeeded in dropping it over the edge, but just barely. 1//2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 t Now with her dining table cleaned up she was able to attend to the rest of her meal. There…

Northern Harrier Defending Its Meal

Long ago I posted some images of Northern Harriers fighting over this Mallard but I have other shots of the fracas that I’ve never posted so I thought I’d share some of them today. 1/1250, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc For the moment this bird has sole control over the duck but it knows the situation to be tenuous at best. The wings-out pose and fierce look are fair warning to the other harriers in the vicinity (and there are lots of them) that any attempt to share in the feast will be met with resistance. 1/1250, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These birds have been starving because of a brutally cold and snowy winter so this harrier begins a frenzy of feeding in an attempt to swallow as much food as possible before other birds move in. 1/1250, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc And it doesn’t take long before all hell breaks loose. At this point I often wasn’t getting enough depth of field for multiple birds so decided to risk f/10 and a slower shutter speed for the rest of the session. 1/800, f/10, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I was lacking in both shutter speed and depth of field for this shot and I’m not happy with the shadow on the face but liked the talons on the back. 1/800, f/10, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc For a few moments both birds tolerated each other on the duck but that didn’t last long… …

Just A Shot That I Like… #26 – Rough-legged Hawk In Flight With Prey

I’ve been lucky in the past to get some nice shots of Short-eared Owls in flight carrying prey but my luck with hawks in the same situation has been abysmal. Whenever the opportunity does present itself it’s usually when the hawk has taken off away from me so all I get is another butt shot with the head and eye hidden. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These birds typically want to take off into the wind and on this day the wind direction was just right so that the hawk didn’t fly away from me as it lifted off. So I got good light, an acceptable wing position and even a nice look at the vole with its eye visible. Ron

The Harrier And The Dumpster

Multiple times in the past few years there’s been a Northern Harrier perched on one of the bushes around this gravel parking lot but without exception every time I’ve tried to approach the bird it has flown off before I could get close enough for a quality shot. Frustrating… So earlier this week when I spotted a handsome male on the large darker bush to the right in the photo below I decided to try a different tack. Birds very often seem much less inclined to spook if there’s something between them and the photographer and it doesn’t have to be anything very substantial – even a few twigs will often do. Having something physical between them and a potential threat seems to give them a sense of security. So even though I’ve often cussed this ugly old dumpster over the years (I realize it’s there for a very good reason) I decided to try to put it to good use for my purposes. I slowly drove to the left of the dumpster, turned around and approached the bird with the dumpster between me and the harrier. The harrier obviously knew I was there but with the ugly old hunk of metal between us it didn’t fly off. Then as I got very close to the dumpster I slowly turned to my right just far enough to give me a look at the bird through my lens from my pickup window. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As you can see the harrier was…

Category: Diurnal Raptors