flight – Page 66 – Feathered Photography

Anticipating The Return Of Rough-legged Hawks

Rough-legged Hawks are a true arctic species, spending about 7 months of the year on their breeding grounds in the arctic or sub-arctic tundra or taiga of Alaska or Canada. Then they migrate south and winter in most of the lower 48 states, with the exception of the SE region and parts of California and Arizona. I love it when they’re here as I find them to be exceedingly handsome birds and I really enjoy photographing them. And yes, I’m already looking forward to their return. Every time I’m in their favorite haunts I can’t help looking for them on some of their preferred perches, even this time of year. So, feeling a little nostalgic for them on a Saturday night, I thought I’d do a post on the species. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Normally I’m not terribly fond of the Tintic Quartzite rocks on Antelope Island as perches because they’re so bright that they tend to blow out the whites but as you can see by the shadows the sun was still very low when this shot was taken so I got pretty good detail on most of the perch. And besides, I like the rounded, weathered look of this particular boulder. I do wish the out of focus sunflower heads in the foreground weren’t there but for me they’re not an image killer. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This is one of…

Red-tailed Hawk Banking At Take-off

This morning I’m off on a new adventure, looking for birds (raptors in particular) in a spectacular area I’ve never visited before so I only have time for a short post. In past years I haven’t had great luck with Red-tailed Hawks, even though they’re one of the most common raptors in Utah. They always seemed to be perched on telephone poles, which makes for an unattractive perch and unacceptably high angle. Even at take-off I’d generally only get blue sky backgrounds which I don’t find particularly interesting. But in the last couple of months my fortunes with the species have changed. 1/2500, f 7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Yesterday morning this juvenile was sitting on an elevated perch and facing away from me, which didn’t give me high hopes for a take-off shot. But it spotted potential prey over its shoulder so when it launched it turned back toward me in the process. I liked the result. The yellows in the background are sunflowers and blooming rabbitbrush. I removed a portion of the unattractive perch in the lower right corner of the frame. Cloning is something I nearly always avoid doing but in this case I made an exception. I mention it in the interest of full disclosure. I’ll make another post soon that will also feature this bird but it will have an interesting “twist” from my usual fare. Ron

Winter Barn Owls In Flight

Normally it’s very difficult to find Barn Owls hunting in daylight but an extremely cold winter a few years ago caused some of them around here to continue hunting into mid-morning. They were looking for voles in the wetlands and it was fascinating to watch and photograph them as they effortlessly cruised over the phragmites and grasses, occasionally turning abruptly and diving for prey. 1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in It was very cold and frosty with lots of moisture in the air which turned the sky background a color that appeals to me. 1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Sometimes they were low enough to get the Phragmites in the setting. Phragmites is a scourge to wetland managers but I’ve always liked it for backgrounds. When the owls would fly west I would often get light on the entire bird. 1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But when they flew east they were sidelit. I like both effects. 1/3200, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Partly because of their deeply set eyes it’s a challenge to get catch lights in Barn Owls. But here the bird was hovering over prey and looking down at it so because of the behavior you wouldn’t expect to get…

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk Honing Its Hunting Skills

For the past few weeks I’ve been working a pair of juvenile Red-tailed Hawks with varying degrees of success. Mostly they’re just toying with me – staying just out of range or on the wrong side of the road in poor light. But on two mornings the lighter colored of the two birds put on quite a show. It chose to do its “sit and wait” hunting from a series of dark rocks close to the road and didn’t seem to care that I was there. And close. 1/2000. f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, not baited The rocks are on the side of a small mountain with vole-laden prairie grass between me and the hawk so the bird would perch on them and then take off for prey it spotted – often in my general direction. The prey is presumable nearly always voles though these young birds are usually unsuccessful. It did catch and eat a small snake once but the action was buried in the grasses. I’ve yet to see it actually catch a vole and that makes me feel sympathy for the hawk but on the other hand all these attempts at prey have given me some nice photo ops. 1/2000. f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, not baited Usually the setting had grass and/or rocks in the background and often it was close enough to the hawk to make focus-lock difficult but here the background was a little further away. On both days by the time the bird cooperated the sun was high enough that the…

Swainson’s Hawks Of Montana’s Centennial Valley

On my trip to Montana’s Centennial Valley last month Swainson’s Hawks were very abundant. I found two families of them that would reliably hunt close to a road and since they had become habituated to the traffic they were easier for me to approach as long as I stayed in my pickup truck. 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This was one of two juveniles along the river at the west end of the valley. Both birds, along with their parents, would repeatedly perch on posts and poles close to my pickup. But it was very difficult to get an acceptable light angle at this location in the morning so I include only this one shot of those birds. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I had more luck with another family (two juvies and one parent) at the east end of the valley. The light angle was better and I also preferred the fence posts in this area – they were older and had more character. 1/500, f/11, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm Occasionally I was able to get both juveniles in the same shot but of course that situation often brings with it a depth of field problem so I switched to the 100-400 zoom and set my aperture at f/11 and focused on the post between the two birds. It seemed to work pretty well. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I loved the “butterscotch” colors on these two juveniles – particularly this one. 1/2000,…

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk Take-off

Recently I’ve had several opportunities with a pair of Juvenile Red-tailed Hawks that like to hunt from some elevated rocks that look down over some prime rodent habitat. It’s nice for a change to find them on natural and attractive perches rather than telephone poles or even fence posts. Don’t get me wrong, I like a rustic old fencepost as a perch but I do enjoy these natural rocks for a change. 1/8000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc (inappropriate techs for this shot, hadn’t had time to change them yet) The birds scan the grasses below them for prey and if you watch their behavior and body language carefully you can anticipate take-off. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 640, 400 f/4, 1.4 tc I could tell this bird had spotted potential prey below (a vole, most likely) so I was ready to fire off a burst as it launched. I’m always happy when I can get a wing position like this one. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 640, 400 f/4, 1.4 tc In the very next frame of the burst I got a similar wing position as it lifted off of the rock and luck played a significant role in that fact. The burst rate of my Canon 7D seems to be just about the same speed as that of the wing-beats of raptors this size as they take off, so there was a very good chance that the wings in both shots would be in the much less desirable horizontal position. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t. Observing and photographing these two birds has…

Goofy Red-tailed Hawk

When I first encountered this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in Beaverhead County three weeks ago it was eating a vole on top of this fence post. Soon after it finished the rodent it began to act a little strange. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 In these first few shots it may look like the hawk is simply shaking or “ruffling” its feathers but I’m convinced that wasn’t the case. I’ve seen many birds perform that feather maintenance activity but what was happening here looked quite different. I remember telling Mia while it was occurring that it looked like the bird was “dancing” on top of the post. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 The hawk went through some strange gyrations and postures that were different from what you see with a simple “shake” and they lasted an unusually long time (I have many shots of the behavior). This tail-up posture, for example, is reminiscent of defecation but the bird didn’t defecate and the wing position isn’t what you would normally see during defecation anyway. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 The bird wasn’t shaking to get these unusual feather positions either – instead it seemed to be deliberately and relatively slowly (compared to shaking) erecting its feathers. I have 8 – 10 shots that are very similar to this one and they’re not all in sequence. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 Then the bird decided to take off from the post… 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 but…

Swainson’s Hawk Take-off Sequence

While cruising the back roads of Glacier County, Montana two days ago we came across this Swainson’s Hawk hunting grasshoppers from an old fence post. Hunting is easy now because it’s harvest time up here and the huge grasshoppers are everywhere – as evidenced by the colorful and greasy windshields of almost every vehicle you see. 1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 When the bird seemed about to take off I made one of those split-second decisions that every bird photographer is faced with. Since it looked like the hawk might launch at a 90 degree angle to my position (and stay the same distance from me for the first few flight strokes) I decided to prefocus on the bird and then not attempt to actively maintain focus in flight for fear of having focus lock on to the background instead of the bird. This time it worked… 1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 The bird begins to launch. 1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 The beginning of my burst caught the hawk in one of those dynamic, stretched-out postures that I like. As you can see the bird lost a feather as it took off. 1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 By the next wing stroke it was already to the next fence post. I got several more sharp shots as the bird passed to my left but of course the further it flew the less eye contact I had so the early shots were the best of the bunch. The Swainson’s…

Some More Burrowing Owls

I simply can’t resist photographing Burrowing Owls. 1/100, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These youngsters often have a balance problem when they try to perch on the relatively unstable sunflowers, which can be a good opportunity for the photographer to get some interesting poses. One of the problems here was that the sun was just coming up and the light was very low as you can see from my very slow shutter speed. Even though this bird fluttered on the perch for quite a while I ended up trashing most of those shots because they just weren’t sharp enough. But the other problem just about drove me batty for a while. For some reason my Canon 7D wouldn’t allow me to adjust my exposure (ev). How very frustrating to have this bird giving me such nice poses while I’m thinking the entire time that I’m over-exposing the shots and can’t do anything about it! It turned out that my exposure for these shots was just right (I’ve done no exposure adjustment in post-processing with this image) but it took me (us) a half hour to figure out what the problem was with my camera. Mia saved the day by downloading the 7D manual to her phone and in the end the problem turned out to be that I had inadvertently switched on the “lock” button on my camera. Sheesh! 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 400, 100-400 @ 300mm I thought some of you might like to “meet” most of the Burrowing Owl family I’ve been photographing this summer. From left to right #3 and #5…

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…

Juvenile Burrowing Owl In Flight

This morning was the first time we’ve been out photographing since our Montana trip. I’ll post more images from Big Sky Country soon but I thought I’d break it up a bit with a couple of photos from this morning. 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The juvenile Burrowing Owls were quite active at just the right time – when the sun was still low but high enough to give me enough light and shutter speed that I didn’t have to crank up my ISO too far. I haven’t had a lot of luck with Burrowing Owls in full flight so I was quite pleased with this shot even though I had to add a bit of canvas to the image for composition. 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These youngsters are beginning to show some signs of maturing by the development of more color on the breast. As you can see, this is one of the young birds that has been banded.It’s very entertaining to watch these juveniles. In the morning before it gets too hot they often fly from perch to nearby perch and when they’re on the ground they seem to enjoy manipulating objects like twigs and leaves and nibbling on flowers. They interact with each other with the enthusiasm of youth. The problem for the photographer is that when they’re on the ground it’s virtually impossible to get a clear shot of them through all the vegetation. I really enjoy these little guys. Ron

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…

Tag: flight