This might be the most spectacular and unique raptor I’ve ever photographed or even seen. In fact there’s no “might be” about it – without qualification, it is. And I even got some pretty decent photos of it in flight.
Over the years I’ve documented a variety of birds with severely deformed beaks including the two examples below. Now we may know the cause of the condition.
I took exactly forty shots of this hawk during takeoff and in flight. Eleven of them made the cut to include here, for reasons both good and not so good.
Blog followers know I have a strong aversion for power poles and wires in my images. But thanks to input from readers I’ve had a change of heart when the poles are ancient and the insulators are the old-fashioned kind.
By now readers must know how much I like this particular takeoff posture in raptors. For me images like this are full of tension and energy and my mind’s eye wanders as I try to imagine the details of what happened next.
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