Still ruffled up <\/em><\/p>\nThis final shot shows the roughie perhaps two seconds after the harrier has passed – still ruffled up and perturbed\u00a0but beginning to return to a normal posture.<\/p>\n
An important aspect of bird photography is knowing the behavior of your subject and paying close attention to subtle changes in that behavior.\u00a0 That way one can often anticipate and prepare for\u00a0interesting\u00a0events that would be very difficult to photograph because they happen so quickly.\u00a0 Because I noticed the behavior change in the hawk as it reacted to the incoming harrier I had the time required to change my camera settings to give me plenty of shutter speed (1\/2000 sec) to freeze the action.\u00a0 At my previous shutter speed the fourth and perhaps the fifth\u00a0image in this series would likely have been\u00a0somewhat blurred.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ron\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Most birds are defensive of their territories and space and raptors are certainly no exception.\u00a0 Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers both prey heavily on\u00a0voles (mice-like rodents) so when a new bird of prey comes in to the established hunting territory of another there are often conflicts, with the established bird attempting to drive off the interloper to avoid competition for food resources. \u00a0 \u00a0Rough-legged Hawk As I was photographing this Rough-legged hawk sitting peacefully in a tree I noted a definite change in its demeanor so I looked around and\u00a0spotted a Northern Harrier speeding toward the hawk from my right.\u00a0 I anticipated that the harrier would “buzz” the roughie\u00a0and since I was much too close to get both birds in the frame when it happened\u00a0I decided to concentrate on the reaction of the hawk as the interaction occurred.\u00a0 I never did get\u00a0the harrier in the frame in any of the shots.\u00a0\u00a0 In the image above, the roughie hasn’t yet seen the harrier coming in (nor have I). \u00a0 \u00a0 The incoming Northern Harrier has been spotted When I noticed this posture change in the roughie I knew something was up, so I looked in the direction the bird was focused on and saw the harrier coming in fast.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Beginning to react Here the hawk is beginning to react to the swift and aggressive approach of the harrier by beginning to fluff up.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Defensive posture This shot was taken when the harrier, traveling very fast, was closest to the hawk – roughly\u00a0three…<\/p>\n
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![\"Rough-legged](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-2641.jpg\" "\\"Rough-legged")
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