![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-5581-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-tailed-hawk-5581-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nYesterday I finally got out on another bona fide bird photography trip. It had been a long while so it really felt good, despite having an unexpected and hair-raising adventure near the end of my trip.<\/p>\n
It was heavily overcast when I left home in the dark and the forecast for light at my shooting destination was iffy at best. So I was delighted to find clear skies and excellent light when the sun came up soon after I arrived. And it stayed that way all morning.<\/p>\n
I even found a few birds.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This presumed female (based on size and tarsi thickness) adult Red-tailed Hawk was one of them. I nearly missed seeing her. She was perched on a rocky outcrop very close to the road but I didn’t spot her until I’d almost passed her. She had pity on me and didn’t spook while I backed my pickup up to get a better light angle and a little further away to accommodate takeoff and flight shots.<\/p>\n I got several photos of her during and after takeoff and this was one of my favorites. I like her takeoff\/flight posture, the warm early morning light and the matching colors of bird and perch. I was also glad to see that she already had a nearly full crop that early in the morning (8:50).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yesterday was a bit of an adventure. I was alone and in a remote area that had more snow on the ground than I expected to find. As I gained elevation while climbing a plateau on an even more remote and narrow dirt road, the amount of snow on the road increased quickly – to almost 6″. The snow was crusted over so as I tried to drive up the long steep hill, the vehicle tracks in the snow kept trying to throw me off of the steep-banked road. It was dicey to say the least, especially after recent surgery that made me much more vulnerable.<\/p>\n I eventually made it safely up the hill but even in 4WD it was close. With all the experience I’ve had driving in snow in Montana it still got my attention.<\/p>\n If I hadn’t bought new and more aggressive tires a couple of weeks ago I’d have been in deep doodoo. Thankfully, my new tires (Falken Wildpeak A\/T3W<\/a><\/span><\/span>) performed like champs.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS – Here’s another reason I was nervous about my predicament in the snow.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was cold! And there was a stiff breeze to make it feel much colder.<\/em><\/p>\n This photo was taken a few minutes before sunrise and about 45 minutes before I took the red-tail photo above. 8\u00b0 F. is as cold as I’ve seen it in the valleys this winter.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n In case you’re curious, my phone isn’t hooked up to Bluetooth because it’s a new phone and I just haven’t done it yet. And yes, that’s my finger in the upper left corner – my version of a selfie I guess.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday I finally got out on another bona fide bird photography trip. It had been a long while so it really felt good, despite having an unexpected and hair-raising adventure near the end of my trip. (2 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/coldest-temp-of-year.jpg\")
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