![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-3903b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-3903b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nTen days ago I had a blast photographing Northern Harriers along the Antelope Island causeway for the second time recently. The first time there were several of them but this time all of my photos were of a single adult male that was hunting west to east along the causeway.<\/p>\n
In seven minutes I got over 400 photos of him, mostly in flight as he was hunting. I like a lot of them but today I’ll be presenting only three of them.<\/p>\n
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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Since he was reliably hunting west to east along the 7-mile-long causeway, my strategy was to drive ahead of him and then stop and wait for him to get close. But he was usually coming so fast he was often almost past me before I could stop my pickup and get him in my viewfinder. I like this photo in part because it was an exception – he wasn’t past me and he was still coming my way.<\/p>\n Occasionally he’d dive on prey and it was one of my goals to photograph him in one of those exceptionally quick, twisty dives. But when that happens their speed and flight direction changes so quickly they’re nearly impossible to keep in the viewfinder, much less in focus.<\/p>\n In the above photo he was flying east but only a few seconds after it was taken he spotted prey below him and…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n twisted in flight so that instantly he was facing the opposite direction (west) and diving down toward the presumed vole. In the photo after this one he’d dived so fast I cut off most of his right wing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n He missed the vole and took off almost immediately to resume hunting. Because of vegetation between us he was soft in most of my photos of him on the ground, but I do like this takeoff shot.<\/p>\n I hadn’t had much luck on the island that morning so this harrier, along the causeway on my way home, saved my day at nearly the last minute.<\/p>\n Thanks Mr. Gray Ghost.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Another morning of ‘creative driving’ to get the shots. (3 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-3951-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-3951-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-3957-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-3957-ron-dudley\\"")
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