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\u00a01\/2000, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Yesterday morning I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk buried deeply enough in this tree (notice that there are branches in front of and behind the bird) that flying out presented an obvious problem.\u00a0 At first I thought the bird would turn around and take off away from me because there were fewer obstructing branches in that direction but this bird took off toward me, possibly because the wind (blowing pretty hard) was coming from behind me.<\/p>\n Here the hawk is hunkering down and appears<\/em> to be thinking about its\u00a0options for take-off direction and strategies for avoiding collisions between wings and branches.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 800, 500 f\/4<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n An instant later it launched on what appeared to be a collision course\u00a0with the branches only inches away but the combination of wings and wind gave it enough instant lift to rise almost straight up into the air…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 800, 500 f\/4<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0before gaining forward momentum…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 800, 500 f\/4<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n and clearing the foliage as it flew almost directly toward me.<\/p>\n Did this hawk actually plan<\/em> its take-off strategy,\u00a0having considered factors like wind speed and direction, potential wing obstacles, the direction of its destination and the possible threat posed by me and my big pickup so close to the\u00a0bird\u00a0?\u00a0 I wish I knew…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n When I first found this Red-tailed Hawk (sequence taken this past summer in Montana) it was buried\u00a0about as deeply in the brush as you can get.\u00a0 When it was ready to take off it walked as far\u00a0out as it could on the darker branch that is its perch (as it’s doing\u00a0here).\u00a0 It\u00a0then paused for some time as it seemed to consider its take-off strategy in\u00a0such an obstructed setting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n When it launched it did so with wings extended unusually high – possibly in a deliberate effort to avoid hitting the nearby branches with its wings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n As you can see, the bird had lots of twigs and branches to avoid on its way out (its nictitating membrane is even partially closed to protect the eye).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1600, f\/8, ISO 800, 500 f\/4<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This red-tail (another example from yesterday) was perched on branches with fewer obstructions but those that were there were larger, less flexible and less forgiving of mistakes than in my first example.\u00a0\u00a0When it takes off the\u00a0bird not only has to avoid hitting the branches on the left with its right wing but there’s more obstructing branches in the right foreground that you mostly can’t see until the next image.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"red-tailed](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-2296-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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