![\"sharp-shinned](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/sharp-shinned-hawk-8595-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nYesterday morning this Sharp-shinned Hawk tried to crash our Sage Thrasher party.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I had stopped my pickup\u00a0along the road to Garr Ranch on Antelope Island to photograph some Sage Thrashers flitting around in the sagebrush when I noticed this sharpie perched on a bush almost directly in front of me.\u00a0 It had obviously come in after the many small birds (including our Sage Thrashers)\u00a0in the line of sagebrush and rabbitbrush along the road. \u00a0It was pretty far away (this image has been cropped significantly) but I still couldn’t resist photographing it because around here I get very few opportunities with the species – they’re very skittish, especially in a wild setting like this as opposed to urban environments.<\/p>\n I knew that my only chance for\u00a0quality\u00a0images would be\u00a0flight shots just after take-off but I was in a dilemma.\u00a0 This bird was mostly in front of me and because of the angle it was almost impossible for me to train my lens on\u00a0the hawk\u00a0through the pickup window.\u00a0\u00a0Maintaining my thoroughly awkward position in the vehicle for more than a few moments was impossible\u00a0but I knew that if I started my pickup to turn it slightly for a better angle the bird would spook while my lens was down.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As I tried to decide what to do my dilemma was solved by something that usually frustrates me immensely – another vehicle coming down the road that was\u00a0very likely to flush my subject.<\/p>\n And that’s exactly what happened but this time I welcomed it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I scrunched up into that awkward position again just before the sharpie spooked.\u00a0 The bird came almost directly\u00a0at me but I was able to get this single shot that I like pretty well.\u00a0 I do have better shots of raptors in flight but this one appeals to me for\u00a0two reasons – it’s my first decent flight shot of a sharpie and I love the background.\u00a0 This mix of spring greenery and dead vegetation from last year is typical of the island this time of year and I love the combination of the bokeh from my lens and the colors provided by the island.\u00a0\u00a0I do\u00a0wish my camera settings had been a little different but\u00a0I really\u00a0didn’t have much choice because it was a partly cloudy day and the light was changing constantly.<\/p>\n These backgrounds are one of the many reasons I photograph on the island so often.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday morning this Sharp-shinned Hawk tried to crash our Sage Thrasher party.<\/p>\n![\"sharp-shinned](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/sharp-shinned-hawk-8603-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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