![\"northern-harrier-0985\"](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/northern-harrier-09851.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-0985\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a01\/3200, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0I’ve spent hundreds of hours watching and photographing harriers and it’s virtually unheard of for one to take off in my direction when I’m this\u00a0close to the bird.\u00a0 Usually the direction of take off is away from me or if I’m lucky it might\u00a0be either to my left or right.\u00a0 But this one had apparently decided that it wanted junco for lunch and when it launched it immediately turned slightly and headed straight toward the junco on my truck hood.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n If you look carefully at the harriers eyes in all four shots you’ll notice that he isn’t really focused on me – instead he’s looking slightly to my right, directly at the junco on the hood of the truck.\u00a0 That fact becomes more apparent as the harrier gets closer, to me and the junco.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n Here he is completing his slight turn to his left (notice the tail angle)\u00a0and heading directly toward the junco.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/3200, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n This was the last sharp shot I got because by now he was flying fast\u00a0and my angle was limited because of the truck window.\u00a0 To be perfectly honest, with this busy background so close to the bird and with him heading almost straight for me I was pleasantly surprised\u00a0to get any sharp shots at all – especially with the teleconverter attached.<\/p>\n Looking back, part of me wishes I’d taken a moment to get a shot through the windshield of the junco on my hood with my other camera but then knowing my luck I’d likely have missed the harrier’s take off.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n And if you’re at all curious about\u00a0what happened after my last shot, the harrier made it more than half way to my truck and the junco before he apparently\u00a0decided that discretion was the better part of valor, changed his mind,\u00a0veered off to his right and flew past my truck within\u00a0a few feet of me, too close for my lens to focus\u00a0and much\u00a0too fast for my reflexes.\u00a0 For a split second I thought he might join me in the truck…<\/p>\n An experience I’ll not soon forget.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Addendum:\u00a0 In response to a question from “Elephant’s Child” in the comments on this post and for the benefit of others who may not be familiar with the Dark-eyed Junco I’ve added the photo below for clarification.\u00a0 Juncos (there are many sub-species)\u00a0are common\u00a0North American birds sometimes referred to as “snowbirds” for their propensity for appearing at feeders during snow storms.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n