![\"western](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/western-kingbird3428-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI’ve long been a fan of VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft for their versatility and incredible power. One of my favorite birds, the Northern Harrier,\u00a0shares its name with one of those aircraft and because of my fondness for both the bird and the airplane the vanity plates on my pickup read “HARRIER”.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A few days ago on Antelope Island I photographed this Western Kingbird as it took off from a sagebrush and into a headwind. Because of the wind about all it had to do was open its wings and\u00a0shazam, it lifted almost straight up, similar to the takeoff of a VTOL aircraft.\u00a0 I remember thinking exactly that at the moment it lifted off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In the next shot you can tell the\u00a0kingbird still hasn’t moved forward much at all because both the bird and the sagebrush are still sharp. Mostly it has just moved slightly to our right.<\/p>\n Usually when I see this kind of liftoff it’s from a raptor so I enjoyed photographing it in a songbird for a change.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: These images were processed on the road from my laptop so I’m not really sure how they look. So far on our camping trip birds have been slow (the only thing that has been fast has been the wind…).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve long been a fan of VTOL (Vertical Takeoff And Landing) aircraft for their versatility and incredible power.<\/p>\n![\"western](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/western-kingbird-3429-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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