{"id":32066,"date":"2015-06-17T05:11:45","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T11:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=32066"},"modified":"2015-06-17T05:11:45","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T11:11:45","slug":"red-tailed-hawks-on-the-nest-with-chicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2015\/06\/17\/red-tailed-hawks-on-the-nest-with-chicks\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-tailed Hawks On The Nest With Chicks"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t photograph raptors on the nest very often but for me this situation\u00a0was\u00a0a worthy\u00a0exception. The nest tree\u00a0is on the main street of a small Montana town so these birds are\u00a0highly acclimated to vehicles and other human activities. I simply stopped my\u00a0pickup on the\u00a0street last week\u00a0and photographed from my\u00a0open window. They never showed any signs of disturbance, something I watch very carefully for. I actually wondered if these hawks deliberately\u00a0chose a nest site in the middle of town (rather than the wide open spaces nearby)\u00a0in an effort to keep potential threats at bay. Who knows…<\/p>\n

The lighting angle was frustrating because the hawks were always side lit (at best) but I was able to document some interesting behaviors.<\/p>\n

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\"red-tailed<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

The female and three chicks were on the nest as I pulled up at dawn\u00a0but within about five seconds of stopping my pickup the male flew in and he was bearing a gift for his family.<\/p>\n

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\"red-tailed<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

At first I thought the\u00a0small rodent might be a mouse since the nest was so close to\u00a0houses and other buildings but when I got a look at its tail…<\/p>\n

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\"red-tailed<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/640, f\/13, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe it to be a vole because of its shortness.<\/p>\n

It was difficult to get any photos without Brewer’s Blackbirds in the frame because they harassed these poor hawks relentlessly. Here you see a male and a female blackbird waiting in ambush. The mobbing was almost constant and I was able to get some interesting photos of the behavior which I’ll post at a later time.<\/p>\n

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\"red-tailed<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/800, f\/11, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here the male had dropped the vole in front of the chicks and then all five birds briefly posed for a family portrait.<\/p>\n

Notice the three unruly feathers on top of the head of the larger female on the left. This is a very distinctive and apparently permanent feature of this particular bird as I remember photographing her last year in the same general area and\u00a0with the same “hairdo”.<\/p>\n

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\"red-tailed<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/800, f\/11, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

The male hung around for a short while but when neither the chicks or his mate showed any interest in the vole he picked it up…<\/p>\n

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\"red-tailed<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/800, f\/11, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0and flew off with it – directly into the sun of course, which shaded the female.<\/p>\n

I’ll be posting other images of this hawk family (and their blackbird tormentors) soon but for now I’m still culling over 5000 images from the trip and catching up on chores I got behind on while I was gone. Life is pretty busy at the moment.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

Note to photographers: My\u00a0camera settings were all over the place for these shots for two reasons:<\/em><\/p>\n