![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/northern-harrier-3237b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-3237b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nA\u00a0 recent “gray ghost”\u00a0to lift my sagging spirits\u00a0a little.<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n A week ago today I caught this male harrier hunting in one of their typical styles – flying low and slow over the vegetation in\u00a0a quest for voles. So low in fact that\u00a0most of his body was often far below much of the vegetation in front of him.\u00a0Most hawk species\u00a0couldn’t\/wouldn’t\u00a0hunt this low and slow for long because they’re significantly\u00a0heavier and not agile enough at flight speed\u00a0to avoid all the plants sticking up at varying levels. Red-tailed Hawks for example are about 2.6 times heavier than harriers (1080 grams vs 420 grams).<\/p>\n But by dodging, weaving and juking this guy kept it up for a good long time. His erratic flight sure made him difficult to track with my lens though, especially with all the vegetation around him.<\/p>\n There’s no question that I have better harrier photos than this but it gives me much-needed\u00a0hope and motivation.\u00a0Because of\u00a0cloudy weather with its attendant poor light I haven’t been out shooting for a week now\u00a0and the last few times I have\u00a0ventured out I’ve been skunked or damned close to it. It’s been both discouraging and depressing. There was actually a short window of decent light yesterday morning but unfortunate timing meant I couldn’t take advantage of it. More frustration.<\/p>\n And right now at least the weather for the next week doesn’t look to be much of an improvement so I hope you’ll bear with me if I continue to post more older photos than usual for a few days.<\/p>\n Wishing for light and birds! And a little snow\u00a0on the ground would help too.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – As I put the finishing touches on this post at 4:30 this morning it’s snowing and it’s sticking! Snow on the ground brings more raptors into the valleys so I’m a little more\u00a0optimistic than I’ve been in a while.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A recent “gray ghost” to lift my sagging spirits a little.<\/p>\n