{"id":92070,"date":"2020-12-06T05:36:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T12:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=92070"},"modified":"2020-12-06T10:06:18","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T17:06:18","slug":"red-tailed-hawk-life-repeating-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-life-repeating-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-tailed Hawk – Life Repeating Itself"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two days ago this Red-tailed Hawk had me wondering if I was in some kind of time warp.<\/p>\n

Blog followers will likely remember that on Thursday of this week I photographed a presumed female Red-tailed Hawk on a rusty metal fencepost<\/a><\/span><\/span> in an attractive setting of phragmites with a marshland playa in the background. Something in the vegetation directly below that fencepost spooked the hawk twice before she eventually took off which allowed me to get several nice takeoff and flight shots.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, ISO 6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

The very next day, Friday, I found the same hawk perched in a tree perhaps 100 yards away from the fencepost she had been on the day before. She allowed me some nice unobstructed photos before she…<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, ISO 6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

took off…<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, ISO 6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

to the northeast.<\/p>\n

I figured I’d seen the last of her for that morning but I was wrong. Guess where she landed.<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, ISO 6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

She chose the same metal fencepost I’d photographed her perched on almost exactly 24 hours before. She was facing roughly the same direction and I was shooting from almost exactly the same spot as I had the day before so it felt like d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again (I’ve been using that phrase borrowed from Yogi Berra a lot lately).<\/p>\n

Once again I was determined to get takeoff and flight shots so I settled in and waited for her to launch. While I was waiting I remembered that the day before she’d twice been spooked by something potentially threatening in the vegetation directly below her and if that happened again I wanted to be fast enough on the trigger to photograph her reaction.<\/p>\n

It was a tense wait because I knew I’d have to be lightning fast on the shutter button but I also knew it was a long shot. What were the chances that something would spook her into a startle reaction a third time?<\/p>\n

But that’s exactly what happened, only this time she was so seriously spooked…<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

1\/4000, ISO 6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

she was scared right off her perch. I’ve said before that I think I have pretty quick reflexes but this panicked takeoff happened so incredibly fast I’m amazed I was able to capture her before her left foot even left the perch.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, ISO 6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

In these first two flight shots it may look like she took off after prey on the ground but…<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, ISO 6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

I’m absolutely convinced that she wasn’t after prey – her only concern was getting the hell away from that perch and the potential danger she’d sensed below it as quickly as she possibly could.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, ISO 6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

Here she’s looking directly at me to confirm that I’m not a threat (yes, her left nictitating membrane is partially closed). Immediately after this shot was taken she veered off sharply to my left causing me to lose focus on her and cut off body parts. I’m not sure where she went but she didn’t go after prey on the ground and my opportunities with her were over for the morning.<\/p>\n

The series of near-repetitive events from the previous morning felt really strange while I was experiencing them. I recognized the hawk immediately when I saw her in the tree that second morning and then to have her fly to the same perch as the previous day and then once again be spooked by something below that perch almost made me feel like I was trapped in a time loop like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. If these events had occurred on February 2 I’d have been seriously spooked myself.<\/p>\n

And I’ll tell you what. I’d really like to know what keeps spooking this bird at that perch. And why she keeps returning to it.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two days ago this Red-tailed Hawk had me wondering if I was in some kind of time warp.<\/p>\n

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