![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/northern-harrier-0577-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-0577-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nBut I like them anyway.<\/p>\n
Some blog followers may think I’m more than a little anal about rejecting photos out of hand that lack light in the eye, i.e. a catch light. And maybe I am. But in reality I don’t always reject them. When the bird’s eyes are brightly colored or for photos whose primary purpose is documenting behavior or some interesting physical feature of the bird I don’t think light in the eye is absolutely critical.<\/p>\n
So there are times when none of the above are true and I still like the photo well enough to post it to Feathered Photography. The following Northern Harrier photos are proof positive.<\/p>\n
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1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I caught this young female as she was taking off at Farmington Bay WMA. There’s no light in her dark eye but in my view that deficiency is sufficiently mitigated by her graceful, athletic posture and her head turn that provides the viewer with a good look at her face. She stands out extremely well against the natural setting and background and the lighting angle is just about perfect. I really like her rich colors in this warm light.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This male was also photographed at Farmington. Adult male harriers like this bird have bright lemon-yellow eyes but not only is there no catch light visible, we don’t even have a clear look at his eye.<\/p>\n What strikes me most about the photo is the steep banking flight posture I caught him in as he was hunting. Few other large raptors would even attempt this maneuver so close to the ground and with the phrags almost within scraping distance behind the bird because of the very real danger of crashing and burning. But harriers as a species are unusually athletic in flight, the males even more so because they’re smaller and more maneuverable in flight than females, so this risky stunt is a fairly typical occurrence with them. I was just lucky to capture it.<\/p>\n This bird’s undertail coverts also catch my eye. They’re arranged in two matching ‘clumps’ pointing backward between his feet and upper tail that remind this biologist of shark claspers<\/a><\/span>.<\/span> If I’ve noticed this feature in harriers before for some reason I’ve never paid much attention to it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/northern-harrier-9088-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-9088-ron-dudley\\"")
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