Nature clicks #198 - White-breasted Nuthatch

 

Yes, this photo was made today! It snowed again last night and most of the day today and staying home was probably a wise decision because of the road conditions. My daughter told me today that the snow bells and crocus bloom already over in Germany. Well, ours here are still under a heavy layer of snow and ice… I admit, I’m a little jealous!

I haven’t posted an image of the White-breasted Nuthatch this season yet, although they are here all winter long. This one wasn’t moving much for several minutes, a sure sign that a hawk was nearby somewhere in the trees around. Every woodpecker or nuthatch tries to stay on the opposite site of a tree, away from the hawk, while the raptor is in the area. This gives me usually an idea where to look for the hawk. I hope I don’t bore you too much with another winterly photo but there wasn’t much else to shoot today, at least outside…

Another one from the "Sharpie"

 

I’m still very happy about the opportunity to have a Sharp-shinned Hawk in front of the camera. This photo was made shortly after the bird landed in the first tree. No, I haven’t been that close. the picture I show here is cropped. It is sharp enough to do it for the web, however, printing the image on paper in a larger size may not turn out that well. The distance to the bird was about the same like the one in my previous post. I haven’t seen the hawk since but I’m sure it is still around…

Nature clicks #196 - Sharp-shinned Hawk

 

There has been a story about this hawk already before I even was able to make this photo. During the last couple weeks two of our Downy Woodpeckers were the victims of a deadly attack by this accipiter. I witnessed one of them but couldn’t identify the raptor. The remains of another little Downy told me that the hawk had struck again this week. Sharp-shinned Hawks feed on smaller birds and are attracted to bird feeders if they are visible from the air. Well, we offer them paradise here… ;-)

Today it paid back that I have the camera ready to shoot most of the time. I saw the bird flying into our front yard while sitting at my desk. It landed on a low branch but I had a hard time to focus because it showed me its back and there were little branches that obstructed the view. I took several shots, more for identification than anything else. Suddenly the hawk flew up again to a taller tree. I run upstairs back to my office window. And there it was! The Sharp-shinned Hawk sat on a branch just across from the window and showed me its front side in best light.

I like to mention that there is of course a little doubt about the identification of this bird. The Cooper’s Hawk is very similar and I read even experienced birders may have problems to identify them sometimes. There is great variation in plumage and in size for these two species. The tail of this hawk is more square while the the tail of the Cooper’s Hawk has more rounded tips. A couple other field marks (shape of the head and leg size) make me believe that we see the Sharp-shinned Hawk. It would be nice if a more experienced birder could give me their opinion.

This was the first time that I was able to make an image of the Sharp-shinned Hawk and the first “first sighting” in 2014. I’m very happy about this photo and I hope you enjoy it too.

Nature clicks #119 - Red-tailed Hawk

 

We spent a couple days in the "State Forest State Park" in Colorado. It is known for its moose population, but however, we have seen moose at other places but unfortunately not in this state park. Other wildlife was always present and while driving on a bumpy gravel road we encountered this Red-tailed Hawk sitting on top of a pine. When I'm driving on small gravel roads or off-road I always have the D300s with the Sigma 50-500 attached sitting on my lap. This allows me to act quickly and shoot handhold just out the window of the car if an opportunity like this hawk comes up.

It was windy and the hawk was moving constantly. I had to watch my shutter speed and in order to maintain 1/1000s I bumped up the ISO to 400. I try to stay in the basement with my ISO between 100 and 200 for outmost detail but sometimes a compromise will make the difference between getting the shot or not. More to come...

Unprepared for take-off

 

It took me several years to make my first photo of a Red-tailed Hawk in Eastern Iowa. And here I'm, blessed again with another opportunity. I like to believe it is the same hawk I showed in my post "Nature clicks #86" because I saw the bird in the same location, the Mill Creek Valley near Bellevue, IA. I shot several pictures of the hawk sitting in this oak tree, partly covered by branches. I was a little unprepared for its take-off because I was fiddling with camera settings in order to tame the extremely harsh light. It took some efforts in post to darken the tree branches surrounding the bird. I was just lucky that I got the AF sensor on the head of the bird when it suddenly took off. Well, sometimes we need some luck for our photography...

Nature clicks #86 - Red-tailed Hawk in flight

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

A long wanted shot made it finally onto my hard drive last weekend. This Red-tailed Hawk hovered over a snow covered slope in the Mill Creek Valley near Bellevue, Iowa. I stopped the car and started handhold panning while standing in a puddle of a muddy gravel road. I didn't really care, the hawk was more important than the condition of my boots at that moment. The hawk scanned the slope almost systematically for prey and came several times back to my location. Not as close as I would have liked to, but at least it presented its body for a brief moment in best light. I will not keep it as a secret that the photo is cropped but it is sharp enough and retained some detail after the crop. I believe it payed back that I have practiced a lot during last month on the Bald Eagles. I was happy to make my first picture of a sitting hawk two weeks ago and now I'm glad to have a few images of a Red-tailed Hawk in flight.

Nature clicks #83 - Red-tailed Hawk

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

On my way back from a customer of mine I stopped at several places along the Mississippi and looked for photo opportunities. I found Bald Eagles and Tundra Swans again but because of a strong gray overcast in the afternoon I wasn't so happy with the image quality. The light sucked and so did the colors.

There is only one exception today and this is because it is a "first one" for me. I never had a chance before to capture a picture of a Red-tailed Hawk, despite the fact it is the most common buteo in North America. I saw the bird while driving down a gravel road towards the Green Island Wetlands. It took me four stops before I succeded. The background isn't ideal but I was happy that the hawk was at least not obstructed by a branch and I like the pose of the bird. I know there is room for improvement, but hey, it is my first Red-tailed Hawk… :-)