Birds of Prey – Page 3 – Circadianreflections Blog

Red-tailed Hawk 2

February 16, 2016February 15, 2016Posted in Bird Photography, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Birds of Prey, Hawks, National Wildlife Refuge, National Wildlife Refuges in California, PhotographyTagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Birds of Prey, Macro photography, Photography, Red-tailed Hawk, San Luis National Wildlife Refuge16 Comments

This Red-tail is from a couple of weeks back. My friend and I were birding in San Luis National Wildlife Refuge and nearing the end of one of the auto-routes when we spotted it high in the tree. I was driving and didn’t think I’d get a decent photograph of it because it was on the passenger side of the car/road, and climbing over the console and gear box wasn’t something I wanted to do.

Red-tail Hawk

We had the route nearly to ourselves so I thought I’d pull the car caddy-whompus across the road and shoot leaning into the passenger seat. I was able to get several images of it before another car came up and I had to move.

It is striking isn’t it with its white cap and that gaze?

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 200-500mm VR| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2015

Red-tail Hawk with Prey

February 5, 2016February 4, 2016Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Birds, Birds of North America, Birds of Prey, Hawks, PhotographyTagged Bird Photography, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Birds of Prey, Hawks, Red-tailed Hawk22 Comments

Warning!: Some may find these images too graphic!

While birding a couple of weeks ago in the Sacramento Valley we spotted this Red-tail Hawk having lunch on a levy about 25-30ft away from us. It spotted us too. It didn’t like the way we kept staring while it was trying to eat so…
Red tail Hawk with meal

…it picked up its meal…

Red-tailed Hawk with Prey in Flight

…and flew to a tree stump that offered a bit more privacy.

Red tail with prey on tree stump

We watched it eat for a couple of minutes then slowly drove away leaving it to enjoy its meal.

The second image with the Red-tail in flight has a bit of motion blur. I was hand-holding the lens and not used to its weight and think it was me being a wobbly rather than a slight pan. The eye is pretty sharp, and the blur gives it a sense of movement I like enough to save, and share it.

I was also racked out to 500mm and I didn’t frame up the shot giving the bird enough room to fly out of the frame, so I extended the canvas a bit then added in some of the background to give the bird some room to fly out of the frame, and fix the composition. There’s a learning curve to all new lenses; getting used to the weight, and bulkiness -it’s a chubby lens, and framing with it will be what I strive to master in the coming years.

I liked the lens so much I bought one right after I returned the rental lens.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 200-500mm VR (rental lens)| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015

More to come…

Monochrome Madness 2 20/52 Osprey

July 21, 2015July 21, 2015Posted in Birds in the Wild, Birds of Northern America, Birds of Prey, California, Monochrome Madness2, OspreyTagged Birds in the Wild, Birds of Prey, Black and White Photography, Monochrome Madness2, Osprey5 Comments

This image I made back in May while out looking for Dancing Grebes. This Osprey is looking at its nest where its mate and chicks were.

To see the other images that were submitted this week click over to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness 2 page here!

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4 + Tamron 1.4x TC = 420mm| Tripod| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| CS6Silver Efex Pro 2

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