Male Cooper's Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted March 23, 2010152 views12 comments

Mount Royal cemetery in Montreal, Quebec has been a popular nesting place for this bird and his mate for many years. They have chosen to use the same nest as last year. We watched them make some minor renovations. This is the male, who has just returned with a meal for his mate.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm VR f/2.8
Exposure: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on March 23, 2010 at 10:41 AM

Nice catch. I like the snow and the framing of the branches. A great pose, and the prey adds interest.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on March 23, 2010 at 11:01 AM

Beautiful bird, captured well.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 23, 2010 at 11:39 AM

Rather soft and lacking critical detail in the plumage. The color is very flat. The image is very busy, even by my standards.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on March 23, 2010 at 4:35 PM

Hal,

I like the snow in the setting and the pose of the hawk, but I find the colors muted, overall the image is a bit flat and soft. I am not sure why though. At 1/2500 for shutter speed I can't see that it would be soft because the bird moved, perhaps the camera hadn't quite locked onto the bird?

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on March 23, 2010 at 4:56 PM

Hal,
very nice snow setting and pose. I agree with others about the image is a bit soft and flat.
Overall a nice capture of the bird and his prey.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 23, 2010 at 5:09 PM

Hal, I still don't have a decent image of a Cooper's. I like the opportunity, but I agree with some others, that this has the look of a large crop. Most of all the colors look a bit off. I expect to see a lot more greys in the back area of an adult Cooper's. Also, the sharpest part of the image looks like the lower part of the perch branch below the big peak of snow in front of the bird. That POF and the f/2.8 aperture would explain the softness in the bird. This may be worth a reprocess.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on March 23, 2010 at 7:48 PM

The colors are flat, but your snow looks good???Not sure what has caused this...perhaps it is a big crop considering the 200 you used??? I like the pose and the setting and would maybe try to rework this a bit. What a beauty for you to see! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Eric Diller on March 23, 2010 at 8:01 PM

Awesome! You must have been pretty close for 200MM!! Love the snow as well, makes a nice scene!

Registered on October 2, 2009, 69 Posts, 434 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on March 23, 2010 at 8:22 PM

I'm forced to agree with the others: it looks like a heavy crop, and could use some work with the white balance to try and make it more vivid. The good news is that with the bird on a nest, you get multiple opportunities...

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on March 23, 2010 at 8:48 PM

Well placed in the frame. I agree to it suffers a little from a heavy crop. Very nice at any rate.

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Jeff Loomis on March 24, 2010 at 11:10 AM

The good news is, you know where to find him. This shot is nice and is worth working on, but revisiting the location with all the helpful comments in mind might be the best course.

Registered on January 26, 2010, 68 Posts, 719 Comments

Comment posted by richard remington on March 25, 2010 at 12:53 PM

Great shot of a fierce looking bird. The snow adds pleasant contrast and the sharpness of the eye area is riveting. This is a great shot!

Registered on March 12, 2010, 105 Posts, 368 Comments