Red-tailed Hawk Flight

Nate, Nice image for hard lighting conditions and the activity probably kept you from capturing the whole Hawk. This image makes me want to ask if you are OK.

Good job,
Skip Harris

Thanks for your concern Skip. I'm fine. Not sure I can say the same about the owl decoy though. Once the bird got this close, my lens was too long to get the whole bird in the frame. I have a couple of other shots with the entire bird in frame, but I like the "in-your-face" look of this one.

Beautiful bird, well captured.

Nice shot, but I have to wonder about the ethics of this place that would chance harming the hawk by allowing it to repeatedly strike a "permananet decoy" simply to allow people to get hawk images. I think, as nature photographers, we are obligated to think about situations like this. This is another example in the quagmire of baiting and calling birds - altering their normal behaviour - simply to get a pretty picture, and all at the expense of the bird or animal.

I know you're new here, Nate, and this is likely something you just have not thought about - just as I had not thought much about it when I first started with nature photography.

We all have to decide our personal ethics in situations like this.

Sandy

Now that's getting up close and personal, very cool shot.
May

From a purely technical view of the photograph, it appears a bit soft. A little hard to tell at 720 px size. The backlighting didn't help accentuate the hawk. I'll leave the ethics and discussion of the situation to the Hot Topics Forum if folks want to discuss it there. Since this image is "for sale", the method of capture should be disclosed to potential buyers.

Nice job getting this very different viewpoint Nate.

I'd just like to point out that Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is a well respected research and hawk migration counting station. I find it very unlikely that the main purpose of the owl decoy is for photographers to get images like this. It's much more likely that it is used to attract hawks closer to mist nets that are then used to band the birds. The banded birds migration, wintering and breeding locations can then be monitored etc more easily. You can check out more about the good work being done there on their website http://www.hawkmountain.org

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Keith, I agree. The image posted here does look a little soft. I'll see if it can withstand a little more sharpening in Photoshop.

Sandy, I understand your ethics concern. Maybe a little more information about Hawk Mountain will help to address this. Hawk Mountain is a raptor observation, research, and educational facility located in eastern PA along a common migratory pathway for many species of raptors. Each fall, from mid-August to mid-December, hawk counters keep track of all migrant raptors that pass by the "lookout" located on a rock outcropping on a ridge top. These data, combined with data collected at similar sites around the country help researchers to monitor the status of various raptor populations. The owl decoy is located at the lookout. Occasionally a raptor will fly close to the decoy to investigate and once in a while actually strike the decoy with their talons. The red-tailed hawk in this photo was not a migrant. It was a local bird that had successfully raised young somewhere nearby over the summer. This bird was seen off and on throughout the day hunting over the forest and fields below the lookout. On 2 occasions, it took an interest in the owl decoy, swooping down towards it 7 or 8 times, and striking it twice. From what I understand, the decoy is there to entice migrants to fly a little closer to the lookout, making it easier for staff members to count the birds and to help visitors get closer looks at the birds as they migrate through. Many school groups are brought to the lookout each fall. Students who are lucky enough to witness one of these close encounters might take further interest in the birds and issues surrounding their conservation. Given Hawk Mountain's reputation in the conservation and research of raptors, I'm sure they would remove the decoy if they considered it a threat to the birds in any way.

Nate

great moment , to bad the Hawk didn't fit to the frame, congrats to nice shot

I agree with Keith's critique of this image Nate. As far as the ethics go, I have been educated about Hawk Mountain by another NPNer and being an avian research biologist myself, I can see the potential purpose of this owl decoy beyond getting the raptors in close for photographers. I am sure the positives that come from it far outweight the negatives if there are any.

I spent some time re-processing this photo to try and improve it based on the comments I've received. Starting from the RAW file in Lightroom, I changed the camera profile from camera neutral to camera standard, which seemed to brighten the light areas on the bird. I also used the fill light slider in an attempt to compensate for the backlighting. In Photoshop, a curves adjustment lightened the image a little further. I sharpened this version in Photoshop after resizing it for the web (the original was sharpened only in Lightroom). Thanks again for the helpful comments!

Nate

Love the intensity in the Hawk's eyes. Super redtail shot.