Redtail Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted February 28, 2012113 views8 comments

D300 200-400mm w/1.7 TC F6.6 1/250 ISO 400

Saw this black squirrel on the edge of a golf course the other day and went back to see if I could get a good shot of it since I had never seen one before. Took a couple shots of her and was checking the histograms (since I was shooting a black squirrel in the shade) and when I looked up, she was lunch.

This is about as close as I have ever been to a hawk in the wild and it kept checking me out every few seconds as it quickly ripped the poor mama squirrel apart. Nature can be cruel, sorry for the graphic gore here, and I still don't have a good shot of a black squirrel.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on February 28, 2012 at 6:51 PM

Bob,
This image has an intensity, and brutality about it. This is nature and survival of the fittest. Great look at the eyes and the blood splatter on the leg and beak. Very sharp with good exposure although it looks like you might have a couple of very small hot spots. They look easily fixed. Good luck with the black squirrel capture.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on February 28, 2012 at 7:57 PM

The light and shadow really accentuate the life and death of the scene. Nice work, those Red-tails can be pretty fearless.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 28, 2012 at 8:28 PM

A very cool experience and a fine capture of it Bob. The light is a little bit harsh, great eye contact with the hawk.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on February 28, 2012 at 10:00 PM

Cool capture. I hate to admit that I like the rawness of this image. This is nature.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on February 29, 2012 at 2:28 AM

Seems the poor squirrel caught more than just YOUR eye..
Nature is brutal sometimes..but almost everything has something higher on the food chain after it, and something else lower that * IT * is after.
Tough exposure conditions that you handled well.
Like the intense stare of the hawk, and the great eye.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on February 29, 2012 at 9:32 AM

Hello Bob

Lighting gods were with you, with the front of the Bird Well Exposed & Head Sharp in a shaded forest setting.

Never have had Good luck with TC using this Lens, but looks fine here. Congrats.

TFS

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Dottie Short on February 29, 2012 at 4:43 PM

Nice shot and good timing on your part. This image is oozing with nature's survival story. This may look cruel to some, but it's just the way it is in the animal world.

Registered on April 12, 2010, 61 Posts, 375 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 29, 2012 at 4:59 PM

Nice intensity in this from the dead-on stare.

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