Harris's Hawk

I just spent a few days shooting at Santa Clara Ranch in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and I have to say the blinds and property there are great for photography. This image was taken in the elevated raptor blind, where food is provided for the resident Harris's Hawks.

Nikon D7000, Sigma 150-500 at 290mm, 1/1250 F8, iso 500, manual exposure, handheld.

I found that the 7D at 500mm (800mm effective focal length) was too much for this photo opportunity so I used this combo. I was impressed with it's ability to acquire and hold focus against this busy background. It's about 60% of the original image.