Cooperative Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted March 3, 20161,190 views4 comments

This afternoon I was fortunate enough to go look for (and find) a Great-horned owl nest on a piece of property that's slated for development. The presence of the nest will hopefully convince the approving Board that a conservation design is needed and will preserve a solid block of woods adjacent to a tree farm and existing nature preserve. On my way back to the office I noticed two (2) red-tailed hawks on trees along a busy road. Normally I would pass these by, but there was another roadway on the other side of the trees that I could easily access. After parking the truck and taking the long way around, I got this obliging hawk.

Nikon D7100 80-400mm VR @ 380mm HH
f/8
1/1000s
ISO 320

Cropped to about 80% for compositional purposes

- Luke

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 3, 2016 at 10:30 PM

A beautiful specimen, Luke. I really like the dark plumage in this one and it stands out quite nicely from all those branches (they always seem to perch in places like that). It looks to me as if your point of focus might have been somewhere on the back as the head looks just a bit soft. You might give that part of the bird a bit of extra sharpening.

devil

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on March 4, 2016 at 1:20 PM

Love the fact that you managed to capture that lovely red tail. Nice work.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on March 4, 2016 at 1:40 PM

Great look from the hawk on this Luke. Love the nice coloration in the back and tail feathers. Classic red-tailed hawk.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on March 4, 2016 at 4:15 PM

Typical habitat for these guy's Luke. Nice head turn and it is separated from the branches somewhat. I like the view of the back too. Well done.

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments