Male Northern Harrier

Gallery: AvianPosted July 5, 2016162 views8 comments

This male Harrier has been visiting our place the last few weeks three or four times a day. Probably looking for voles and birds to take back for a growing family. Around our backyard feeding station he acts more like a Sharpie than a Harrier, and we did see him grab a Goldfinch the other day. Last week, I finally decided to try to await his visit and see if I could finally get a decent Harrier flight shot. I didn't get the neat side-on angle I'd been hoping for, but I did come up with a couple that I liked. Here's my favorite.

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 275 mm, handheld, f/7.1, 1/3200, iso 800, manual exposure. Processed in LR5 + CS6. Cropped to 8.6 MP before resizing for the web. Taken at 7:45 PM on June 30th.

Your comments and criticisms are most welcome.

Thanks,

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Floyd Hopper on July 5, 2016 at 8:04 PM

Great capture. Photographing wildlife in their natural environment, one must take what is available as opposed to photographing wildlife in a staged environment.

Registered on May 1, 2009, 652 Posts, 762 Comments

Comment posted by Pramod.Shanbhag on July 6, 2016 at 9:20 AM

Nice sharp pic Dennis.The sky complements the bird making it almost 3D.

Registered on May 17, 2016, 29 Posts, 68 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on July 6, 2016 at 10:59 AM

I like how you've caught him with the wings fully spread. Nice detail throughout.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on July 7, 2016 at 10:26 AM

Perfect wing position, fine detail, great sky and a great head-turn to see that bright eye.
Very well-done!
Sandy

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

Comment posted by David Bogener on July 7, 2016 at 2:31 PM

Nicely composed ventral view in some nice light. I find these guys difficult to capture in flight with their erratic flight patterns.

Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on July 7, 2016 at 5:19 PM

Very nice light in this one. I like the contrast between the deep blue sky and the colors in the hawk. And of course you have superb detail.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on July 8, 2016 at 7:09 PM

Dennis, I think you did really well. The light is perfect and the wing spread is quite nice. These guys are normally so shy it's tough to ask for a much better photo op.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on July 11, 2016 at 6:04 PM

Excellent work Dennis.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments