Cooper’s Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted December 16, 2016159 views8 comments

Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

Place: Phoenix, AZ
Date: December 4, 2016, 3:09 pm
Equipment: Nikon D7000, Nikkor AF-S 70-300/4.5-5.6 VR, hand held
ISO 800, aperture priority matrix metered, 1/80th @ f/6.3
Raw, PS CC on Mac, 70% of frame
We get one or more Cooper's Hawks in the yard at various times of the year – this juvie is the current visitor. They are attracted to our back yard by the abundant Mourning Doves that my wife feeds daily. Unlike previous accipiters this one decided to spend some time on the water feature. I grabbed the D7000 body because it was handy, mounted my seldom-used 70-300 VR zoom, and lay on the floor near the dirty glass patio door.

Honest critiques requested; all comments appreciated. Large versoin provided as always.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by John Neukirch on December 16, 2016 at 3:28 PM

Wonderful head turn and the really low POV is excellent. Did you shoot through the dirty glass or were you able to slowly open it slightly without frightening him off?

Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 16, 2016 at 4:36 PM

Nice, Richard. Excellent detail and a nice pose. Have you ever had one bathe? We keep seeing them eye our birdbath, but I haven't caught one in it yet.

devil

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

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on December 16, 2016 at 5:46 PM

John: Yes, this is taken through the dirty glass. I did not want to risk scaring the hawk away. After 20-30 minutes the hawk moved up to a branch above and I eventually opened the door and stepped out for a few more photos.

Dennis: Yes, this bird did bathe a bit, although the surface area of the eater is rather small. I might post one of those shots in a few days.

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

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on December 16, 2016 at 8:55 PM

Excellent IQ considering you took it thru the glass Rich. Had you not said so I would never had suspected there was a glass door between your lens and the bird. Nice POV as well.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on December 17, 2016 at 1:11 PM

Nice head turn and nicely framed Richard. Good work

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on December 17, 2016 at 9:12 PM

Excellent, Rich. No nits from me. I envy you getting Cooper's Hawks this low.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Jefferson Silva on December 18, 2016 at 7:58 AM

Nice shot, Richard. I liked the POV.

Registered on December 18, 2012, 162 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on December 19, 2016 at 11:44 PM

Great pose from this fellow. Excellent detail, even through the glass.
Especially glad that your weather is back to ideal and you can get out to shoot!
Sandy

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