I have had a lot of bird photo taking opportunities this past couple of weeks. I was able to get an in-flight image of a Kestrel. It had been sitting on a wire and then took off, swooped down and then back up to the wire. I noticed in my other photos that it had captured something to eat.
So this was another opportunity for a close up photo that I had of a hawk where I was not hurrying as much and it turned out much better than one I shared recently. This is a Red Tail Hawk which are more common to see for me. It was sitting in the Walnut tree in my backyard. It was so close I kept cutting off part of it's tail so had to adjust my Zoom lens to get it all in.
So today's image is not the best image I have ever taken but I am sharing it to explain why I shoot the way I do. I shoot my images in what is called a "RAW" format rather than just the typical jpeg. If I had shot this in jpeg, I never would have gotten anything out of it. This is a Red Shoulder Hawk that was sitting just outside our back door. I was in a hurry to get it and the closest camera I had did not have the correct settings and the exposure was WAY too dark, almost black. Because I shot it in RAW I was able to recover it to this point and have it look fairly OK. If I had shot in jpeg I would have lost much of the detail and would have ended up with an image that was totally unusable. I shot this through a screen as well so had that against me too. 😂 JPEGS are easier to share with others but RAW helps ensure you will most likely have something to share, even when you mess it up taking the photo.
A little over a week ago there was a hawk sitting in one of the trees in our backyard. My hubster saw it first and came in and told me that he had been taking photos of it with his phone. I quick went and got my camera and I was able to capture it as well. It seemed very unbothered by us and sat there for quite some time after I got my images. I believe it is a Red Shoulder Hawk but without seeing it in flight it is very difficult to tell. The undersides of the wings with their different bar patterns make it much easier. It's definitely not a Coopers Hawk as the tail is too short. Google Lens agrees with me if that means anything. 😂
Today's image is another of the Red Tail Hawk images I was able to get recently. I really liked this one as it circled around in my direction.
I have had a lot of opportunities for bird images this winter. On the first weekend in March I was able to capture a Red Tail hawk fairly closely. It was gliding around on the winds we were having that day and I lucked out that it came towards me a couple of times. They are in our area all year but seem to be more prevalent in the winter.
Today's image is one that I was able to capture on the last bike ride of the season, last week most likely. This is a Red Tail Hawk that was flying above a pond that had a large number of ducks and geese on it. I am not sure if it was thinking it could get dinner or not. Red Tails are found in our area all year but become more prevalent as others come back from further north.
It's a double digit day! 😁 This image is one that I was able to get this spring, I have not seen these birds around all summer. Maybe they go north to get out of the heat. This is an American Kestrel. They usually hang out on the electrical wires at the corner of the road I walk pretty often. Hope they return this year. They are an endangered bird as their habitat is disappearing.
Today's image is an older one that I was able to get earlier this year, in late spring. It is a Red Tail Hawk that was flying above me. It shows the bars on the wings that help identify them pretty well.
Today's image is of one of my favorite birds to capture. This is a Kestrel. I have not seen any around this summer, I think they go further north because of the heat. Hope to see them again this winter. They are endangered though, so we shall see.
Today's image is of a common bird in my area, a Red Tail Hawk. One of the ways to identify them are the short bars that extend down from the tops of their wings about a quarter way in from the tip. They can be well seen here as it was gliding above me.
Today's image is another of the American Kestrel that I was able to photograph on my trip to Missouri in late November. I had a really great opportunity to take several photos as it hovered in place hunting.
One day, last weekend, I was working at my desk and looked out the window as I saw some movement. To my surprise, a Red Tail Hawk landed in the Walnut tree just outside the window. I quickly grabbed my camera which only had my 70mm lens on it and was able to grab this one shot before it flew off. I think it may have noticed me through the window.
Today's image is my first Red Tail Hawk capture for the new year. The light was pretty crappy, the sun was basically above it and it was very cloudy out. I had to play with it a lot to bring out detail and I think it turned out OK to share. 😊
I thought I would start off the new year and birds with another of my Kestrel hunting photos. Maybe it will bring me luck in having more opportunities like this to photograph birds. It was quite cool to be able to see and capture this one while it was hovering and looking for food on a trip to Missouri in November.
Back to "regular" type photos now. 😊 Today's image is another of the Kestrel I was able to capture while it was hunting that I saw on my trip to Missouri at Thanksgiving. I was able to pull off to the side of the road and get my camera and take several images before it moved on. Very cool to see.
Last week I shared the first American Kestrel that I was able to see an capture in my area. While I was traveling for Thanksgiving, I had just passed into Missouri when I saw a Kestrel hovering off to the side. I quickly pulled over and grabbed my camera and was rewarded in that it stayed there hunting for a while longer. I was able to get some of my closest and best shots ever of which this is one of them. Not sure what it was watching but it never seemed to swoop down and get anything.
Today's image is of my first Kestrel sighting for this season. I was very happy to see one back in our area. I have heard that they are having issues and could become very endangered soon.
These birds have left the area now for warmer climates. They have been gone about a month now. This is a Mississippi Kite that I captured one day while out on a bike ride before they moved on. I love their masks, gives them character I think.
Today's image is another of the juvenile Mississippi Kite that I got to watch climb a tree and then photograph as it sat and rested and looked for mom and dad. 😀 You can just see the mask over the eyes developing. Adults are not striped either, they are solid colors, grey and white.
