12 Feet from a wild red tail hawk!

[coastalconn]

Sandy has passed. Still no power but I managed to make it out this morning. The most challenging (and rewarding) aspect of bird photography is getting close to raptors. Today I succeeded and managed to get within 12 feet of this hawk. I spent at least 15 minutes laying on the ground watching him eat this rabbit... as always C&C welcome!

Uncropped!

1

RT Hawk - Rabbit for Breakfast by krisinct, on Flickr

2

Portrait of a Red Tail Hawk by krisinct, on Flickr

3

Red Tail Hawk by krisinct, on Flickr

 

[dalex100]

Nice set of pictures. My favorite is the first one. IMO, the third one has too much empty space. But, that's what I think.

 

[coastalconn]

I agree the 3rd has too much empty space. Those were my uncropped shots. I had time to play with some more of my shots. Here are my 3 cropped versions...
4- Rabbit heart

The Rabbit Heart by krisinct, on Flickr
5- cropped portrait

Hawk Stare by krisinct, on Flickr
6- Portrait

Hawk Portrait - 2 by krisinct, on Flickr

 

[WesternGuy]

CC, great shots - I like the 2nd, 3rd and 6th ones best. I guess he didn't see you as competition for his dinner, either that or he was so hungry after Sandy that he just chose to ignore you. Do you have any shots of the entire bird and his prey? If so, these might be interesting to see.

WesternGuy

 

[swiftparkour94]

Love it!

 

[shefjr]

HOLY Shhhh!!! I'm always so jealous of you and wester guy. You both capture such amazing images!
For me these are WOW!!! Photos. Great job!

 

[irfan.in.tx]

Gory, but superb.

 

[coastalconn]

Thank you everyone! Yup the circle of life can be gory... This was an amazing encounter for me...
@ Western, I have some full body shots, but they were sorta generic and nothing special.

Last one in the series, is the Hawk Blink

Red Tail Hawk Blinking by krisinct, on Flickr