Juvenile Coopers Hawk

[coastalconn]

You have to love when the Hawks come to you! I was trying to make up my mind about +2 or +3 on my AF fine tune. I went out to shoot some songbirds. I realized very quickly why they were hiding. The hawk swooped down right above me and landed on a nearby tree. It gave me this dirty look. Shot wide open at f6.3 500mm and cropped quite a bit. I can finely say my lens is dialed in..

Juvenile Coopers Hawk by krisinct, on Flickr

 

[Mully]

Nice sharp clean image.... very interesting POV from the rear.

 

[MSnowy]

Nice. Wished it turned it's head to the right a little more to get a look at both eye.

 

[foster2]

really nice!

 

[Tony S]

Nice image of the Coopers. They tend to hang out near bird feeders picking off the ones not paying attention.

 

[Aloicious]

that is a great image. you definitely do have that lens dialed in for sure.

 

[shefjr]

As always, great shot! You never stop impressing me with the quality of your photos! It's something I continue to aspire to.

Nice image of the Coopers. They tend to hang out near bird feeders picking off the ones not paying attention.

I wish I were that lucky. I have a Starling problem here. This is just a small group.

Bath time starlings by Shefjr, on Flickr

I have 3 crows that seem to protect my feeders. Although I did have a Sharp-Shinned Hawk stop by for minute or so yesterday (which is a first for me).

 

[greybeard69 41]

Nice sharp detail.

 

[Tony S]

It's difficult to tell the difference between a sharp shinned and a coopers hawk unless you see them multiple times and get to look at the subtle differences, especially in younger birds.

 

[shefjr]

It's difficult to tell the difference between a sharp shinned and a coopers hawk unless you see them multiple times and get to look at the subtle differences, especially in younger birds.

I'm positive that it was a sharp shinned only because it was smaller than a crow (noticeably) and it had a small round head and a grey back. The bird book that I have said a sharp shinned is only about 14" tall with a round head (it looked just like the picture) and a coopers hawk is nearly 20" with a kind of flat top head (for lack of a better description). Also I don't think it was a younger bird only because it's back feathers were gray all over. It was only about 10 feet away from me.
I wish I had my camera at the ready to capture something to see if I were correct.


Coastal, sorry don't mean to jack your thread. I'm a big fan of your work.

John

 

[WesternGuy]

CC, nice sharp shot. Sometimes you have to take what you can get.

WesternGuy

 

[coastalconn]

Thanks everyone! I share my pictures for people to enjoy and encourage other people to learn to shoot birds also, Shefjr, no need to apologize! I enjoy when people have active discussions on my threads so others can learn! It sounds like you saw a sharpie for sure especially if it was smaller than a crow. They also fly differently and have and erratic pulsing wing beat if that makes sense. Most other hawks I have seen seem to be a little more graceful in flight...

 

[coastalconn]

That's pretty cool, the Flickr robots decided to choose this shot for explore today.. Guess the bot was in the mood for a blue background?

 

[sm4him]

Awesome shot, as usual!

I still haven't been successful at hawks OR owls, or pretty much any other big birds. Saw that one hawk but only got two blurry shots before it took off. Usually don't see any when I go out hunting for them, even though they are reasonably "common" around here.

But on Thursday, I took my mom to Nashville. As we're getting on the interstate, there was a hawk just sitting in a tree watching the traffic--of course! If I'd been alone, I would have pulled onto the shoulder and grabbed my camera, but I don't think my mother would have appreciated that.
On the way home today, I saw more of them; quite a few more. About four, I think, at different times. But I was driving, and busy trying to keep my car on the road through the snow and icy patches on the road.
Ah well, maybe NEXT time I go out, I'll actually find one, AND get pictures. Meanwhile, I'll live vicariously through your awesome shots.

 

[shefjr]

So up for your approval (not in quality but, ID). This is the little guy who I think is a Sharpie. He smacked into my front window and I made a dash to look and see who or what it could have been. It is hard to tell from this angle the exact shape of his head but as far as the size goes I can tell you he is for sure smaller than a crow. I was literally about 5 feet away looking down on him. I posted this here with you Kris because some had wondered if I was correct in my ID. So I'm hoping to get approved or rejected.


sharpie 004 by Shefjr, on Flickr