northern harrier posing

squirl033 · Jan 7, 2016

went up to a nearby wetland meadow this afternoon to look for owls... saw one short-ear, but it stayed far away, and i never got a shot. there was one very cooperative female harrier, though, and i got some nice shots of her from about 20 yards away...

xDarek · Jan 7, 2016

Wow.I love the 3rd one.It's amazing.All of them are good but I love the 3rd one the most.Nice job.

LarryLomona · Jan 7, 2016

fantastic bird and shot!

dannylightning · Jan 7, 2016

nice. i have never seen photos of these on the ground before. i always seem to see flight shots and th'ats about it.

pjaye · Jan 7, 2016

Wow. Fantastic shots.

spiralout462 · Jan 7, 2016

She's a beaut!

zombiesniper · Jan 7, 2016

Very nice set.
This is your second thread in a week with normally skittish birds within 30 yards. I'm in awe. I'm lucky to get within 100 yards of one.

MSnowy · Jan 7, 2016

Great set!

squirl033 · Jan 7, 2016

xDarek said:
Wow.I love the 3rd one.It's amazing.All of them are good but I love the 3rd one the most.Nice job.

thanks, Darek!

LarryLomona said:
fantastic bird and shot!

thank you, Larry!

dannylightning said:
nice. i have never seen photos of these on the ground before. i always seem to see flight shots and th'ats about it.

thanks, Danny. i see them much more often in flight as well, which made this opportunity even better!

symplybarb said:
Wow. Fantastic shots.

thank you, Barb!

spiralout462 said:
She's a beaut!

thank you! they are handsome birds.

zombiesniper said:
Very nice set.
This is your second thread in a week with normally skittish birds within 30 yards. I'm in awe. I'm lucky to get within 100 yards of one.

thanks! this one was largely luck... she landed 20 yards away and stayed put for a good minute or more, and gave me time to get the best angle for some shots. but i do find i'm often able to get close shots of skittish or elusive birds simply by being patient, quiet, and not moving suddenly...

MSnowy said:
Great set!

thank you!

Jasii · Jan 8, 2016

Quality shots these. Kudos mate.

davholla · Jan 8, 2016

Good photos, are Harriers very difficult to see in the US? In the UK they are very rare and quite hard to see (partly because they are persecuted so much).

baturn · Jan 8, 2016

Really nice set! #1 for me.

squirl033 · Jan 8, 2016

Jasii said:
Quality shots these. Kudos mate.

thanks, Jasii!

davholla said:
Good photos, are Harriers very difficult to see in the US? In the UK they are very rare and quite hard to see (partly because they are persecuted so much).

thanks, Davholla! they're not rare here, though where i live they're much harder to find in the summer months. they tend to be most visible in winter. the spot where i took these is a good place to view them.

baturn said:
Really nice set! #1 for me.

thanks, Brian!

Didereaux · Jan 8, 2016

davholla said:
Good photos, are Harriers very difficult to see in the US? In the UK they are very rare and quite hard to see (partly because they are persecuted so much).

They are a very common bird here in the South Central region (southern plains-Texas) where they come to winter.

pjaye · Jan 8, 2016

By the way, this bird is on my "always wanted to see but never have" list. I know they are in my area but I can't seem to find one. I'm a little jealous.