Red Shouldered Hawk Flight & Yelling

matthewo · Mar 18, 2013

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coastalconn · Mar 18, 2013

Very cool! I'm going through withdrawal, still no ospreys yet and I haven't even seen a raptor in a few weeks!

matthewo · Mar 18, 2013

well, it was just the ugly white sky, but probably the closest fly towards me I have had the ability to take photos of.

I use the "lady calls red shouldered hawk" on youtube and play it with my iphone with the $3 silicon horn and they come a flying. I think one day he/she will probably take me out for messing with him so much..

WesternGuy · Mar 18, 2013

Nice shots despite the ugly white sky. Sometime we just have to take what we can get when photographing birds. Thanks for sharing.

WesternGuy

baturn · Mar 18, 2013

I actually kinda like the white sky in#1. And the idea of calling them never occurred to me, but now........?

JacaRanda · Mar 18, 2013

Very nice shots. I like them all and wish or hope that I can get one of a hawk in flight like that.

matthewo · Mar 18, 2013

some birds dont respond to calls, and most only do once until they find out its not really another bird.

but these red shoulders really respond to the call. i think its mostly because they know their mate is in the area. i see two all the time together, and mating a few times.

these guys would respond after a single call and fly directly over my head.

JacaRanda · Mar 18, 2013

coastalconn said:
Very cool! I'm going through withdrawal, still no ospreys yet and I haven't even seen a raptor in a few weeks!

I feel your pain. I posted some osprey pics a while back. Have not seen it or one in the same area since then. It is really a bummer.

Aloicious · Mar 19, 2013

Was this with the 500? was it handheld?

nice! the sky doesn't really bother me much, but I dig the character on the hawk's face especially in #2.

matthewo · Mar 19, 2013

yes the 500, using a monopod and tilt head. i think i had the 1.4x on, but i will have to go back and look. thanks to the d800 i was able to pull shadows out, you dont want to see what the originals look like. not great image other then the subject

i rarely use the 500 handheld. not that it cannot be done. sometimes its needed to handhold, where a monopod cannot get to easy. but i love my monopod and its easy to carry around over my shoulder. so i just always have it with me. i rarely use a tripod unless im stationary for extended time and plan to use a secondary camera with a shorter lens

the 500mm with 1.4 turned into how i used to use my 300mm with 2.0 converter. it seems to be on the lens most of the time. of coarse the 500mm with 1.4 is much sharper, usable wide open, and 100 more mm. surprisingly the 2x works decently with the 500 also. but AF is much slower, and its hit and miss, worse then the 300 with the 2x, but still usable if you just have to have 1000mm but works best on stationary objects

Aloicious · Mar 19, 2013

well they turned out great considering the conditions and everything. it looks like you were able to recover the shadows pretty well.

I actually found an """affordable""" used 600 Vr locally here that I'm going to go take a look at this weekend....that should make the migration time this spring ALOT of fun...had to sell a bunch of stuff to be able to afford it though...

matthewo · Mar 19, 2013

Aloicious said:
well they turned out great considering the conditions and everything. it looks like you were able to recover the shadows pretty well.

I actually found an """affordable""" used 600 Vr locally here that I'm going to go take a look at this weekend....that should make the migration time this spring ALOT of fun...had to sell a bunch of stuff to be able to afford it though...

its official your an addict. those 600s are beasts though, i think 700mm with the 1.4 and the 500 is enough for me. the d800 in dx mode still gives me the eq. of 1050mm at 16mp. if we factor in cropping with still good quality

Aloicious · Mar 20, 2013

yeah, I believe I was a pre-addict after using my 70-200 in the backyard w/ birds, and officially after taking my 300 out for it's first spin.

I opted for the 600f4 just since I'm holding onto my 300f2.8, it made more sense than a 500f4 to me, if I sold the 300f2.8 like you ended up doing, then I'd totally go with the 500f4 over the 600f4, absolutely...

but as it is basically with various converters I'll have a 300 f2.8, 420 f4 w/1.4x, 510 f4.8 w/1.7x, 600 f4, 840 f5.6 w/1.4x, and 1020 f6.7 w/1.7x....before any cropping on my d800. Though I don't have a 1.4x yet, I'll get one in the future.

that way I can have the 600f4 + 1.4x on a gimbal/tripod. and the 300f2.8 either bare or with the 1.7x close by as needed...unfortunately I had to sell my D3s to get the 600f4, so I'll need another body sometime for backup too, in which case I'd have the backup on the 300f2.8 (which may be an 800e, or maybe a 7100 or something else), and the 800 on the 600f4, that is if I'm setup in a blind or a staking out a spot...if I'm out hiking alot it'll probably be just the 300 + 1.4x or 1.7x, which I've been pretty happy with the results from.

matthewo · Mar 20, 2013

i want a tc17e iii to come out. like i said the 2x works ok, and the 1.4 is almost just as good as the lens alone. i think a 17 version iii would be my goto if they make it as good optically as the 20 iii

i think the d7100 is gonna be nice, my friend should be getting his soon, i will see if i can play with it, i may sell my d5100 backup and get it

Aloicious · Mar 20, 2013

yeah, me to a 1.7III would be excellent.

the d7100 has me intrigued for wildlife, crop sensor, but still 24 mpix to play with and no AA filter...although the density has me a little concerned with ISO performance, I'd be interested in what you find out when you're able to test it out.