Red-tailed Hawk overhead

January 10, 2015 by Mike Powell

It was finally above the freezing mark yesterday, which made my trek around Huntley Meadows Park a bit easier to tolerate. Among the highlights was this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) flying overhead with a very determined (or maybe hungry) look on its face. Although Red-tailed Hawks are common in many places, most of the hawks that I see at my local marsh are Red-shouldered Hawks, so it was a nice treat to capture a Red-tailed in flight.

The blue sky provided a clean background for these shots, though I must confess that I am still having some difficulties finding and keeping moving subjects in the frame and in focus when at full zoom. I’m hoping that I have lots of opportunities to practice this winter.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Buteo jamaicensis, Canon 50D, hawk, Huntley Meadows Park, Red-tailed Hawk, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 23 Comments

23 Responses

on January 10, 2015 at 10:19 am | Reply uthamz

Beautiful shots , Mike !
Background complements well .

utham
on January 10, 2015 at 10:22 am | Reply smilecalm

wonderful moment
to have a camera
ready 🙂
- on January 10, 2015 at 10:40 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  It was funny because another photographer and I were watching a vulture in one part of the sky when suddenly I heard her exclaim that there was a hawk in the sky right behind us. I was sort of ready and took a lot of shots in a short period of time.
  - on January 10, 2015 at 10:49 am smilecalm
    
    fortunately you were ready for those great shots! My best shots are still in my head 🙂
on January 10, 2015 at 10:31 am | Reply Boeta

Niiice…well done.
- on January 10, 2015 at 10:41 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. It’s always a fun challenge to try to capture shots of birds in flight.
on January 10, 2015 at 11:45 am | Reply Nicci

That’s very difficult to do. I can’t do it. These are perfect, brilliant!
- on January 12, 2015 at 12:10 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks so much for your kind words. Not long ago I got a new, longer telephoto lens and these are the kind of shots that I love to try to get. They are a tough challenge, because it’s hard to predict exactly how the bird will fly or what the light will be like when you manage to focus correctly. I was fortunate that many of those kind of factors worked in my favor and I was able to get some pretty good shots of this hawk.
on January 10, 2015 at 3:58 pm | Reply Lyle Krahn

Great hawk shots. How fortunate you are to be able to practice all winter.
on January 10, 2015 at 4:19 pm | Reply svtakeiteasy

Great details in the wing feathers, Mike. Very well captured. Chris
- on January 12, 2015 at 12:26 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Chris. My new, longer telephoto works best when there is lots of light and I was fortunate that day that the sun was shining pretty brightly.
on January 10, 2015 at 8:09 pm | Reply donna213

Nice captures Mike. So many hawks have been around this year, I bet you get many more images.
- on January 12, 2015 at 12:25 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Donna. i’ll be keeping my eyes open and my camera ready. Fortunately with the leaves off of the trees, I have a decent chance of spotting one before it starts to move.
on January 11, 2015 at 8:47 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

I just saw what I think was a red tailed hawk the other day but my shots of him are nowhere near as good as these are.
- on January 11, 2015 at 4:58 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Allen. I am still working on my techniques for capturing birds in flight, but am pretty happy with the my results for this hawk.
on January 11, 2015 at 10:55 am | Reply Bella Remy Photography

Somehow I always forget you’re in my area. Great BiF captures of this hawk. Congrats!
- on January 11, 2015 at 4:59 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. Northern Virginia is not that far away–I think that we are affected by the same weather patterns.
on January 11, 2015 at 11:37 am | Reply waltersanford

I think you should have posted either Photo 2, 3, or 4 on the HMP Facebook group rather than Photo 1. Just one man’s opinion.
- on January 11, 2015 at 5:01 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  It’s always a tough call about what to post on the Facebook page. Personally the one I posted is my favorite one because of the unusual angle of view, but i realize that others have different thoughts. Thanks for weighing in, Walter.
on January 11, 2015 at 11:33 pm | Reply Charlie@Seattle Trekker

As always I love the detail you capture. Having failed at this many times I am developing a better idea of how hard this is; the fact that you do this so consistently just blows me away.
- on January 12, 2015 at 12:14 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Charlie. I’d love to say that I am able to “consistently” get good shots, but I know that’s not quite true. I do take a lot of shots and am getting better, I think, but the nature of the kind of shots I like to take is such that the success rate is relatively low. It definitely is nice, though, when I am able to get some pretty good shots, like those of this hawk
on January 15, 2015 at 9:24 pm | Reply nliakos

Oh how I wish I had a camera that would make such photographs possible!
- on January 16, 2015 at 12:36 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I am fortunate to have a pretty long telephoto lens, though the birds have to cooperate for me to get shots. Often i will see hawks and occasionally eagles soaring high in the air, well out of range.