I felt like a goalie in a penalty shot situation, waiting for my opponent to act. Would he go to the right or to the left, go high or go low? Could I react quickly enough to capture the shot? Time seemed to stand still as I waited and watched.
In this case, my “opponent” was a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) perched in a tree at my local marshland park. Once I spotted the hawk, I slowly moved as close as I could get, walking quietly on the boardwalk. The hawk was facing in the opposite direction, so my initial shots showed the details of the back of its head. Scanning the area, the hawk periodically looked to the sides and I managed to get some profile shots, the second and third shots below.
Finally, the hawk took off, diving quickly to my left. I reacted and managed to get a few shots of the hawk in mid-air. Although my trigger finger reacted well, I didn’t move the lens fast enough and failed to keep the hawk centered in the frame. I barely managed to capture the entire body of the hawk in the photo below and the composition of the shot is less than optimal. However, I like the overall feel of the image and the fact that you can see details like the underside of the tail feathers and the talons.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I’ve experienced the “dash” a time or two as well. You win some; you lose some 🙂 Nice shots.
Thanks, Dan. Birds amaze me with their patience and their ability to spring into action quickly, often without telegraphing their intent.
That’s how we learn!
Practice, patience, and a healthy dose of luck–I think that is the prescription for success.
I like that lost shot. It’s like he’s sniffing peering over his shoulder at you and saying, “Go ahead and snap if you really must”. The beaks on raptors always make me think of an aloof attitude. I think I’ve had these Hawks in my garden.
There is definitely a regal atmosphere around raptors–I can’t imagine a shot of a raptor looking goofy, like some other birds do at times. Maybe they figure it’s merited since they are near the top of the food chain.
It’s an achievement to get the whole bird in your frame when it’s moving that fast. I really like your goalie analogy. The second shot is teriffic!
Thanks, Gary. I had a chance to move about a bit and try to get an unobstructed view of the hawk and it filled enough of the frame that I could focus pretty for that second shot, which is actually my favorite shot, though it lacks the “cool” factor of the in-flight shot. I might have benefited from setting up on a tripod, because my arm grew tired holding up the heavy 150-600mm lens, although I’ve found that it’s tough to shot up at a steep angle with a tripod.
When you’d like to add a new gizmo to your bag of tricks, consider a right-angle finder–it’s a kind of upside-down periscope, very compact. Not expensive, and extremely useful for difficult angles like this. Hoodman makes a very good one.
I think you have fantastic detail here Mike. I love it when you can see the hook in the bill of this ferocious creature. 🙂
Gorgeous images, Mike! You made the goal!
Thanks. There’s always room for improvement, but I am pretty happy with the shots.