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Posts Tagged ‘Buteo jamaicensis’

One more hawk

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on December 2, 2022| 6 Comments »

I hear hawks crying out more often than I see them. Quite often when I do manage to spot one, it is soaring high in the sky and my photos show only the underside of the hawk.

Last week, however, I managed to capture this image of a hawk as it flew by at treetop level at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I think that the bird is a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), but I must confess that I sometimes have trouble distinguishing between Red-tailed Hawks and Red-shouldered Hawks.

It almost looks like I was at eye level with the hawk when I took this photo, but I can confirm that my feet were firmly planted on the ground at that moment. I love the way that I was able to capture both wings in good positions as the hawk was flying and the determined, intensely-focused look on its face.

hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Red-tailed Hawk

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on November 23, 2022| 8 Comments »

Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) are the most common hawks in North America, but I rarely see one. Most of the hawks that I photograph in my home area of Northern Virginia are Red-shouldered Hawks.

I was delighted on Monday when I spotted a perched hawk through the vegetation at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The hawk was perched in a small tree just above eye level. I had to work to find a visual tunnel that let me get a relatively unobstructed view of the beautiful hawk, as you can see in the first photo.

Before long, the hawk detected my presence and took to the air. I reacted quickly and was able to capture some shots of the bird as it flew away. I really like the way that the second and third shots show the markings on the underside of the hawk that I think is a juvenile.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Soaring hawk

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on December 10, 2018| 10 Comments »

Over the past few months I have repeatedly heard the screaming of hawks in the distance, but it has been rare for me to actually catch sight of one. I was thrilled therefore when I spotted this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The hawk soared almost directly over me, providing me with a wonderful view of its fully extended wings and red tail.

This was one of the few cases when it was not an advantage to have my camera attached to a monopod. I ended up taking this shot with the camera held at a high angle with monopod sticking straight out, almost parallel to the ground.

Red-tailed Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hawk along the Potomac River

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 22, 2017| 12 Comments »

When is a cluttered background so distracting that it draws attention away from the primary subject? When I have the luxury of time, I will normally attempt to compose my shots so that the background fades into the background as a creamy blur. As a wildlife photographer, though, I am often photographing live subjects that are likely to flee as soon as they become aware of my presence. Frequently I barely have time to bring the camera up to my eye and am forced to react rapidly and instinctively—I just don’t have time to think about the background.

Yesterday as I was walking along the Mount Vernon Trail in Alexandria, Virginia parallel to the Potomac River, I spotted a bird at the very top of a distant tree. Earlier in the day I had seen an osprey in a similar position, so I initially assumed it was another osprey. I had just zoomed in on the bird when it exploded out of the tree into the air. From the way that it was flying, I realized that it was probably an eagle or a hawk. I tracked the bird, which I believe is a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) as it flew behind some trees and eventually into the clear blue skies.

Here are my three favorite shots of the encounter. Two of them are cluttered and one has a plain blue background. Which one do you like most? I am not bothered by the branches in the first two shots and like the way that they help to give a sense of context to the action that is depicted. The third shot shows some of the wonderful details of the beautiful hawk, but it seems a bit more sterile to me. (For the record, the first shot is probably my favorite of the three images.)

Are cluttered backgrounds ok? Like so many factors in photography, the correct response appears to be that it depends on the specific circumstances.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-taile Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Hawk takeoff sequence

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on March 14, 2017| 11 Comments »

This Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) seemed to be facing in the opposite direction when a sharp-eyed fellow photographer spotted it in a tree across a field. We were able to move quite a good distance across the field before the hawk became aware of our presence and took off.

Instead of flying up into the air, the hawk flew downwards initially and then flew behind the stand of trees, so I was unable to get any mid-flight shots with the sky as the background. However, I did manage to capture a sequence of shots as the hawk was getting ready to take off and also shortly after the takeoff.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Red-tailed Hawk overhead

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on January 10, 2015| 23 Comments »

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.

Red-tailed HawkRed-tailed HawkRed-tailed HawkRed-tailed Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Amid the branches

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , on December 30, 2014| 14 Comments »

Where’s Waldo? As I was observing a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) in the early morning, it took off and I captured this first image, in which you can just barely make out the hawk’s face and body amid all the branches.

In the second image, the sunlight hit one of the hawk’s wings just right and illuminated it against the backdrop of the tangled branches, making the hawk a bit easier to pick out.

UPDATE: Several readers have noted that this is almost certainly a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), not a Red-shouldered Hawk—I still have lots of work to do on improving my identification skills.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Screaming hawk

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, poetry, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on July 5, 2013| 6 Comments »

Why do hawks scream? That question ran through my head yesterday during a visit to a local garden, when the call of a hawk rang out almost continuously for long periods of time.

Twice I managed to see the hawk, which I think may be a Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) and got some shots of it. Although I was able to get a shot of the hawk perched on the limb of the tree (the second photo here), I prefer the first image.

I had observed the hawk flying to the branches of a tree that was relatively near to where I was. The photographic challenge for me was that the hawk was mostly in the shade and the sharp upward angle made it tough to get a good shot. After a few minutes on the branch, the hawk took off and I got a couple of photographs before the hawk disappeared into the trees.

I really like the outstretched wings and tail of the hawk as it took to the air. Note too that the hawk’s mouth is open—I think he was still screaming.

hawk3_bloghawk2_blog

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Circling hawk

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 30, 2013| 7 Comments »

I haven’t seen many hawks in the last month or two, so I was delighted when I spotted this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) circling in the distance this past weekend.

Most of the hawks that I had previously seen at my local marsh have been Red-shouldered Hawks, but I am pretty sure this one is a Red-tailed. The hawk never came close enough for me to get a really good shot, but I am content that I was able to get some shots in which the hawk is recognizable as more than an indistinct blob in the distance. Several of the shots I am posting look almost like they have a rock formation in the background—it was only, however, a dead tree.

These images are aspirational ones for me. They represent the kind of photographs that I am working to be able to produce in the future with greater sharpness and more pixels (I had to do a lot of cropping). They are a step on the path of my journey into photography.

hawk1_bloghawk2_bloghawk3_bloghawk4_blog

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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