I didn't see you there...
I was sitting among a grove of trees at Mather Lake watching some Cormorants on the water when I saw this juvenile Red-Tail hawk fly into the branches above me. It obviously didn't see me sitting there, until I stood up and took some photos of it.
In my tracks
I was walking along the usual path I take towards the trees where the Barn Owls sleep at Mather Lake when I noticed the telltale silhouette of a hawk sitting on a branch just ahead of me. I stopped rather lazily and stood still as it finished eating whatever it was eating, thankfully it sat there and let me take some photos of it. Juvenile Red-Shoulder, so very pretty.
Gracious Cooper's
This took place on a very productive day of photography at Mather Lake. This young Cooper's Hawk flushed out of a thicket I was approaching, but instead of flying far away it decided to light on a branch rather close. It also decided to put a leg up and relax which made me even happier, I love it when birds are calm and relaxed around me. When certain types of birds such as herons or hawks put one leg up and tuck it against their breast it means they're at ease... so I can look at this photo and take joy in that the bird in it is not at all threatened by me.
Field Work
Upon driving into the parking lot of Mather Lake for another one of my morning photo walks I saw a pair of Swainson's Hawks sitting on one of the telephone wires that ran across a nearby field. Deciding to risk possible rattlesnake bites I began walking through the field towards the birds. I have a very particular way of moving that I've developed, it seems to put the birds more at ease and make them less prone to flight most of the time. Walking too fast would undoubtedly cause them alarm and creeping along at a snail's pace I feel gives the impression of a predator stalking its prey so I walk as lazily and loosely as possible, and NEVER directly towards them if I can help it. Always perpendicular to them, but just zigzagging a bit closer each time. One of the hawks flew away but its partner decided to stick around.
Sticking Around
The fact that this beautiful Swainson's Hawk decided to remain sitting on its telephone wire while I stood before it, with nothing hiding my presence, in the middle of a barren field makes me feel so very special. Since there was no way in hell it didn't see me from a long ways off, didn't notice me getting closer and closer to it, and didn't notice its fellow hawk fly away... leaves few other possibilities than it allowing me to bask in its magnificent presence. Just as it basked in the morning sunlight into which it stared.
High Definition
Here's Les in my closest encounter thus far, maybe ten feet or so from his pretty form sitting on a branch. Their eyes see in a higher resolution than ours, process at a higher cyclic rate than ours, and can detect infrared light. Some say the eyes are the window to the soul, I can look at this picture and know how powerful this pair of peepers is
Watching the Course
Raptors cannot move their eyes in their sockets like humans can, so that's why Les here has his head rotated about 160 degrees watching the 10th hole at Mather Golf Course from his vantage point just on the other side of the parking lot for the facility.
Break In The Clouds
This was one of the first days that I went shooting with my new camera, or at least it was new when I got it as I've since upgraded to better equipment. There is a road in Walnut Grove where raptors usually abound and one morning I happened to be driving through and saw this pretty Red-Tailed Hawk sitting on one of the short trees on the side of the road. It was a partly cloudy morning so I waited for a break in the clouds, looking to the sky and which way the wind was blowing to gauge when it would come. The result was a photo of the bird illuminated by the morning sun, in particular its eyes... the golden eyes are my favorite part of this picture.
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