Ahah, gotcha!

[cfcRebel]

After weeks and weeks of waiting, i finally got a better shot of the hawk that i see everyday on my way to work. Wooohoooo! http://www.initial-d.com/forums/images/smilies/woohoo.gif. Today he got closer and let me take a few shots. Maybe he is sick and tired of me too bugging him everyday.

I know this is nothing compared to those great eagle/hawk/osprey shots posted here before by the experts. But i am glad i'm moving forward. I will continue to work towards perfection. :D

By the way, does anyone know this hawk's ID ?

[Airedale1]

Not an expert, but my guess would be Broad-tail Hawk.

[cfcRebel]

Thanks Airedale! I still admire your hawk shots posted a few days ago. I wish i could get that close to this guy.

[Grainy]

Nice I got one like that too.

[cfcRebel]

Nice capture grainy. Do u have a bigger version of that shot?

[arpi]

the white one looks like a seagull. I'll try to make at trip to the bestbuy parking lot this weekend and see how close I get to the birds :) I've seen some vultures in the land fill too :)

[Wayne Wood]

I'm pretty sure it's a Red-tailed Hawk, nice shot

[herderdog]

Yes!!! You have a great start. :D
I find it very hard to get the birds flying right over head. Haven't got one that I could post yet.

I do believe it is a red-tail too.

[Grainy]

I do have a bigger version but how do you post it here that big without going over 100k?

[witchy]

I'm glad your patience paid of, nice shots!

[cfcRebel]

Thanks for looking arpi, liv2trip, Bonnie, witchy. So, a red-tailed hawk it is. ;) Cool!

[cfcRebel]

Wow, i just realized this thread was given only 1 star - i.e. "Terrible"! Oh well, it's five stars in my heart. ;)

[sparker1]

Somehow my earlier post was lost. I had said you are much closer to the experts than you know. These are really great captures, IMO. Congratulations.

[cfcRebel]

Thanks for the kind words Stan. I'll keep working hard. :)

[Dragonslayer]

Adam it looks like a Red tailed to me based on the color of the tail being reddish as the sun shines though it here. I would suggest when shooting birds in flight on a blue or brighter colored sky, that you set your exposure compensation to the plus side from a one to two thirds though as the underside of the bird will be darker then the sky is so you have to compensate for that with your Ambient exposure control.

[cfcRebel]

Great tips Eric! You see, it was this kind of stuff that a noob needs to learn and improve. Can't thank you enough. ;)

[Alan B]

If you see that bird every day.Could'nt you sort of set up a bait photo trap?.

I mean if he's/she's flying around in the same area try putting some sort of meat down to get him/her closer(or is that the wrong thing to do :o :confused: ).

Anyway nice shots :cool: .

I tried to take some buzzard's the other week and lets just say black spec's in the middle of a blue sky was deleted straight away :cry: .

[tupe]

Congrats, CFC. It's a great feeling to finally get a decent shot of an elusive bird. And I know how tough sneaking up on hawks can be.

I don't know what kind of hawk that is (LP or Bob probably do), but I will see if it's in the new bird book my daughter gave me yesterday.

[Paul A]

Nice shots, I vote for red-tail as well.

[cfcRebel]

If you see that bird every day.Could'nt you sort of set up a bait photo trap?.

I mean if he's/she's flying around in the same area try putting some sort of meat down to get him/her closer(or is that the wrong thing to do :o :confused: ).

Anyway nice shots :cool: .

I tried to take some buzzard's the other week and lets just say black spec's in the middle of a blue sky was deleted straight away :cry: .

Thanks Alan. I suppose i can set a trap there but you should see the place i hid and waited for the hawk. People thought i was crazy. Someone even called 911 and an officer came to check on me. :) I'll post a pic of the place when i get home tonite.

Black bird against blue sky, or even worse - clouds, is extremely hard to shoot IMHO. I got some shots because he was willing to get closer. http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=78436 :D

[cfcRebel]

Congrats, CFC. It's a great feeling to finally get a decent shot of an elusive bird. And I know how tough sneaking up on hawks can be.

I don't know what kind of hawk that is (LP or Bob probably do), but I will see if it's in the new bird book my daughter gave me yesterday. Thanks tupe. Your hawk shot with the RWB on the wires is very nice too. I haven't seen one perched on anything so far. Mostly in flight.
Congrats on the new bird book. I need one for myself too. ;)

[cfcRebel]

Nice shots, I vote for red-tail as well. Thanks Paul. Red-tailed got the most votes. :)

[cfcRebel]

If you see that bird every day.Could'nt you sort of set up a bait photo trap?.

I mean if he's/she's flying around in the same area try putting some sort of meat down to get him/her closer(or is that the wrong thing to do :o :confused: ).
The red circle is where normally i sat. The purple circle is where the hawk was wandering. As you can see, there's an entrance to a highway on the right. Cars passing by every second. People working in the building on the left staring at this crazy dude squading there. I still can't believe i did that. But i will still do it again. :D

[LazyPhotographer]

Looks like a Red-tail to me. They like to go back to places for hunting that have been successful for them. He's probably getting little rodents or lizards from the manicured grounds.

Baiting is cheating, unless you're talking ducks at the park... besides, you'd have to bait with a LIVE mouse or squirrel. Trying to feed them anything else would make them sick.

I vote you get on top of the building and get some shots from there!!

[ngannet]

Wow, i just realized this thread was given only 1 star - i.e. "Terrible"! Oh well, it's five stars in my heart. ;)

Don't pay any attention to that! I often wonder about posting on here too, as I am rather thin-skinned! But I can understand the thrill of getting that hawk finally, and I think they came out damn good! As often as I see red-tailed hawks, I have yet to get one like that flying overhead! You can see the underwing linings very well, which are a good field mark for this species and of course the reddish tail, which looks great! By the way, I like the picture where you took the hawk from!!! The things we'll do to get a photo! It's always interesting to see WHERE people took the pics from too! Makes the photo more special. Like if people saw all the times I stood in a marsh, being eaten alive by skeeters or greenheads just waiting for the right picture of the right bird they'd think I was nuts!

[cfcRebel]

I vote you get on top of the building and get some shots from there!!
Thanks Lazy. That ran across my mind too, but i don't know how to bribe the security guard. :lol:

[cfcRebel]

Don't pay any attention to that! I often wonder about posting on here too, as I am rather thin-skinned! But I can understand the thrill of getting that hawk finally, and I think they came out damn good! As often as I see red-tailed hawks, I have yet to get one like that flying overhead! You can see the underwing linings very well, which are a good field mark for this species and of course the reddish tail, which looks great! By the way, I like the picture where you took the hawk from!!! The things we'll do to get a photo! It's always interesting to see WHERE people took the pics from too! Makes the photo more special. Like if people saw all the times I stood in a marsh, being eaten alive just waiting for the right picture of the right bird they'd think I was nuts!
LOL!:lol: Thanks for the kind words ngannet. Only the photographer knows how valuable the picture really is. In our eyes, the effort is well worth it. Nothing beats a great picture of the subject that we aim for after paying gallons of sweat and blood. ;)