The Hawk who came to visit

Was able to walk within 10' of him.

A little bit blurry right? but good shot

Lucky you! Hi Sandy,

Maureen Souza wrote in post #14259620
Lucky you! Hi Sandy,

Thanks Maureen, good to hear from you again...

any others? only 10' away, you must have snapped some more? i'm afraid its a bit OOF.

As other have said, a little soft. But cool that you were able to get so close to this young red-tail.

Thanks all for the comments, I agree it's a little soft but I didn't want to spook him as I tried to get a little closer, as it was I could only snap that one, just about enough time for the camera to focus, and he took off. Yes they are fast I couldn't even get one of him in flight.

His right leg looks injured so I wonder if that may be part of the reason his let you get so close.

Thanks Candor, I noticed the injury on his leg but it didn't seem to slow him down to much, he was scartching around on the ground in some leaves first than fly up into the tree and from there off he went in flight...I think I do have another photo of him on the ground, I'll see if I can find it.

It is a little soft but you take what you can and these guys don't always give second chances. This is a juvenile and they are known to allow closer approaches than the mature ones. If he is jumping around on the ground which they do often to scare a vole or mouse into movement then he is likely OK.

Here is another lucky catch, Yes he was scarcthing around on the ground and seemed to be OK.

Nice shot Sandy...I didnt notice the leg, yeah it does look a bit hurt. hope he is ok.

looks like a cool experience. That is CLOSE to a wild hawk.

i see your shutter speed is 1/100th. and your aperture is f14.

that is a bit slow to get a sharp picture if youre handheld and zoomed out.and perhaps drop your f stop down to f8.
keep practicing and if you have this luck again you'll get an even better shot!

jhayesvw wrote in post #14267230
looks like a cool experience. That is CLOSE to a wild hawk.

i see your shutter speed is 1/100th. and your aperture is f14.

that is a bit slow to get a sharp picture if youre handheld and zoomed out.and perhaps drop your f stop down to f8.
keep practicing and if you have this luck again you'll get an even better shot!

I have to agree. Not only is f/8, 5 shutter clicks faster (if you use 1/3 increments) but the wider aperture will help blur the background more.

The second shot you posted is nice though.

I like your 2nd shot.