56 K WARNING: Bathing beauty

A welcome visitor though somewhat lethal on the rest of our friends.

Yes, he does have two legs.

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The details in this shot are quite outstanding. Beautiful markings on the plumage of this magnificent bird.
Glad that you mentioned two leg's, otherwise I would have been asking.

Nice shot. Beautiful Raptor with great detail, clarity and focus. Nice one!

Good shot of this beautiful raptor.

Very nice shot.

Beautiful shot! My only regret would be the line across the picture at his head level. You should maybe try to clone it out...

Very nice shot - great detail

Thank you everyone. This was one of those opportunities that required split second timing to get the shot. I usually have the 100-400 on my 20D and have it set on a shelf where I can grab it in a second's notice.

So yesterday I walked out the back door onto the deck and noticed how quiet it was, all the song birds had gone silent. Earlier that morning I had noticed feathers on the ground by my main feeders. This guy has been prowling the neighborhood for a month as of late and Accipiters are fairly common in the area, nesting in some of the bigger trees.

Well the other day I saw him miss on a kill and crash into a pine tree. Was laughing so hard I almost didn't grab the camera that time. Well this time I turned to my left and there he was sitting at my neighbors bath. I turned and grabbed the camera, turned it on and set it to Auto so that I wouldn't have to fool with the settings and could start shooting the second I got a bead on him(the camera is always let for center AF, ISO 400 with a fresh battery and CF card cleared from any previous shoots). I wished the light had been better and that the background wasn't the guy's garage, but this is the reality of urban wildlife.

So no cloning out the line, no lifting the subject out and placing on a better background. Instead I have a shot of this beauty that I share my city neighborhood with despite all the people.

David

What a treat to have one of these in the area. Great shot!