Sunday, February 15, 2009

Hunting Harrier


Returning home yesterday morning from a fairly uneventful wildlife photo outing (yes I do encounter those too) I noticed this female Northern Harrier hunting over the field behind my home. I quickly set my camera bag on the deck and scooped out the 30D with the 100-400mm attached, hurried to the back of the deck as the Harrier circled and came in low once more.

Northern Harriers also known as Marsh Hawks are large birds with a 1 meter wing span and an owl like face. When hunting they fly close to the ground watching and listening intently. Moments later as this bird passed into a neighboring field, its effort paid off when she dropped to the ground capturing something. I could not distinguish what she had caught. After feeding for a few seconds she again took flight and disappeared into the distance.

7 comments:

??? said...

Great capture, it seems like she is looking straight at the camera.

Ken Conger Photography said...

As you know, these are extremely hard birds to photograph due to their constant up and down surveying for game. You did good Coy getting this flier. Blue Skies.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Excellent catch Coy!! It is so nice to have these around the home.

Kekiinani said...

This is a nice capture especially since it looks like it was difficult due to the background colors being so similar to the bird. Wonderful shot. :) :)

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Salty: Beautiful capture of the hawk.

Chris said...

Great flying capture... Well done, it is magnificent...

Leedra said...

Awesome flight photograph.

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