Another Harrier

Gallery: AvianPosted February 9, 2010276 views28 comments

Circus cyaneus

This one perched and quite a bit different from my last harrier.

This was taken 12/26/09. The harrier was perched on an old post and while it looks like this bird is vocalizing, it seemed to be trying to hack some thing up as it did this several times in the period we photographed it.

I found the pose & behavior interesting and decided to post it.

D200, lens resting on pickup window, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 200, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited. Cropped to vertical from a horizontal. Please use the large image provided to evaluate sharpness & detail.

As always, I sincerely appreciate your comments & critiques. Thank you for looking.

Comments

28 comments

Comment posted by István Molnár on February 9, 2010 at 5:00 PM

Cool shot.
István
Hungary

Registered on January 7, 2010, 114 Posts, 704 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Dubois on February 9, 2010 at 5:10 PM

Very nice Mia. I really like the warm brown/gray/beige tines throughout the image. Getting her beak open adds a lot to the image.

Registered on February 22, 2005, 129 Posts, 4739 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on February 9, 2010 at 5:41 PM

Mia, I like your choice of words "hack some thing up." Made me laugh. I like the colors, the BG, and the unique beak open looking at the camera pose. Nice.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 9, 2010 at 5:51 PM

Definitely an eye-catching image with the open beak. Very nice understated harmonious colors.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on February 9, 2010 at 6:40 PM

I am glad you decided to post this because I love it!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Whum on February 9, 2010 at 6:54 PM

Great shot. Great expression with open beak like that. Was it saying hello?

Registered on June 6, 2007, 131 Posts, 696 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on February 9, 2010 at 7:17 PM

Really interesting behavior here Mia - I like the combination of open beak, slightly crossed eyes and your "hacking up" description. The bird looks great, as does the background and post perches don't come with much more character than this one. Nice that you got an angle that shows the tail too.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on February 9, 2010 at 7:45 PM

Another great harrier shot - so neat for me to see photos of them perched as I never see them perched on anything other than the ground. I continue to be impressed with the quality of the TC paired with the 200-400

- Luke

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on February 9, 2010 at 8:11 PM

Very cool shot Mia, The hawk kinda reminds me of a bird with a bit of an 'Eastern' attitude...

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on February 9, 2010 at 8:30 PM

The opened mouth pose is nice, but I really like the detail in the plumage. Another winner, Mia!

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Jude Haase on February 9, 2010 at 8:55 PM

Nice catch Mia!! Gotta love the mouth open!

Registered on April 3, 2006, 236 Posts, 1657 Comments

Comment posted by Jay Martin on February 9, 2010 at 8:57 PM

Did you stick around to collect the pellet?

Great catch - very nice detail even inside the mouth.

Registered on December 6, 2005, 200 Posts, 2209 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on February 9, 2010 at 9:36 PM

This bird is certainly trying to communicate something, Mia. His expression reminds me of my cat when he wants me to give him something. This is not an outstandingly beautiful shot like many of your others. However, it looks very well executed to me and shows this very interesting behavior.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on February 9, 2010 at 11:05 PM

Another 'wonderful' Harrier, what a interesting shot with the wide open mouth, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 9, 2010 at 11:15 PM

Excellent, Mia. I like the behavior and the detail in the plumage is excellent. To me, the most appealing part of this image is the light texture showing through in the bg. Just enough to provide a feel for the habitat without being at all obtrusive.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on February 10, 2010 at 12:28 AM

This view really allows one to study the body conformation, that's quite a long tail! Excellent detail and timing, not often you can see the entire tongue like that. For some reason I want to crop a little bit off the top on this one Mia, I hope I'm not getting into some sort of compositional rut.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Gaurav Manglik on February 10, 2010 at 2:40 AM

awesome ...

The open mouth puts this over the top.

Registered on December 2, 2005, 191 Posts, 2126 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on February 10, 2010 at 4:58 AM

I wish I could find raptors who would stay long enough for me to photograph on a post but you don't seem to have that problem Mia - down to better field craft I would think. I like the harmonious colours throughout the image and the wild look of the bird. Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Ross on February 10, 2010 at 6:05 AM

Nice work Mia, good to catch the behaviour and the light is good and soft and the soft muted colours in the BG work well in the image..

Registered on November 1, 2003, 403 Posts, 2729 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on February 10, 2010 at 8:24 AM

sounds like she was working on expelling a pellet. if you find a favored perch, sometimes there are a bunch of them on the ground. they can provide some interesting insight into what the birds are eating if you dissect them.

What a look, and a great angle! I like the eyes, and the view straight into the open bill. Thanks for posting this one--I like it a lot.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on February 10, 2010 at 9:14 AM

Very cool image. The open beak is a bonus

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on February 10, 2010 at 10:37 AM

Mia, I really find this image interesting....I am usually more partial to bahavioral shots anyhow. Love the light in this, great colors and detail as usual. I like your crop decision also.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on February 10, 2010 at 1:23 PM

Mia,
I like the open bill, the detail, the light and the vertical crop too. Another great capture!

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on February 10, 2010 at 4:24 PM

I love the eyes and the open mouth. Nice separation of the bird and perch from the background. Really nice muted color pallate.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Spiecker on February 10, 2010 at 6:21 PM

All the comments cover my thoughts. I just plain like this shot, Mia.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 366 Posts, 4649 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on February 10, 2010 at 10:20 PM

Great shot of a very difficult subject.

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on February 10, 2010 at 10:55 PM

Kudos Mia on that great open mouth. You got alot of great harrier images and this one adds to it

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on February 11, 2010 at 7:49 PM

Mia:
I really like the colors in your Harrier shots. The BG almost always makes the brown of the Harrier pop. I think the bird needs a tonsillectomy.

It is an interesting pose and behavior. I would have guessed vocalizing without the explanation.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments