Rough-legged Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted November 28, 2010228 views19 comments

First day out in well over a month. It was another typical winter (well, fall) day on the grasslands in the center of the state. Well over 100 raptors, with about 80% of them Rough-legged Hawks. For the most part, they're skittish, but every once in a while you find the oddball like this one, who sits there while you click away. Given the density of raptors there, you nearly always find some very cooperative birds.

Canon 50D, 400 5.6L, ISO 400, 1/500, f7.1, no flash.

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Derrick Lipinski on November 28, 2010 at 2:35 AM

Love the stare... certainly has eyes on you! Really nice detail; nicely captured, Terry.

Registered on October 5, 2007, 58 Posts, 2039 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on November 28, 2010 at 2:50 AM

Terry, just exceptional detail.
Great pose, stare, perfect BG, and that starburst of feathers just takes this over the teop.
EP material for sure.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on November 28, 2010 at 5:57 AM

Must be amazing to have so many raptors together. They must give the rodents? a hammering. The only time you'd see anywhere near that number here would be at an outback rubbish tip with the Black Kites (hardly the same). Magic detail in the larger version and nice eye contact

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on November 28, 2010 at 6:52 AM

Sweet shot of this roughie Terry. Really nice exposure, sharpness, and detail. Very natural looking. The directional light is very nice as it adds depth and the BG is perfect for the colors of this bird. Well done.

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

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on November 28, 2010 at 8:10 AM

What a pleasure to view Terry, looks excellent to me.
It all came together nicely for ya, congrats!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on November 28, 2010 at 8:42 AM

Excellent detail, wonderful stare.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on November 28, 2010 at 8:59 AM

The larger version is great and really shows the details. The stare is piercing. Congrats on getting a close one.

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on November 28, 2010 at 11:14 AM

A very strong image - it is riveting especially in the larger version. Nice detail and exposure. Great soft light. Strong composition.

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

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on November 28, 2010 at 12:56 PM

Terry: Beautiful image of this stunning hawk. I've always appreciated a fine portrait of these guys. This one is really well done. Everything seems to work well with this image. Very nice.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on November 28, 2010 at 1:40 PM

Very nice Terry, great detail, nice colored background that compliments the bird, and nice perch.

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on November 28, 2010 at 3:17 PM

A beautiful image! A pleasure to view! WEll done!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on November 28, 2010 at 3:38 PM

A gorgeous bird Terry and that stare is very lovely too. Great natural colors, pose, sharpness, detail and setting.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Eric Diller on November 28, 2010 at 3:59 PM

Registered on October 2, 2009, 69 Posts, 434 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on November 28, 2010 at 7:39 PM

I love this Terry, for lots of reasons. The soft light does wonders for this especially handsome species. I really enjoy the relaxed pose. The direct stare from the hawk is one of the best ones I've seen with wonderful detail in both eyes - especially considering the directional light. The complementary background colors are very flattering for the hawk. I really like everything here except for the fact that you have all of our roughies!

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on November 28, 2010 at 11:33 PM

Beautiful, Terry. Wonderful detail and I really like the bg and head on pose.

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

Comment posted by Monica Siri on November 29, 2010 at 12:45 PM

Outstanding, Terry.

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on November 29, 2010 at 3:40 PM

Excellent shot, very nice feather detail on the larger image and wonderful composition, way to go, a pleasure to view.

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

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on December 11, 2010 at 4:57 PM

Marvellous picture- The colours of the hawk perfectly blend with the soft background- Strong expression and details- great job on this, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on December 11, 2010 at 5:59 PM

I really like the rivetting pose and overall earth tones.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments