The Hawk is back - 3/16/20

Funny enough, I never realized until just now when I was looking at the date to put in the title. This was just around a year gap between the first time I ever saw a hawk right outside my apartment and now. It was a pretty big moment for me. Not only was it extremely exciting, it was coming off a not great trip out to see wildlife where I saw none. I wrote a whole post about it, I would check it out for the full story.

But March 2020 has rolled around now. And the 16th would be two days before I started feeling sick and would call out of work. If I had Covid-19 or not, I’m not sure at this time. As I could never get tested, thanks Georgia. Really got a great response to the whole thing. Real fucking shame that it’s spiking again right now.

Anyway. Staying on topic, the 16th was a Monday and I would have just been getting home from work. By this point I was doing 10 hour days to have 3 day weekends every week. More time for photography. Having a dedicated day on Friday is really helpful as it turns out. Hopefully I can dedicate more days to it in the future.

So here I am, walking away from my car after I arrive back home when I see a large object glide effortlessly through the air above me and nestle itself into the trees right across my door.

Immediately I bolted inside for the camera, grabbed it and ran back out. And then I slowed down and approached carefully.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm - 1/500 Sec - F2.8 - ISO 800

First shot. Nope, those are branches, come on autofocus I know you can do it.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm - 1/500 Sec - F2.8 - ISO 640

Second shot, much better! It’s a Red Shouldered Hawk just like before. Although this one is bigger, I honestly wonder if it’s the same one as a year before.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm - 1/500 Sec - F2.8 - ISO 800

Third shot, still kind of missing it, moving ever so slowly to get into a better position between each shot.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm - 1/500 Sec - F2.8 - ISO 500

Almost there, just waiting for the head turn…

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm - 1/500 Sec - F2.8 - ISO 500

There we go. A nice clear shot with the head turned more towards me. This is great and I was beyond thrilled to have this opportunity, just while I was walking inside. I do hope it’s the same hawk, that would be a really nice touch to the story. A year later and I’m still doing this hobby, longest one I’ve ever stuck with that’s for sure. And for a lot of reasons, it kicked off with that hawk in 2019.

Loving these wetlands - 2/20/20

These wetlands are a great place. A good bit of wildlife comes here for feeding on a regular basis.

This trip was early in the morning, and I did go to the viewing shack as I mentioned in my previous posts.

Canon 5D Mark II w/70-200mm - 1/200 Sec - F2.8 - ISO 100

This is a such a nice shot. The water was clear enough to get a good reflection and the way this tree has bent over made for an interesting subject. There was still a good bit of frost on the ground behind in the grass. It was very early, and cold on this February day.

Soon I would turn my attention out to the water, and this time I would have two of my new favorite waterfowl. The Hooded Merganser.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 100

What happened next really took me for surprise. A chittering kind of call that I hadn’t heard before, and a flash across the water of small and blue.

It took me a try or two to get a view of it, these little guys are fast.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/2000 Sec - F4 - ISO 250

A belted Kingfisher! I love kingfishers and this was the first time I had seen one in real life. Only images on the internet from other photographers, I was absolutely thrilled to be able to capture a moment with one of these.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/2000 Sec - F4 - ISO 250

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 125

I tried to crop in as much as I could without too much degrading to the image to see the details. Unfortunately you do loss a bit when you crop is so close. But the distance between myself and the bird was a lot, this wetlands is great for the wildlife you can see but the drawback is definitely the distance that you see it from. Several hundred feet away, this entire swampy area spans quite a good bit.

But I was determined to keep getting as many shots as I could, as my back cramped up from bending over awkwardly in this child designed wood bench viewing hole I persisted for a while until finally…

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 125

It took off again. Beautiful creature to watch. Really this spawned a whole new avenue of interest that I’ll talk about in another post soon. I knew the best of the best would be a shot of them diving into water when they fish. But nailing that is top of the charts difficult. Knowing where they are going to dive and being ready with the camera takes years of practice. A goal to work towards.

Eventually I did leave the wetlands and go for a walk through the forest. Not nearly as many birds, but I did manage to get this great photo of a Carolina Wren.

Back to the wetlands - 02/01/20

Couple weeks later and I’m back to the wetlands. This time much earlier in the morning. Dressed more appropriately so I could stay out for longer.

Right off the bat when I arrive there are some waterfowl to be seen.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 2500

Canadian Geese, beautiful creatures. I got some shots of a pair of them slowly floating along the water for a time before they starting their pre-flight honking. My cue to get the camera ready.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 1600

The pair of them took off one after the other, I was focused on this one. The water splashes in front are from the other goose that had just taken off.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 2000

Their feathers are so cool, and not something you ever get to see this detailed since they keep them tucked onto their body obviously.

It wasn’t too long before another subject came into view. And the of the rapid fire shots I took, this one I really like.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 1600

Talk about some feathers. Although sad to see them missing a few.

The Great Blue Heron wasn’t alone, but was harassing another animal that I would have never guessed.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 1600

An OTTER???

Dude. Yes. What. Wow.

Those were the thoughts going through my head roughly. There was a pair of otters playing around in the water just going back and forth. The Heron was following them, flying from spot to spot anytime they got close to land. Not entirely sure why, the Heron certainly wouldn’t try to eat them I don’t think. And I don’t think they had a fish they were trying to chow down on.

This went on for some time, I tried really hard to get a shot with both of them in view but it just wasn’t happening. Although this shack is great for viewing a big wide area. It’s pretty far from the action. Shooting at least one or two hundred feet away. Even with the big lens I needed the extender on there to get some halfway decent photos.

Like some great ones of the Heron coming in for a landing.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 1250

And another from the back view when it flew away from me.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 1250

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 500

That last one was the only shot I could get of both species in frame. Not great of the otter, but you can tell that’s what is in the water on the left hand side.

I knew river otters existed obviously, never thought I would actually get to see some out in the wild. I’ve been back to this location many many times but have yet to see them again. I think they are further up river that came to this big pond. There isn’t exactly a trail so exploring it safely and without disturbing any nature has been more difficult.

Also I research otters a bit more and found that I’ll probably only see them on really cloudy days like this.