Birds of Prey

[andrew_jacobson3]

<p>Hey there guys,<br>

So I have been working on catching photos of birds native to Minnesota. The project is going well, but I am running into a slight problem here... I cannot get clean shots of the Hawks in my area. Part of the problem is the lenses that I am using. They require for me to get in close, but, as they are hawks, the birds see me coming before I can get into range. I think I can narrow down the hunting area, but that's about it..</p>

<p>So, does anyone have any tips on how to lure in or get in close enough to these beautiful creatures?</p>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Hi Andrew, have you posted some of your species catalog shots somewhere we can see them? Which is your longest lens now?</p>

<p>My own experience with hawks is fairly limited but the best opportunities I've come across with perched raptors seemed to be particular to specific protected recreation areas (wetlands/lakes/parks) with relatively busy hiking/fishing traffic and at times when they were snoozing (digesting a meal?) or still warming up in the first light of the day. I guess if they see a fair amount of people walk by without getting shot at, individual animals can adopt a less wary attitude than their cousins of the same species just a few miles down the road at the duck club or another place where hunters are frequent - or their cousins twice removed living 100s of miles across the state in a rarely frequented wilderness where (to them) any two-legged intruder carrying tube-like gear is a scary monster.</p>

<p>Some species really like to perch on the same tree or even the same branch/post so if you think you've found one of those then you should keep an eye from a fair distance and then while they're off on soaring rounds move into a discreet spot (preferably in deep shade or such) as close to the perch as you can, to wait for their return. You can also get much better luck with a fledgling or a yearling than with a mature adult of the same species in the same site. The former are probably more hungry more often (& therefore focused more on finding prey than on escaping potential danger) due to lack of hunting experience. The drawback of course is that youngsters won't allow you to catch shots of adult plumage.</p>

<p>For shots of soaring hawks you'll need to ask around from experienced birders & do some exploring to find the best spots with uplift-generating hills or cliffs. Then go out on fairly windy days, observe them and position yourself underneath spots where they're most often riding the wind & either hanging steady in the air for minutes at a time, or passing by on regular soaring rounds. The spot to pick will have to be one where you're more likely to see them approach then they are likely to see you, and you'll probably want to keep yourself below the horizon/crest of the hill (as visble from their likely POV) as much as possible. And if you happen to be on the move & a raptor happens to approach on a trajectory that's likely to lead it directly overhead, then my guess is crouching down is better than remaining standing/walking, not only because it makes you (presumably) less threatening but also because it helps stabilize your camera+lens if you can prop your elbows with your knees.</p>

[stemked]

<p>Short of clearly unethical methods, like tying up rabbits in an exposed habitat near a blind, your best options are 1) longer lenses 2) luck. The former is pretty obvious, the latter by being out in the proper habitat sometimes you just get lucky and find a hawk that isn't as jittery and lets you get close enough on a perch. I think many perched shots come out of cars which work as efficient moving blinds. I admit though I have a low frequency of success with Hawks.<br>

It's been a while since I lived in Minnesota, but there should be some 'hotspots' in migration that you can find, just like the famous Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania. I would suspect Duluth would be one of those spots because birds need to migrate around the tip of Lake Superior. I know in winter the grain storage in town attract northern Owls and I think the occasional Gyrfalcon. I would check with the local Audubon Society for such advice.<br>

I suppose you know about the Eagle gatherings just south of Red Wing (MN) at thew power plant? It can be a pretty spectacular gathering and you can get fairly close to a lot of birds</p>

[mtk]

<p>Hi Andrew, I am into raptor pics myself. Knowing lens limitations of mine I am using a bargain bin Sigma 70-300 apo from KEH and am pleasantly surprised. Not Audobon Society worthy I expect but not to bad. I pretty much agree with the responses already given...especially the long lens. If you don't have one, pick up a cheapo 300 just to try it for awhile. Keep your shutter speeds up and iso up.</p>

 

[mtk]

<p>Hi Andrew, I am into raptor pics myself. Knowing lens limitations of mine I am using a bargain bin Sigma 70-300 apo from KEH and am pleasantly surprised. Not Audobon Society worthy I expect but not to bad. I pretty much agree with the responses already given...especially the long lens. If you don't have one, pick up a cheapo 300 just to try it for awhile. Keep your shutter speeds up and iso up.</p>

 

[ljwest]

<p>Hunters tend to be creatures of habit, and will frequent the same areas on a regular basis. Near where I park for work, there's a highway off ramp cloverleaf. There's a Red-tailed Hawk that perches on the lampposts and the electric towers looking for his or her morning snack. It's not there every day, but every few days, around dawn. I'm sure if I set up across the road in my car, I'd get some good shots. It's a busy area, so the bird is inured to the traffic and cars pretty well. My Sister has a Cooper's Hawk that likes to hunt in the early mornings and catch unsuspecting feeder birds near the feeder! I missed a shot earlier this year when it was 3' away from the window!</p>

<p>See if you can locate a raptor rescue in your area. They can probably help you with the information you're looking for as to local habitats, etc. Also, a Raptor rescue may have photo days, where you can really get up close with the birds. They'll charge a fee, probably (they are usually non-profit groups), but you'll get frame-filling shots with a 35mm lens! Obviously, that's not the same as getting the shot in the wild, but...</p>

<p>But long lenses (300 mm and up...) and patience are the bread and butter of bird photographers.</p>

[andrew_jacobson3]

<p>Hey,<br>

Thanks for the help. Towards the start of the project, my primary was a 70-200mm 4.0. I got quite a few decent shots with it. Most of them did not fill the frame, but I still like them. However, after looking at some of the amazing photos that are on this sight... And after realizing that my equipment was not the best for the job, I got a 500mm. The reach is amazing with it, but its manual focus and the quality leaves something to be desired.. And there are obviously problems with the 200mm..</p>

<p>It needs to be updated a bit, but here is the link to my webpage. Please tell me what you think :)</p>

<p><a href="http://wolfeyephotomn.weebly.com/gallery.html">http://wolfeyephotomn.weebly.com/gallery.html</a></p>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Great shot of the (very) red-eyed loon Andrew! Your unidentified 1 looks like a dark form female redwinged blackbird. The only problem with that guess is my sibley field guide specifying that those are supposed to be in California, not Minnesota... Did you perchance come across any males that lack any yellow border to their shoulder patches? If so then those would be "bicoloreds" = the male counterpart of the darker female form - which would mean sibley's map needs updating.</p>

<p>And to make matters slightly more confusing (sorry!) the female blackbird looks to me like it's a yellowheaded BB instead of a redwing, as it has yellow streaks on its throat while lacking any hint of dark reddish/burgundy shoulder patches on the wings. Around here the different BB species often hang out together in the same patches of cattails.</p>

[stemked]

<p>Hi Andrew.<br>

I buzzed by your site too. The unidentified bird I am pretty sure is an immature male Red-Winged Blackbird. The bird Paul thinks is a female Yellowheaded Blackbird IMHO also looks to me more like a female Red-Winged, but I'm certainly not 100% sure. Your Goldeneye photo looks like it needs to be tilted some though (the horizon looks pretty tilted).<br>

One other point, many (not all) of your bird images are IMHO too centered. You might want to crop them or reposition the bird so they aren't so centered if your goal is to be more artistic. If it is documentation you are after then you are fine.</p>

[dcstep]

<p>Put the 1.4x TC on your 70-200mm and look for places where you can use your car-blind to drive up close. Most hawks will allow a close approach in a car and shots out the window.</p>

<p>I'm using my 500mm here, but your 70-200mm with a 1.4x TC and a little crop would still be pretty good.</p>

<p><strong>Swainson's Hawk</strong><br>

Canon 7D, EF 500mm f/4L IS out the car-blind window.</p>

<p><a title="Swainson's Hawk by dcstep, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6207/6086829772_2185cb1b98_z.jpg" alt="Swainson's Hawk" width="640" height="640" /></a></p>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Well it goes to show you never really know what you think you know :)</p>

<p>Douglas' suggestion that "Unidentified 1" is an immature redwing male makes a lot more sense than my own guess of a continent-hopping dark lady redwing. OTOH the female blackbird must be a yellowhead (or so I thought) as I've seen variants of those with unusally streaky throat compared to pics in bird guides or on the web. An example pic just below, this one was nest-building in cattails guarded by a male yellow.</p>

<p>So off I went snooping around on the web to see if any images there might shed more light. Lo & beyond: here's McGill's online <a href="http://www.migrationresearch.org/mbo/id/rwbl.html">catalog of subtle variations</a> in redwing attire - plus some not-so-subtle ones too. A hatch year female shown all the way at the bottom has yellowish streaks on the throat plus speckled underside, matching Andrew's picture better than my unusally streaky lady yellow.</p>

<p>Right on Douglas, redwings all around!</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

[kerry_grim]

Consider visiting a hawk watch site:

 

http://www.hmana.org/sitesel.php

[stemked]

<p>Hey Paul.<br>

I am a generalized naturalist, my co-worker and his friends are a true birders. I was out with them and they were calling out birds left and right. Figuring I had to something not to look completely inept I saw a bird and quickly called out "Copper's Hawk". They looked at me and one guy said "Can't you even id a Morning Dove?" He was, of course right. Back under my rock...<br>

Blackbirds can be tough. The only reason I could make an educated guess is I had my massive National Geographic "Birds of North America" which has tons of plumages in front of me when I looked at the photos. That yellow on the breast had me scratching my head too.</p>

[Stock-Photos]

<p>I have a few hawk photos in my portfolio here on photo.net. I'd be happy to answer any questions about them. Several times the mobility of my bicycle has got me within range.</p>

[rfarquhar]

<p>So far, my raptor shots (all of two really good ones) have come from being blessed with being in the right place at the right time WITH a camera. Never, ever leave your camera behind. I missed a great shot of a bald eagle soaring over the river (in the middle of the city! migrating maybe?) because I didn't have my camera with me.<br>

I also second trying for a raptor rehabilitation group. If nothing else, they are usually happy to educate the public, if they are sure you won't harass their hawks with what they tell you. Or, if you don't insist on wild birds, try looking for hawkers, who keep and hunt with hawks. If you are able to keep out of their way, they might be willing to let you go with them when they fly their birds. (Minnesota laws may not allow this, not sure.)</p>

[andrew_jacobson3]

<p>Hey guys,<br>

Thank you for your advice. I think I have gotten my 1st decent shot. I decided to profile it as an Osprey, but I'd hate to be wrong :)</p>

<p>What do you guys think of these?<br>

<a href="../photo/14239072">http://www.photo.net/photo/14239072</a></p>

[dcstep]

<p>Andrew, the pole is perfectly exposed and the bird seriously underexposed. Looks like you had some overcast and a really dark background and a dark bird. You needed at least +1EV here, maybe +2EV. "Expose right", to the right of the histogram, is the general mantra for getting good feather and shadow detail. Turn on you highlight warning blinkers and expose in RAW as far to the right of the histogram as you can without blowing out any important highlights.</p>

<p>Here's +1/3EV, even in bright sun, with a brown red-tail hawk. The underwing shadow detail wouldn't be as sharp without "Exposing Right."</p>

<p><a title="Red-tail hawk up close by dcstep, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5210/5337413462_829e5fae0f_z.jpg" alt="Red-tail hawk up close" width="640" height="427" /></a></p>

[andrew_jacobson3]

<p>Thanks,<br>

Is there anything I can do in the shop to edit that..? I'm not quite as adept with it as I should be.. :) My biggest concern with the photo is that I exposed with ISO 1600.... I hated doing it, but it was the only way to get enough light... Is there anyway to clean that up?</p>

[dcstep]

<p>You can bring the levels up with any PP software, but you'll probably add noise. Don't be afraid of ISO, be afraid of underexposing.<br>

ISO 1600 with 500mm lens at f/4 hand-held at 1/400th sec.:</p>

<p><a title="Mommy, what's this big cloth that keeps moving? by dcstep, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6168/6155637767_0f0a76fe65_z.jpg" alt="Mommy, what's this big cloth that keeps moving?" width="640" height="639" /></a></p>

[andrew_jacobson3]

<p>Is this any better?</p><div></div>

[dcstep]

<p>Yes, considerably better. The pose is odd. Given the time, I might take 20-30 images so that I can pick the very best pose, with an eye light, great head angle, etc.</p>

<p>Here's one of several hundred taken over a couple of hours. This was selected from a burst of around six to get the wing position, no shadow on the eyes, etc.:</p>

<p><a title="Duck...no... osprey. by dcstep, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6137/5991668637_53fc3dc702_z.jpg" alt="Duck...no... osprey." width="640" height="427" /></a></p>

[andrew_jacobson3]

<p>Well.. Time was a bit of an issue.. This guy happened to buzz the football field where my little brother was playing and landed on that pole. I had enough time to run over, and I was laying on the shutter the entire time. Those 4 shots in the album are the best ones of the group of 150 or so photos.</p>

[dcstep]

<p><br />Well, you do what you can with the time you have. I do suspect that if you have time for 150 shots, then some must have had a better head angle and some more light in the eyes. As you're looking through the lens you'll see any bird move its head back and forth, up and down, etc. Try to catch the most attractive poses with bursts of one to three shots.</p>

<p>When you've got the time, with raptors, one key is to wait for the eventual flight. You might wait for 15 to 30-minutes, but it's worth the wait when you're able to catch the launch and the first few flaps. Once in a blue moon you'll be rewarded with a hunting shot and, even more rarely, you'll catch the raptor actually catching prey. Unless you're very lucky, you'll likely shoot ten-thousand shots before the planets align for you, but it's fun trying. Keep at it.</p>