Northern Harrier Close Encounter

Scottwdw

Scottwdw

Member
Photographing some Blue-Winged Teal at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge with Dave Kliment (ExploringWDW) when a Northern Harrier popped up from behind the reeds. ; The ducks exploded out of the water and both of us quickly started shooting the elusive winged predator. ; My old AF only Nikon 80-400VR did it's best to focus with one good and one almost good one. ; First, the good one.

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Next, the almost good one. ; Just missed the focus. ;

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Dave was using a Nikon 70-200VR with AF-S on a Nikon 300 and looked like he had better luck when we compared our LCD displays.
 
Thanks, Howie, I just wish the focus was better on that one. ; I blew a very good opportunity as the Harrier had no idea we were there and got real close to us.
 
Love the northern harriers - nice shots and very nice light that day.

I had a lot of trouble getting a good harrier shot for 3 years - nothing but distant little dots. ; This past year, I've gotten hundreds, practically parting my hair. ; Don't know what it is, but this year was harrier year for me!
 
Great shots Scott. I have recently noticed a big boom of Hawks in our area that used to not be there. Also, the Bald Eagle is making a big return here. I spotted one yesterday on my way to church & could have kicked myself for not having my camera with me. It is now in my car. ; ;) ; Hope to get some to share with you guys.
 
After DDT and other like substances were banned in the last 1970's, the Bald Eagle and other Birds of Prey slowly stopped disappearing in the lower 48 states. ; It has taken this long and with the help of Eagle Hacking programs, to get the wild population to a point it can start to sustain itself again.

I have a nesting pair of Bald Eagles not far from my house I need to get over to.

Looking forward to seeing your eagles soon.
 
I am looking forward to sharing them, but it might have to wait a while. I leave this week for a trip to Brazil & then right after returning we head out to WDW. Will be first week of June before I am back home.
 
"Scottwdw" said:
After DDT and other like substances were banned in the last 1970's, the Bald Eagle and other Birds of Prey slowly stopped disappearing in the lower 48 states. ; It has taken this long and with the help of Eagle Hacking programs, to get the wild population to a point it can start to sustain itself again.

I have a nesting pair of Bald Eagles not far from my house I need to get over to.

Looking forward to seeing your eagles soon.
Click to expand...
so glad they banned that stuff. damn near took out the peregrines too. I have never seen this many eagles and peregrines as i have this year. a lot of harriers also
 
one of my fav harrier shots. I always get them when set up for other birds and a harrier just happens to fly by. still wanting to get them male which is called the grey ghost. not seen nearly as much as the females. I only saw it once in the distance. got a shot of it but nothing to write home about. will see if I can find it on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ac209/6395 ... /lightbox/
 
Hey guys. Managed to pull on side the road & get this shot of a Hawk (Appears to be a Red-Tailed) sitting on top of a pole. I was right underneath him & he didn't seem to mind that I was invading his space. He would look right at me then turn back to watching the field just off the road. This is the only one I saw but will have to try for better shots later. The second one is just a cropped version of the first.


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