I just had the most amazing birding experience that I want to share. I was in my kitchen making dinner for my kids when suddenly I heard a constant loud screeching from my backyard. We have bird feeders and a bird bath back there, so I figured it was a couple of grackles having an argument or a blue jay imitating a hawk to scare off any birds at the feeders. The screeching continued, so I walked to the sliding-glass door in our kitchen that looks out back to see what was the matter. Perched on our fence was a blue jay in a complete panic. That's where the sound was coming from. But what caught my attention immediately thereafter was a bird much larger than what we usually see at our feeders. There, no more than 10 feet away, standing on a crumpled white-winged dove in the grass, was a sharp-shinned hawk (or a cooper's; hard to tell). I stared incredulously for a moment then came to. I ran to the other room, grabbed the camera, then ran back. I slowly parted the vertical blinds with the lens so's not to spook the hawk. I focused, pressed the shutter button, checked the histogram, made a quick adjustment, then started shooting for real. At one point the dove feebly raised a wing, but the hawk stomped on it with its talons. I got off about eight shots when I remembered my tripod, also in the other room. I ran to get it and when I came back the hawk was gone. The only thing left in the grass was a small blast radius of gray and white feathers.
Almost trembling with excitement, I plugged the camera into my laptop. The images were OK, in focus but a bit of movement. The glass had washed out some color and a lot of contrast, but the images were salvageable. Using iPhoto I played with levels to bring back the shadows, up the saturation, increase sharpness a tad, and adjust the exposure one stop higher. There are two shots I really like but this one's the best. I love his "just try to take this meal away from me" stare. I think his wings are partly spread to hide his prey from any would-be thieves, right? I wanted to post this in the main avian critiques forum – not that I think it's great but because I wanted more people to see it.
Nikon D80
Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 ED-IF
ISO 400
1/250
f/11
Hand held, pressed front of the lens against the glass for support
That is one experience and all in your back yard !!!!!!! Amazing !!!
Just did a slight color adjustment and curves btw at Wacodahattchee I saw A coopers hawk nail a purple gallinule chick .. not a pretty sight !! btw you can post the image in the Bird ID forum for a positive ID I'm sure they are going to love it over there !!!
Hi Erich,
This is a fantastic capture, you were at the right place, at the right time...Mr. Forns' color corrected version puts it over the top...good show...:cool:
Alfred, I like your color adjust. Obviously I got a little carried away with the saturation and contrast. I really need to get out to Wakodahatchee. I've never been there. West Delray is only about an hour from my house.
Harold, I thought it was a red-tailed hawk at first because I've seen them in the area. After checking my books I saw it was a sharp-shinned or a cooper's. And the more I thought about it, I realized the guy in my backyard was probably about half the size of a red-tailed or red-shouldered.
I done a little more PP on your image.. A little saturation, and levels adjustment.. See what you think..
Great image.. I have a Cooper's Hawk that takes a Collared Dove off my feeders just about every week. Fascinating birds..
Sharp-shinned hawk grabs dinner in my backyard!
