Northern Harrier --female on the hunt

[Bonnie Block]

One of several obliging harriers this past weekend that were on the hunt --Whidbey Island, Washington
Very overcast conditions

Canon 7D-- 500/4 IS + 1.4 TC Handheld
1/1000s f/5.6 at 700.0mm iso1000

[Steve Maxson]

Love the habitat and mood, Bonnie. Good sharpness and exposure. Nice pose with the bird looking at something outside the frame and the one-legged stance is a plus. Well done.

[Danny J Brown]

Bonnie - This is a wonderful shot - just my kind of image. I love it! It is very natural looking with all of the blowing grass and the old log. It looks like it has a band on its ankle.

[DanWalters]

Like the way the harrier is peering through the grass. Could use just a little rotation and a little sharpening.

[Markus Jais]

Beautiful shot. I like the perch and the composition.
The grass is great here as it shows the typical habitat?
Could you read the data in the ring? Might be interesting where the bird comes from.

Markus

[Randy Stout]

Bonnie:

Nicely captured. I normally don't like the OOF foreground elements in images, but it gives a fine sense of the environment without obscuring the bird. The overcast really helped, because if it had been brighter, the OOF grasses would have been even lighter/brighter, and might have been too distracting.

THe comp is very nice. Might consider a bit off the right, but just personal preference.

Thanks for sharing.

Randy

[Bonnie Block]

Beautiful shot. I like the perch and the composition.
The grass is great here as it shows the typical habitat?
Could you read the data in the ring? Might be interesting where the bird comes from.

Markus

Thanks, Markus.
Yes, the grasses are very much typical of the area---a brackish marsh area. There was an intensive banding project on Whidbey Island north of Seattle, Wa.----about ten years ago. I have corresponded with the man that was involved with doing this. I cannot read this band--but I have photographed these birds many times (there is a banded male as well) One of the females was nearly 13 years old! This could very well be the same one--:)