January 25, 2012

Critters in the hood

Here's some critters I shot recently around the hood.

Above: Coyote (Canis latrans). Canon EOS 40D with L-Series Canon f/4.0 IS USM 600mm lens. The coyotes are omnivores, and opportunistic scavengers. This one was chasing after a Northern Magpie that was scolding it. Image selection in Cam2PC. Post processing in Adobe Photoshop CS5.


Above: Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger). Canon EOS 40D with L-Series Canon f/4.5-5.6 IS USM 400mm lens. This squirrel box was a project Jennifer dreamed up in honor of "Squirrel Appreciation Day". The squirrels are said to "hibernate" at this time of year, though their hibernation is mainly a period of less activity, as opposed to sleeping for months at a time. This time of year, they commonly move from their leaf nests into hollow tree cavities, if possible. Image selection in Cam2PC. Post processing in Adobe Photoshop CS5.


Above: Immature Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). Note that this is an young bird as indicated by the yellow eyes and prominent tail banding. Canon EOS 40D with L-Series Canon f/4.0 IS USM 600mm lens. Image selection in Cam2PC. Post processing in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Posted by Rob Kiser on January 25, 2012 at 12:49 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

May 14, 2011

Swainson's Hawk

Above: Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni). This is the first Swainson's Hawk I've photographed this year. I think that they returned to Colorado about a month later than last year, for whatever reason.

Above: Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni).

Above: Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni).

http://www.whatbird.com/forums/forums/233087/ShowThread.aspx#233087

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 14, 2011 at 11:29 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 27, 2011

Red-Tailed Hawks

Above: Immature Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), as indicated by yellow eye color.

Above: Mature Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), as indicated by dark reddish/brown eye color.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 27, 2011 at 10:40 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 12, 2011

First Day in the Field

So, today was my first day in the field with the new Canon "Cannon", as I like to call it. First of all, I should mention that this camera garners a lot of attention. I had people stop their cars and ask me what type of lens I had. The police approached me for taking photos while parked in the middle of the road. Total strangers asked for me to take their pictures. So, obviously, if I'm going to walk around with this thing, I'm going to have to get some business cards printed out just so people will leave me alone. At this point, they don't even ask if I'm a photographer. There's no plausible denial at this point. I think I've lost that battle.

I shot the camera free-hand, and after a day in the field, I can tell you that my arms and wrists are sore. It's one thing to be able to raise the camera up to your eye. Quite another to old it steady above your head while shooting birds all day. This is more challenging than I'd imagined.

These images aren't great, but for my first day out, I'm happy with them. I need to work with a tripod and a remote shutter release, of course. But a lot of these images were shot from further away than I normally shoot. A large part of bird photography is getting lucky and having the bird sit still while you approach him. The closer you get, the better the shot.

Saw several hawks today. Mostly Red-tailed hawks. Some mature, some immature. Also, I shot a female American Kestrel. We saw a mature Bald Eagle, but it flew before I could get any shots.

Above: Female American Kestrel, as indicated by the lack of blue on the leading edge of wings and the lack of pronounced markings on the breast.

I assume that the bird above is an immature Red-tailed Hawk. (Verifying at Whatbird.com).

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 12, 2011 at 10:14 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

January 21, 2011

Postcards From Nowhere

Above and below: Mature Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) in Coraopolis, PA.


Some of the towns I've been in so far this year.

Madison, MS
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Milwaukee, WI
Madison, WI
Pittsburgh, PA
Charlotte, NC
Phoenix, AZ

Posted by Rob Kiser on January 21, 2011 at 10:14 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

January 7, 2011

Immature Red-Tailed Hawk

This is an immature Red-Tailed Hawk. Patagial markings (leading edge of the underside of the wings) make the identification as a Red-Tailed Hawk unmistakable. The yellow eye and tail banding indicate it's an immature hawk.

Posted by Rob Kiser on January 7, 2011 at 5:23 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

January 5, 2011

Pennsylvania in January

Above: I'm thinking it's an immature bird due to the red eye. I'm thinking Sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk mainly due to the coloration and distinct broad banding on the tail.
Update: I had the eye color backwards. The red eye indicates a mature bird. Immature would have a yellow eye.

Lack of distinct patagial marks appears to indicate it's not a Red-Tailed Hawk. The elongated tail appears to indicate it's an accipiter.

Posted by Rob Kiser on January 5, 2011 at 9:27 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink

July 11, 2010

Red-tailed Hawk?

Above: Saw this bird perched today over Highway 85 near Sedalia, Colorado. I'm thinking it's a Red-tailed Hawk, but not certain. He appears to have a light colored belly with reddish-brown streaking "belly band". Dark eye probably would indicate a mature bird. He never flew, so I'm not clear what the wings look like (shape/markings). The tail does not appear to extend very far past the wings, so I'm thinking Buteo as opposed to Accipiter. The tail looks a little off to me, though. I don't see the prominent sub-terminal black/white band, and it does appear that there is some banding in the tail. Could still be a Red-tail though, I suppose, as they do have more prominent banding when immature. Even mature birds can have a light banding as well. I dunno. Based on the location, I'd say it's more likely to be a Red-tailed or Swainson's, as opposed to a Sharp-shinned/Cooper's/etc.

http://www.whatbird.com/forums/forums/168563/ShowThread.aspx#168563

Update: Confirmed that this is a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).

Posted by Rob Kiser on July 11, 2010 at 12:16 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

June 18, 2010

Birds at Dry Creek Trail

Above: Black-crowned Night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax).

Above: Snowy Egret (Egretta thula).

Above: Male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) attacking a light-morph Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni).

http://www.whatbird.com/forums/forums/thread/164282.aspx

Posted by Rob Kiser on June 18, 2010 at 11:57 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

June 15, 2010

Red-tailed Hawk

Above: Mature Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo Jamaicanainsis) scanning the Flying J Ranch for a meal. When the birds are backlit like this, you can see they were aptly named.

Posted by Rob Kiser on June 15, 2010 at 10:50 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

June 13, 2010

Take-out in the rain

This morning, I saw this hawk eating another bird in the rain near Marshdale Colorado. This is about 8,000 ft above sea-level in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It has been raining steadily for about a day or so, and the hawk is soaking wet. I'm not sure what type of hawk this is. The hawks I most frequently see up here this time of year are Red-tails and possibly Swainson's hawks. This bird appears to have prominent tail banding and a reddish-brown eye.

Juvenile Red-tails have prominent tail banding, but their eyes are yellow when they're young, and I don't see a prominent belly band. So, I'm thinking this is a mature hawk, but not a Red-tail. Possibly a Swainson's?

Update: This is a Cooper's hawk. :)

Update 2: Bob Cohen elaborates - "From the shape (relatively slim, small-headed and long-tailed), it's an accipiter rather than a buteo, so it's not either a Red-tail or a Swainson's. So, the possibilities are Goshawk, Cooper's, and Sharp-shinn. The ventral (underside) orange barring, most visible in this photo on the flanks, rules out a Goshawk. The relatively light-colored nape (back of neck) indicates that it's a Cooper's rather than a Sharp-shinn. Also, compared to Cooper's, Sharp-shinn is even smaller-headed and smaller-beaked, which doesn't agree with your photo."

Update 3: Poor Matty adds - "The length of the tail is a very good thing to look for. Most Buteos don't have a tail that extends very far past their primaries when the bird is perched, if it extends past them at all. Accipiter tails on the other hand are always quite a bit longer. Also, in adult birds, the bluish back is a good mark for an Accipiter. Most Buteos (though there are some exceptions) are brown above. Of course, immature Accipiters are also brown on the upperparts."

http://www.whatbird.com/forums/forums/163299/ShowThread.aspx#163299

Posted by Rob Kiser on June 13, 2010 at 11:33 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

May 9, 2010

Swainson's Hawk Takeout

Above: Swainson's hawk getting a prairie dog to go.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Hawks

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 9, 2010 at 11:44 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

May 6, 2010

Swainson's Hawk

This bird had me scratching my head today when I saw it. I couldn't decide if it was a Red-tailed Hawk or a Swainson's Hawk. The tail doesn't look like a mature Red-tailed Hawk's tail to me. There's too much banding and no sub-terminal tail band. Also, I don't see the dark semi-circular patagial marks on the leading edges of the wings. But, what threw me was that this bird does appear to have a distinct dark "belly band". So, I wasn't sure and checked with the experts at Whatbird.com. Turns out that this is an intermediate morph of the Swainson's Hawk, as indicated by the "white front/throat, dark tail, white rump".

Categories: Photos, Birds, Hawks

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 6, 2010 at 10:15 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 25, 2010

Swainson's Hawk

Above: Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni). This hawk recently returned from a winter in Argentina, only to be slammed by an April snowstorm. Here, the snows have receded and he's hunting by hovering in place near Bear Creek Lake Park.

It was really wild to watch him hold his position. Basically, he put his nose into the wind, and just angled his tail and wings as the rapidly changing winds blew past him. He wasn't flapping his wings at all. Just bending them a bit now and again to adjust for the winds.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Hawks

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 25, 2010 at 5:09 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 22, 2010

Red-tailed Hawk

Jen and I shot this bird as it hovered in the air near Bear Creek Lake Park. It was really wild to watch him hold his position. Basically, he put his nose into the wind, and just angled his tail and wings as the rapidly changing winds blew past him. He wasn't flapping his wings at all. Just bending them a bit now and again to adjust for the winds. At first, I thought it might be a Swainson's hawk, just returned from a winter in Argentina. But, as he got closer, I saw it was a mature Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) that wintered here in Morrison.

What I've noticed is that, now that the weather is warmer, the Red-tailed hawks are soaring more as they search the fields for food. Also, they're pushing up higher into the mountains as the temperatures rise. In the dead of winter, they just hunkered down in the trees, and spent much less time soaring over the fields. Probably partly because it was so cold, and partly because there wasn't as much food moving around on the ground.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Hawks

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 22, 2010 at 9:29 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 18, 2010

Swainson's Hawk

Above: Jen spotted this bird flying over Costco yesterday. I stopped and got some shots, but didn't realize it was a Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) until I got home and looked at the images on the computer. Here's my post at whatbird.com.

Update: These birds winter in Argentina and are just returning to Colorado for the summer.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Hawks

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 18, 2010 at 9:18 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 10, 2010

Immature Red-tailed Hawk

Above: Immature Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) near Bear Creek Lake Park in Morrison, Colorado. The yellow eye in this image indicates an immature bird. Mature Red-tailed Hawks have a dark-brown eye.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Hawks

Continue reading "Immature Red-tailed Hawk"

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 10, 2010 at 11:01 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

June 29, 2009

Swainson's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) with light color morph soaring over a field near the hogback. Here's my post at whatbird.com. Granted, this photo isn't very good, but so far as I know, this is the first Swainson's Hawk I've ever seen. I used to assume that all the hawks I saw were Red-tailed Hawks. Now, when I see a bird overheard, I take a shot and then when I get home, I try to identify it.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Hawks

Posted by Rob Kiser on June 29, 2009 at 12:30 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

June 21, 2009

Cooper's Hawk

This is not a great photo, but this Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) flew over the house yesterday. Wendy pointed it out and I just assumed it was a Red-tailed Hawk. But upon closer inspection, I believe that it's a Cooper's Hawk. The long narrow tail gives it away as an accipiter. The rounded tail and the overall size mean it's a Cooper's as opposed to a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Posted by Rob Kiser on June 21, 2009 at 9:52 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink