On Sunday, I was lucky enough to spend a couple of hours in the company of a wild juvenile Swainson's Hawk at the edge of a wheat field. It is actually the same bird I photographed the week prior.
This time, the bird stayed put for a llong period of time and I had the pleasure of observing a number of poses and behaviors.
Several hundred shots later, I am now left with the long process of going through everything.
Here are 3 that stand out so far.
Three different poses:
The grumpy look ....
The wing stretch ....
While preening ...
Nikon D300s + Nikkor 500mm f4 VR
Full sensor images - no crop applied.
Overcast, dark sky made for an interesting photo session. Natural soft tones, low contrast which is the way I like my images: of course this is not to everyone's liking.
douter wrote:
Nice work Gkor. What is the background here?
Douglas
Thank you Douglas.
The background (natural - untouched) is a gently and large sloping wheat field. The subject was perched at the bottom edge so I had the Hawk at eye level for the whole time.
The week before the wheat was standing and on this past Sunday it was already cut / harvested which makes for perfect hunting ground for young Hawks.
The reason why the bird was perched for that long is probably because it had to regurgitate a large pellet: something which I had never witnessed before from a Hawk (Owls yes but never a Hawk). I may have shots of this behavior but still have to go through everything I got. This "event" took place about an hour and half into the "photo session".
Several hundred shots later, I am now left with the long process of going through everything.
They add up fast when you have a cooperative subject don't they G.
Nice work, I like them all. Wish the wing stretch in #2 was on the front side...
+1 on having a bit more space on that one.
Lovely set indeed ! I do agree with giving the bird more room, in all of the shots - they also look a little desaturated to me, is that deliberate and the look you were aiming for ? If so excuse me !
I really enjoyed #1 and #2, but would have preferred a bit more space on the right of #2. 
