Holy Cow I got a ribbon!! Thanks everyone for the votes and comments, I didn't think this had a chance after taking a nose dive around 115 votes. Truly an amazing bird and sight to see, well worth getting soaked with rain! [Apr. 7th, 2009 11:57:19 PM]
This is a wild redtail hawk that was extremely kind to me for a bout 45 min. It was one of those days that I figured I wouldn't get any good pics b/c it was pouring down rain, but I decided to go out anyway in hopes that it would stop raining....well it didn't but I was rewarded with one of my better subjects I've shot in the wild. She was extremely kind to me, allowing me to follow her around a small area as she flew from tree to tree scooping an open field. She perched at eye level on many occasions, letting get within 10 feet of her. She really just accepted that I was there and wasn't going to mess with her, she was an amazing bird.
I watched her snatch what I believe were frogs out of the rain soaked field on a few occasions, very cool.
This is the same hawk that I entered in the Rock Song Title challenge and in the March Freestudy. Personaly the fauna challenge shot is my fav since you can see her shaking off the rain.
Thanks to all for the comments and votes, truly a magnificent bird and day for me, these shots are why I dig photography, the unexpected interaction with such a beautiful creature. Cheers.
Statistics
Place: 3 out of 204 Avg (all users): 6.7909 Avg (commenters): 8.2308 Avg (participants): 6.9296 Avg (non-participants): 6.7248 Views since voting: 4580 Views during voting: 345 Votes: 220 Comments: 42 Favorites: 9 (view)
You are incredibly lucky that this hawk was so generous with her time! Amazing shots, both of them! Hope you make this one into a print and put it where she can see it :-)
As someone who shoots birds and wildlife a fair bit you were very lucky to get such a cooperative bird!
I am glad you did and you got the shots to prove it.
btw, I know you got a 6.79 but this shot def should have scored higher... first off it is a wild hawk, which places this image in a different category of fauna pictures, one that i think is much more worthwhile of admiration. 2nd, you don't see shots like this with the feathers all ruffled and the water splashing, a real original shot with perfect technicals, congrats again.
Shaking off the bad weather
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