Red-tailed Hawks - More from the Big Bend

To expound a bit more on my previous post about photographing tiny birds I would like to offer this tip.  Birders like to walk through areas and look for birds.  This is all well and good.  I, as a birder, like to do that on occasion myself.  However, as a bird photographer with heavy equipment, I prefer to find a location that is a bit more sheltered to shoot from.

One such place might be a bird blind, or an area where there might be feeders, etc, located, along with a sheltered place for the photographer.  I do a lot of my work from such places, although it is not my favorite.  I prefer to not have my photos include feeders, seed trays, etc.  I prefer to have the natural look.

So, my favorite place is in my car.  It is a natural blind.  Birds are not afraid of it, and I can maneuver it into some isolated places for better sight lines.  I usually drive very slowly, around 5 mph or slower, creeping through woods, parks, and empty roadways.  If I come across a copse of trees where there is bird activity, I come to a stop.  With patience, you will see birds flitting between trees.  I keep my big lens resting on my “noodle”, on the window sill.

My only pet peeve about all of this, is when the action takes place outside the passenger side window.  That can be exasperating.  That is when I slowly move the car around for better position.  I have tried to quietly get out of the car, to take a photo over the roof, or from behind it, but almost every time the bird gets spooked.  It is so amazing.  I can get sometimes within 15 feet with the car and get great shots, but if I leave it when I am 40 or 50 feet away, the birds scatter.

There are times, though, that I find myself in a large area of bird activity, some times in parks.  I have been able to set up my tripod, maybe next to a picnic table for comfort, and just watch and wait.  This is particularly nice it the trees are large and open like large oaks.

So, try these methods.  I think that you will find that you will come away with more usable images.

I also love photographing raptors.  One of my favorite subjects, and the one that I have the most opportunities to shoot, is the Red-tailed Hawk.  The following three were shot last week in or near Big Bend National Park.  All were photographed from my car, but in all cases, they were much farther away.

Red-tailed Hawk in tree.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk in ocotillo.

In an intial post about our visit to the Big Bend I erred in quoting the number of species that we saw.  After carefully auditing our lists, we discovered that we had seen a total of 60 species.  I wish that I could have photographed all of them.  As it is, we still didn’t see any of the birds that should be arriving for the winter, or the list might have been greater.  For you who might be interested in seeing what there, is to view there here is our complete list.

1. Red-tailed Hawk
2. White-winged Dove
3. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
4. Turkey Vulture
5. American Kestrel
6. Chihuahuan Raven
7. Vermilion Flycatcher
8. Eurasion Collared Dove
9. Northern Mockingbird
10. American Coot
11. Golden-fronted Woodpecker
12. Townsend Warbler
13. Black Vulture
14. Black-throated Sparrow
15. House Finch
16. Mourning Dove
17. Say’s Phoebe
18. Wild Turkey
19. Canyon Towhee
20. Northern Flicker
21. Red-naped Sapsucker
22. Blue Grosbeak
23. Cassin’s Kingbird
24. Eastern Phoebe
25. Loggerhead Shrike
26. Greater Roadrunner
27. Sage Thrasher
28. Scaled Quail
29. House Sparrow
30. Yellow-headed Blackbird
31. Clay-colored Sparrow
32. Western Wood Peewee
33. Yellow-billed Sapsucker
34. Wilson’s Warbler
35. Brown-headed Cowbird
36. Vesper Sparrow
37. Belted Kingfisher
38. Black-chinned Hummingbird
39. Nashville Warbler
40. Chipping Sparrow
41. White-crowned Sparrow
42. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
43. Yellow-rumped Warbler
44. Pyrrhuloxia
45. Lesser Goldfinch
46. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
47. Orange-crowned Warbler
48. Northern Cardinal
49. Inca Dove
50. Yellow-breasted Chat
51. Cactus Wren
52. Acorn Woodpecker
53. Steller’s Jay
54. Mexican Jay
55. Scott’s Oriole
56. Common Grackle
57. Northern Harrier
58. Bell’s Vireo
59. Western Scrub Jay
60. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

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