New Glass Update

So I think I have my focus issues resolved.  Got these today while out in the car for a little drive. 

Male Common Golden Eye,  stunning subtle coloration in the head, hard to capture.

 Female Red Breasted Merganser

 Male Northern Harrier or Marsh Hawk.  Hunting low over the meadow in search of prey.

Northern Harrier

Got out this am for a little birding and got some nice shots of a female Northern Harrier flying while is scoured the field for a mouse which eventually got.  I've always enjoyed watching these hawks hunt. 

 

In Flight

Northern Harrier on the hunt. 

Raptors

The last few weekends I've gotten out in search of raptors.  Here are two of my favorites.  It's funny how photography is so much like fishing, always hoping for the great encounter.

 

Either a Sharp Shinned Hawk or a Coopers, it's difficult to tell as they are identical in markings but the size difference is the indicator and they can overlap in size.   These high stung hunter mostly feed on small birds and rodents.

A male Northern Harrier hunting.  These birds feed on both small rodents and small birds.  I love seeing the work a field hovering just like this over the ground only to pounce when a meal if found. 

My House of Worship

 I'm not a religious person but I do consider myself a spiritual person, so in that vein this past Sunday I spent some quality time in my house of worship. I went out to one of the local areas where it is fairly common to see Marsh Hawks aka Northern Harriers.  They are a unique bird of prey that hunts on the wing for small rodents and birds.  They nest on the ground and hunt by flying low over the ground.  Their heads are disc shaped  to funnel sound to their ears.  Watching them work the fields over and over, probing the ground for an easy meal mesmerizes me and keeps me enthralled.   Over the coarse of the two hours I was privileged to witness their activities I took hundreds of photos.  As is the case of any photographer I only ended up with a few that I liked.  Such is the nature of bird photography especially without the big dollar lenses that the pros use.