Upde Designs

Happy Tuesday!

I was having a typical day yesterday.  I was sitting in the kitchen having just finished my mid afternoon snack when I decided to step outside to see if the temperature was still as hot as it was when I mowed the yard earlier in the day.  Before I could open the door my eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar sight.  It was our neighborhood Red-tailed Hawk.  He was sitting on top of a shed about 250 feet away.  I watched him for a little while and then decided I would grab my camera and take a chance at getting a shot.

Click on the images to make them larger and to show more detail.  🙂

I keep the Nikon D4 set up with the Sigma 120 – 600 mm lens configured for wildlife so I didn’t have to waste any time adjusting the camera.  I slowly opened the patio door and stuck the lens out enough so I could see the hawk.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get a focus lock because of the trellis so I thought what the heck if he flies he flies.

To my surprise and delight he didn’t take off and I ripped off 50 – 60 images of him just sitting on the roof.  Then he flew down to the ground.  At first I thought he had found a rodent but he was just sitting there.  He gave me a couple of once overs but didn’t seem to mind that I was shooting lots of frames of him.

Then he took of and flew straight towards me.  When he went by me I could have stuck my lens out and hit him.  He flew over my head and up into the neighbor’s tree.  I slowly walked over to the tree and he let me get close to him again.

I’m sure he found me to be an annoyance and finally he flew away, which was okay with me.  We have some young squirrels and rabbits in our back yard and I’m not anxious for him to feast on them.  🙂

So that was my excitement for the day.

Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.