[ssheipel]

Was wading into the brush and trees off a path as I'd heard a group of some sort of small bird when I all but stepped on this Cooper's Hawk; he startled me as if a pheasant underfoot as he scared up off the ground, along with a small flock of small birds (who had surely been hunkered down avoiding the hawk). The Hawk set down momentarily on a tree branch, just long enough for me to swing the camera up and fire off a short burst of 6 shots (the final two having no hawk in them, such was his quick getaway). But for that one leaf this could have been a fine photograph LOL I share 'cause I was purposefully checking out the Nikon firmware add-on of bird specific AF and figure it nicely grabbed the eye of this bird immediately as I pointed the camera and hit the shutter (all in about 15 seconds; way too short a time for me to have done much thinking about focusing ).

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[S_Funk]

Nice catch to get the eye so sharp with plenty of blur both in front and back of the Hawk. The Hawk seems to be closely watching you.

 

[ssheipel]

Nice catch to get the eye so sharp with plenty of blur both in front and back of the Hawk. The Hawk seems to be closely watching you.

Thanks. Definitely watching me as I'd just flushed him up into that tree

 

[AlanB313]

Was wading into the brush and trees off a path as I'd heard a group of some sort of small bird when I all but stepped on this Cooper's Hawk; he startled me as if a pheasant underfoot as he scared up off the ground, along with a small flock of small birds (who had surely been hunkered down avoiding the hawk). The Hawk set down momentarily on a tree branch, just long enough for me to swing the camera up and fire off a short burst of 6 shots (the final two having no hawk in them, such was his quick getaway). But for that one leaf this could have been a fine photograph LOL I share 'cause I was purposefully checking out the Nikon firmware add-on of bird specific AF and figure it nicely grabbed the eye of this bird immediately as I pointed the camera and hit the shutter (all in about 15 seconds; way too short a time for me to have done much thinking about focusing ).

View attachment 71810

I love this photo! Secretive, vigilant, and powerful. It shows the personality of the bird. No wonder all the little birds freak out when it emerges.
Well done. Inspiring!

 

[SonoranDesert]

I totally agree with @AlanB313 above…for me the photo can be more interesting when the “whole” is left out. This is one of those photos. Kudos…even it was luck.

 

[ssheipel]

I love this photo! Secretive, vigilant, and powerful. It shows the personality of the bird. No wonder all the little birds freak out when it emerges.
Well done. Inspiring!

Thanks much! And I do like it enough that it's in my 'to print' file (when I bite the bullet and get a mortgage to buy new ink for the printer ).

 

[ssheipel]

I totally agree with @AlanB313 above…for me the photo can be more interesting when the “whole” is left out. This is one of those photos. Kudos…even it was luck.

Thank you! Yah, I'm happy to take lucky shots, for sure. And agree with the interesting bit; not every shot can be or should be a portrait! Cheers!