An Unusual Encounter With A Northern Harrier And A Junco

Regular readers know that occasionally I recycle an older post that I published so long ago that most current readers haven’t seen it. This post, first published in 2011 and modified from the original, is one of those.

Both of these birds did something out of the ordinary as they interacted with each other and with me.

 

northern-harrier-0985

 1/3200, f/8, ISO 400, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

I was photographing this male Northern Harrier out my pickup window while it was perched on the clump of snow-bent vegetation you see below the bird when I heard a soft scratching sound coming from the front of my truck. I quickly glanced to my right and noticed that a plucky Dark-eyed Junco had landed square in the middle of the hood of the truck. I thought that was unusual of course but I was more interested in the harrier so I quickly turned back to watching him through my viewfinder and it immediately became obvious that the harrier was now fixated on that junco on my hood.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours watching and photographing harriers and it’s virtually unheard of for one to take off in my direction when I’m this close to the bird. Usually the direction of take off is away from me or if I’m lucky it might be either to my left or right. But this one had apparently decided that it wanted junco for lunch and when it launched it immediately turned slightly and headed straight toward the junco on my truck hood with mayhem on its mind.

 

 

northern-harrier-0988

 1/3200, f/8, ISO 400, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

If you look carefully at his eyes in all four shots you’ll notice that he isn’t really focused on me – instead he’s looking slightly to my right, directly at the junco on the hood of the pickup. That fact becomes even more apparent as the harrier gets closer to me and to the junco.

 

 

northern-harrier-0989

 1/3200, f/8, ISO 400, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Here he is completing his slight turn to his left (notice the tail angle) and heading directly toward the junco.

 

 

northern-harrier-0990

1/3200, f/8, ISO 400, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

This was the last sharp shot I got because by now he was flying fast and my shooting angle was restricted because of the limitations of the truck window. To be perfectly honest, with this busy background so close to the bird and with him heading almost straight for me I was pleasantly surprised to get any sharp shots at all – especially with the teleconverter attached.

Looking back, part of me wishes I’d taken a moment to get a shot through the windshield of the junco on my hood with another camera but knowing my luck I’d  have missed the harrier’s take off.

And if you’re at all curious about what happened after my last shot, the harrier made it very close to my pickup and to the junco before he apparently decided that discretion was the better part of valor, changed his mind, veered off to his right and flew past my pickup within a few feet of me – too close for my lens to focus and much too fast for my reflexes.

For a split second I thought he might join me inside the truck…

Ron

PS –  In my original post some international readers weren’t aware of what a “junco” was so I’m including the image below for clarification. Dark-eyed Juncos (there are several sub-species) are common North American birds sometimes referred to as “snowbirds” for their habit of appearing at feeders during snow storms.

 

dark-eyed-junco-7561Dark-eyed Junco (photo taken at my feeder)

 

 

30 Comments

  1. I’m a big fan of Juncos, so I’m glad the one on your hood survived. However, I’m also a big fan of raptors, so I hope that gorgeous Harrier found a good lunch. All of the shots of him are marvelous.

  2. Wow is right. The first photo is my favorite. Well done Ron!

  3. Wow, wow and wow.
    Lucky junco. Lucky Ron. And I hope the harrier’s later hunting was more successful.

  4. Those images literally take my breath away!! Thanks for doing a repeat of this encounter!

  5. Patty Chadwick

    WELLLLLLL??? What happened to the junco??? We have slate colored juncos, with pink bills…cute little ground feeders…definetly “snowbirds”, as they’re called here, too…

  6. Jo Ann Donnelly

    WOW< WOW< WOW< Ron!!! This is a STUNNING series – what an eye-popping wing span on this magnificent Harrier!!!!! OMG my jaw hit my desk looking at these photos and reading your commentary -just had me "juiced"!! What an experience to be literally in the middle of it!! So glad you reposted it, Ron & thanks for the photo of the Junco because, like your International readers, I didn't know what a Junco looked like!! Lovely little bird – wish they would visit my birdfeeder.

    • Jo Ann, there are certain times of year when I can barely SEE my feeder for all the juncos. Usually in the winter. But their visits are sporadic.

  7. The Gray Ghost attacks again!
    Absolutely beautiful images, and I agree you nailed this bird.
    Nice to see a western subspecies of the Dark-eyed Junco.
    Many thanks for sharing.

  8. Wonderful pictures, Ron. REALLY nailed the harrier.:) Those gold eyes are quite intense and great contrast against the dark coloring of the bird. The dark-eyed Junco is a pretty bird in it’s subtle way.

  9. What a spectacular series of shots, Ron! Insert the ridiculously redundant and repetitive OH WOW right here!
    The detail in these shots is just exquisite. I’m surprised, however, that this Harrier lowered its legs in his left turn toward your truck. I would THINK (from racing days) that would have interrupted his air flow/aerodynamics and overall speed, which might or might not have been a bad thing given that he had mayhem and chaos (and lunch) on his mind. Interesting question that.
    I think my favorite of these is the first, with his wings down. While all photos show exquisite detail and action, I just love the first image, its power and intricacy of the feathers. Super WOW!
    Again, thank you for letting me wake to outrageous beauty. What a wonderful way to begin the day!

    • Laura, in my experience harriers lower their legs like that before they’ve built up air speed more than other hawks do. They often raise and lower their legs in a timing pattern that’s synchronized with their wing beats.

      When they’re hunting “low and slow” very near the ground they also do it but at those times they pretty much hang down constantly.

      • Ron, I’m not sure race drivers want anything to do with trimming speed unless they’re forced, so that concept is somewhat foreign to me…LOL! Harriers obviously have the concept down pat. Figures 🙂

  10. The 4th shot of the harrier (with its wings down) is especially spectacular…I love the intensity in the harrier’s eyes. I am fascinated by birds of prey and wish I had more opportunities to photograph them. It’s always a treat to see your photos of them.

  11. Charlotte Norton

    Wonderful behavioral series Ron!

    Charlotte

  12. All four pictures are awesome. I never seem to get that close to this bird. For some reason, I find the Harrier a hard bird to shoot…I never seem to get it in focus (even though I have lock on it). The male is especially gratifying to see here…great shots as always Ron. The first photo…I really like the wing position in this one.

    • Harriers tend to be a difficult, uncooperative subject, Zaphir. So many of their habits almost seem to be designed to foil photographers. I found an unusual one this summer – it repeatedly over four different mornings allowed me to get very close. But the bird always chose a perch that was at a difficult angle to shoot and with only a marginal light angle.

  13. That is pretty neat Ron. I love how you captured the stare on the harrier eyes. I wonder if the junco initially sought refuge from a harrier in the area by landing on our truck?

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