Blog followers know I have a strong aversion for power poles and wires in my images. But thanks to input from readers I’ve had a change of heart when the poles are ancient and the insulators are the old-fashioned kind.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I photographed this juvenile in mid-September in Clark County, Idaho just as it touched down on the old pole. I have a strong attraction for photos of landing raptors because they’re hard to get and as a result we don’t see many of them. I like the timing of this shot and the nice light on most of the ventral surfaces of the bird. For me there’s just enough light in the eye for the image to work and I think the missing insulator only adds to the appeal because of its implication of age.
Regular readers know I’ve despised poles and wires in my images from the get-go and some of you have given me grief for my pickiness. To be honest the only reason I was even photographing these hawks on the poles was so I could get them in flight just before landing or just after takeoff (I could crop out the poles if I had to). But these particular poles are ancient and weathered and the insulators are the old-fashioned kind so I gritted my teeth and posted a shot of a red-tail landing on a different but similar pole a couple of months ago. Friend Jerry Liguori pointed out that these very old poles are abandoned railroad poles carrying low voltage signal lines (there were RR tracks adjacent to them) and other readers noted that the insulators are antique collectibles.
Since that time my images of this bird and others on the poles have grown on me. A lot. To the point that I actually cropped this image to feature the pole, crossbeam and insulators (the bird is fairly small in the frame and I’ve cropped to the end of the beam). Without input from readers I’d have probably kept this image but it never would have seen the light of day.
Don’t tell me you can’t teach an old dog (or an old photographer) new tricks!
Ron
Note: Sharp-eyed readers may notice that this hawk is probably the same bird as the one in the linked post in my text.
I absolutely love it. I especially like what I see as a look of concentration on the hawks face as it “nails” its landing. I would give him a 10/10 in olympic gymnastics.
Stephen
I concur with your score, Stephen. Not bad for a young bird.
I do indeed appreciate your flexibility. And the hawk. Love its intense concentrationa and focus. And britches.
“I do indeed appreciate your flexibility”
I anticipated that you might, EC. Thank you.
You’ve shown the intersection of physics with biology perfectly here. Fabulous wing and tail positions!
The glass insulators are interesting as well — they make me think of landing lights at the airport.
“You’ve shown the intersection of physics with biology perfectly here”
An interesting observation, Marty. Thanks.
Ron, I agree with your comments about power poles etc, but this photo really works for me…the attitude of the hawk is spectacular!!
Thanks very much, Jerry.
I love this photo. There’s a elegant, athletic grace in how raptors (and birds in general) move. From my perspective, there’s an overall grace of being that blows me away frequently. But this slice of time is simply spectacular. Of course, that graceful majesty thing doesn’t always work for them–sometimes, gravity works when a branch breaks or some other insidious thing happens, but generally, it all comes together in a symphonic beauty.
To be truthful, I’ve never noticed the insulators and had no idea about their collectability. Actually, it often takes me a while to get to the elements of the background other than an overall sense of of color and space. But in this shot, it’s much louder, demanding more attention than usual (in my mind) and that’s not a bad thing. I’m delighted you’ve had a change of heart along these lines, choosing to leave some nits where they rightfully belong. 🙂
Again, thank you for a spectacular beginning to this day while I continue packing and readying for this next journey in my life. You ROCK!
“sometimes, gravity works when a branch breaks or some other insidious thing happens”
That’s for sure. I have photos of this same bird slipping on the pole, for no apparent reason, and it took it about 5 seconds and multiple in-place wing flaps to recover. The bird certainly didn’t look very graceful at the time.
Gravity. It’s not just a good idea — it’s the law. 😉
(I may or may not have this saying on a t-shirt.)
Yeah, that kind of thing happens from time to time. The good news is if you have wings, you don’t make that ugly SPLAT sound when that happens 🙂
I’m proud of you, Old Dog!!! This is a beautiful portrait of a very focused bird, making a very precise landing. I love the silver of the old, weathered wood and the soft blues of the old glass insulators…beautiful harmony!
Thanks, Patty. I figured that both you and Elephant’s Child would appreciate this old dog’s new-found flexibility… 🙂
FLEXIBLE old dogs are the best. They are the cat’s meow!,,,
Neat image Ron. I love those old colored insulators too.
I read somewhere where the expansion of the Swainson’s Hawk into some areas in the US was amplified by the utility pole. The poles provided a great perch from them to hunt on. ( I tried to find that reference and have not been able to find it yet, probably somewhere in the Cornell BNA literature).
What I find interesting is that in Southern Colorado a large population of Swainson’s Hawks summers there. Different individuals have their favorite telephone pole. In the winter, on most years, Rough-legged hawks come into the area and use the telephone poles, however, they are even more selective and localized in the poles they utilize. At one farm road intersection there are a group of 5-6 RLHA’s that can be found on the telephone poles in January. They migrate from SE Alaska and points north down to their winter telephone poles. Pretty neat.
Thanks for neat article, now I will be noticing more of the insulators 🙂
Well, Swainson’s sure love to hunt from and just perch on poles so the theory makes sense, Ed.
And the proclivity you mention of both species to repeatedly use the same poles also apparently applies to Ferruginous Hawks. For years now the same pair (apparently) has been perching on the same few poles in the Centennial Valley when they seldom perch on other poles either up or down the line.
I think you’ll find that most raptors are habitual in their perching/hunting choices. Within their territories, resident pairs will also keep to a loose schedule, often choosing the same perches simply because those perches work for the best vantage point from which to command the greatest area of the field, thus increasing their chances of success. When I hunted with Mariah, I could predict with about 90 percent accuracy which perch she’d choose to begin the hunt.
I noticed the repeated use of the same hunting perch (in a tall birch tree overlooking a field) for a pair of kestrals last winter. They were hunting just north of the lab I work in and I had great second story views of their scanning the landscape. The male and the female preferred a different branch when each of them used the tree.
Insulators and raptors…two of my favorites. This is a very nice photo Ron. The pole, wires and glass all work well with the incoming hawk.
Thanks very much, Zaphir. I figured you might like this shot, knowing your love for insulators.
There’s an unexpected counterpoint in this beautiful picture–the uniformity and the even spacing of the insulators ( they’re almost like a row of soldiers
standing at attention ) emphasizes the dynamic, wild quality of the hawk coming in for a landing, and the extended talons create an exclamation point
in the side-by-side comparison of manmade and vibrantly ALIVE !
You make some interesting points, Kris – they made me look at the image again and I agree with what you said. Thanks.
Well said!
Beautiful! Great detail! The post doesn’t detract at all with the age and the gorgeous insulators. It is their environment after all and they make good use of it! 🙂 Glad they’re “growing on you” a bit. :0
More than just “a bit”, Judy. And I enjoy the fact that I’ve learned to be a little more flexible. Occasionally…
It’s breathtaking! I love it.
Thank you, Sharon.
Love it. Both the landing and that gorgeous pole!!!!! It’s Art. I’m going to look for some of those poles and than I’m going to wish me a landing hawk on them .
Marina, I suppose it could be said that the pole with all those insulators is a little busy and distracting from the bird but for me it’s an integral and appealing part of the image. Good luck with your quest.