This is the same hawk I photographed in flight from far away a week ago but I found “him” again yesterday morning and this time he was close.
And he’s a dark morph by golly!
First I want to show you one of the photos I took of the same dark morph a week ago today. It’s a large crop because I wasn’t close to the bird. I was highly disappointed because he’s a spectacular bird and dark morphs of this species are uncommon, estimated to be significantly less than 10% of the overall population. I seldom even see a dark morph much less photograph one.
It’s a long drive to get to this area but two days ago I went back looking for him but he was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t surprised by my failure to find him again but I sure was disappointed.
But dammit, dark morphs are worthy of repeated long shot efforts and I’m undeniably stubborn so yesterday morning I tried again and this time I found him. I’m virtually positive it’s the same bird.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
He was perched on a wooden fence post in warm light only minutes after dawn. I really didn’t want to flush him off the post so I approached him unusually slowly and carefully, stopping to photograph him from longer distances in-between stops. These photos were taken when I was closest to him but I have many others from further away. He showed no signs of nervousness as I approached on the gravel/dirt road.
It was a cold morning (I’d seen 20° F a few minutes earlier) and as usual that helped to make him “sticky”.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
In all the time I spent with him he posed very little. I was hoping for a wing stretch, a rouse or maybe he might even cast a pellet but no such luck. I suspect the cold also contributed to his torpor.
It was at this point that my old friend Murphy paid me an unwelcome visit. I’d taken many shots of the hawk from up close with my teleconverter attached and he apparently wasn’t going to pose for me or do anything else interesting so I removed my teleconverter in case he took off. I really didn’t expect him to launch anytime soon because he’d been there so long with me relatively close and showed no signs of nervousness. But just in case he did I didn’t want to clip or cut off any body parts.
I’m sure you can guess the rest of this sad story.
Just as I was raising my lens again after swapping out my teleconverter the damn bird took off! As I had predicted he took off into the south breeze which was a perfect direction for flight shots in beautiful light. In a panic while he was in flight I tried to find him in my viewfinder and focus on him again but in the two shots where I didn’t cut off any body parts my lens was still moving relative to the bird in my attempt to catch up with him and those two shots were soft. One was horribly soft and the other wasn’t much sharper.
Normally my viewers would never see either one of those photos but I want to show you what I missed and why I was so mad at myself for screwing up such a great opportunity.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 800, 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 think this could have been a pretty spectacular photo of a beautiful and unusual raptor in flight but it’s so soft it makes my eyes water as they try to accomplish the impossible task of bringing the hawk into focus.
This is the only other dark morph Ferruginous Hawk I’ve ever photographed up close in almost 12 years of photographing birds and even this shot is a little soft. This photo was taken way back in 2013 so you can imagine how I’ve longed for another chance at a dark morph up close and in flight.
I keep telling myself that failures like this are just the way it goes in bird photography but so far it doesn’t seem to be helping.
Ron
Notes:
- In the interest of full disclosure the hawk in the last photo had just taken off from a utility pole so there was a wire in the original image. I removed it.
- Yesterday afternoon I sent one of the photos of this bird I’d taken earlier in the morning to my good friend and board member of HawkWatch International Mike Shaw. When it comes to raptors Mike really knows his stuff. He called this bird a “sublimely beautiful ferrug” so I took that as confirmation of my own thoughts about the hawk.
Ron,
Do Ferruginous Hawks hang around your area all winter, or do they head further south?
Those shots in the warm light are stunning. When you said the other ones were soft, I couldn’t understand because I thought the face looked sharp but okay, I see they are not perfect but I still like the poses, especially the last one. The dark morph is pretty special, great that you spotted it and know you will go out there again
I’ve never even seen a light morph Ferruginous Hawk, and certainly not a dark morph. So all these photos are a treat. Thanks for posting them.
They’re both great birds, Lyle. Their species name is “regalis” for good reason.
Ferruginous hawks are notorious for being intensely aware of the photographer, and deciding idiosyncratically to hold still or leave quickly. Huge and gorgeous. I got lucky once in 2017. You got some great light here, to help you.
Your first sentence is spot on, Martha. Most buteos tend to signal impending takeoff one way or another but I think ferrugs are much less likely to do so.
Ron, this is great to see. Beautiful bird. I’ve always been fascinated with melanism in hawks having seen a few in my life. I had never heard “dark morph” before, just melanistic (i don’t get out much!). So i went searching the internet to learn more, and found a very educational abstract of a 25 page article online. See: BioOne.org Journal of the British Ornithologists Club; 13 March 2017; “The dark side of birds: melanism—facts and fiction” by Hein van Grouw. Regarding your dedication to photographing birds, if you ever get a photo, fuzzy or not, of a leucistic hawk (or any type of leucistic bird for that matter) I would love to see it. That’s something I have never seen.
“If you ever get a photo of a leucistic hawk I would love to see it.”
Ask and I will deliver, Nina (when I can at least…).
https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2016/11/15/leucistic-red-tailed-hawk-in-flight-and-at-takeoff/
Oh, I am almost speechless! You’re a dear! Thanks so much.
Lovely bird, at moments like that I try to just enjoy what I am watching. I think I beat myself up enough over other things, I try not to when it is something I enjoy!
April, you’re obviously more emotionally disciplined than I am but then many people are.
Apparently this hawk and Ol’ Murph are in cahoots! 🙁 So glad you found him (the bird, not the jerk) again. Hopefully, you’ll get several more chances with this beauty!
Had my “odd birdie” moment this morning when I let my foster out to potty — three hummingbirds hanging out on the same bare branch within a foot of each other.
Thanks, Marty. Seeing hummers this time of year just seems so… weird to me.
My Birds of Paradise are blooming away right now, so I think that’s the attraction, at least by my yard.
Ron, what a beautiful bird. I’m sorry if this was a ‘miss’ for you but still think you have some beautiful photos here that I truly enjoyed. Thank you
Thanks, Alice.
What an absolutely glorious bird.
I do feel you pain at the missed shots but have to admit I would be very, very happy with those you got.
I hope he stays around and you get other chances (knowing that fate and the bird will undoubtely stymie some of those chances).
EC, I found him again this morning so I’m hoping he’ll stick around for much of the winter.
We hope so too. Probably nearly as fervently as you do.
What a beauty❗️
Your failures are my gems❤️
Hopefully he’ll keep cooperating with you.
Enjoy your day 😁
Thank you, Diana.
I’ve seen several dark morph Red-tails and a few dark morph Swainson’s, but I’ve only seen a dark Ferruginous once and that was at a considerable distance. So, these are wonderful photos to see even if a bit soft for your standards. We appreciate your sharing.
Dan, with your vast experience in the field I’m a little surprised you haven’t seen more of them than just one. I guess that speaks to just how uncommon they are, especially in certain areas.
It’s OK, Ron. Those many of us who strive to follow in your footsteps have these “softies” by the 100’s! Nice to see this bird, the shot is a great “almost”.
I have more than my share of “softies”, Mark. Or at least I did before I deleted most of them.
Beautiful even if not “up to snuff” by your standards! 🙂 The last photo is great with the hawk calling……. Murphy had obviously had enough….. 😉
Murphy NEVER gives up, Judy. Sometimes his efforts aren’t successful but he never gives up.
Just as I was raising my lens, or just as I was focusing – those words say it all for bird photographers. If I had kept a journal of how many times I had just raised my lens, or just started to focus when Murphy entered the picture it would be as thick as a dictionary. How many times have you and I and all bird photographers screamed NO, or DAMMIT as the hawk, eagle, or kingfisher flew off? And the other one that has most aggravated me with our eagles is standing there for 30 minutes or more poised for an action shot and then finally giving up and walking away only to turn back and see it flying off. Your two very good perched shots should give you some consolation. He is a beauty.
Everett, It almost happened to me again with a Rough-legged Hawk this morning but this time I reacquired focus on the bird about one nanosecond before it took off. Ol’ Murph slipped up…
Saw one earlier this week which was a pleasant surprise considering they only winter down here in S. Arizona. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at actually, and your post this AM confirmed. Grabbing my gear and off I go this AM to see if I can get as lucky as you. I hope I don’t have to wait 7 years to get a decent flight shot, but if that’s the case, so be it. Love the images.
I’m glad my post was helpful to you, Frank. Good luck with your quest!
Spectacular bird! He has beautiful colors. 😍 Really like that third photo and I can imagine how great your fourth would have been with sharpness. I feel bad for you. I know the ‘ity-bity creep and shoot’ routine well but one does what one must. Perhaps another trip in beginning to get set in your mind…I know it would be in mine.
“Perhaps another trip in beginning to get set in your mind”
“Beginning to”? Ha, I’m way ahead of you, Kathy. About the time you made this comment I was pulling out of my driveway on the way back to that area. Found him too.
That “ity-bity creep and shoot” becomes much less effective when you’re shooting on noisy gravel roads like I am most of the time. Birds don’t like that tire noise on gravel.
But your efforts weren’t completely fruitless as you at least got beautiful shots while the bird was perched. Do you think this was due to the AF points missing the head? Or is it possible that the lens wasn’t 101% fully locked in the body when you took out the TC? Thanks for the share.
Elmer, the bird is soft because my lens was still moving relative to the bird and at 1/1600 I didn’t have enough shutter speed to freeze the motion of both the bird and my lens. That’s one of the many reasons I like to use unusually fast shutter speeds for birds but this early in the morning the light still had little intensity so my SS was too slow given what happened.