Yesterday morning I finally found a few cooperative Swainson’s Hawks. This is one of them.
1/4000, f/7.1, 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
As I was driving south on a remote road I passed this intermediate morph Swainson’s Hawk and its apparent mate perched on the right side of the road. They were both close to the road and in good light and they didn’t spook when I passed them so darn right, I turned around for them. Earlier in the morning I’d passed quite a few Swainson’s Hawks but most were perched on utility poles so finding these hawks, one of them on a sagebrush perch, was more than I could resist. And they both stuck as I approached them once again, this time from the south.
I like the photo for a variety of reasons, chief among them the fact that the hawk looks so comfy and content. It really pleases me when my avian subjects accept my presence so completely.
It was a photographically successful morning for raptors but my elation was seriously dampened by my own careless mistake. I took almost as many potentially very good photos with my smaller lens and backup camera as I did with my primary birding rig but somehow, soon after I took both memory cards into the house after I got home, I misplaced one of them and haven’t been able to find it. I’ve torn this place apart looking for it but to no avail. I’d be embarrassed to tell you all the time I’ve spent, and all the crazy places I’ve looked, including going through two disgusting cans of trash piece by soggy and sometimes ‘aromatic’ piece.
In over 13 years of photographing birds this is the first time I’ve lost a memory card before I’ve downloaded its images. Maybe it’ll eventually turn up and maybe it won’t but either way I’ll regret my stupid mistake for a very long time.
Ron
Maybe it got caught in your shoes or socks? I share the frustration of losing something and searching endlessly for it. I have found it’s always in the last place I look–if only I could look there first!
Linda, it’s always in the last place we look because as soon as we find it we stop looking for it… 🙂 But I know what you mean.
Couch cushions? And the hawk is fun!
Not there. I didn’t sit in the living room at any time yesterday. I rarely do, actually.
What a beauty! The rounded head of this bird (and many falcons, too) makes them look almost … “sweet.” Yeh… sweet… as long as you are not a vole! Thanks, Ron.
Thanks, Ellen. Rough-legged Hawks share a similar head shape.
Love the very cosy hawk.
And feel for you on the failing memory front. More than I care to admit or remember.
“More than I care to admit or remember”
Sometimes a faulty memory can be a blessing in disguise.
Beautiful hawk and the surrounding bush and blue sky are gorgeous! This is an excellent shot Ron. Am confident you will find the memory card 🙂
At least three times a day I’ll walk into a room in my house and forget why. It cracks me up! At this point in life we have SO many memories, our brains are just full of the good stuff and the minor chores of daily life get pushed out.
I like your theory about lost memories, Kathleen. If it isn’t true I’ll use it as my excuse anyway.
I find half the things I misplace in the slots on the sides side of my driver’s seat. My son had misplaced his credit card and spent several hours looking for it over a week. I suggested he check the side of his car seat. He looked twice and then a third time real good. Thats where he found it. It seems like the little folk like to hop out of your pants pocket and hide there.
Hope you find your memory card!
Kent, I’m notorious for losing things in that slot to the right of my pickup’s driver’s seat. To the point that a friend gave me a device specifically designed to fill that slot and prevent it from happening. Even so, I’ve checked the slot and the floor beneath it carefully several times but it isn’t there.
That bird does look comfy. Very nice! When you relax, I predict you will find the memory card. I wouldn’t want you thinking I suspect that because of experience. (Imagine a winking smiley face.)
I dunno, Nancy. I’m still looking for my favorite kitchen knife I lost somewhere in the house about three years ago.
Nice Swainson’s. I hope you find your card, so frustrating when things are misplaced. I have been looking for my original wedding ring for about 2 years. I couldn’t wear it at work, it scratched the kids, so stopped wearing it 14 years ago. I have looked everywhere but intensely for the last 2. I also lost a replacement wedding ring not long ago in the garden. Tana was visiting that day and we lamented together.
April, one time when I was visiting my daughter Shannon in Vegas she’d lost her engagement ring with a very large diamond in it the day before I got there. The day after I arrived we both spent most of the day looking for it in her house. It was never found.
I’ll bet Tana was a welcome ‘consoler’.
Hope you find the card. It is probably hiding in plane sight. I got back from taking flower pics and they all aren’t on the card. Don’t know what happened. Will do some tests with it, I guess they do wear out, will have to do more research.
That’s one thing I’ve had luck with, Jo. In 13+ years of photographing birds I don’t believe I’ve ever had a memory card go bad – maybe once but maybe not. I still use some of my oldest cards for utility purposes.
Today’s Red tail and this one are gorgeous. It wasn’t the card just the user. I hit 9999 images and the card made a new folder for the next numbers. Never had this problem when they started renumbering before.
I find mine in my pants pocket
That’s exactly where I thought I put it before I went into the house. Nada…
Beautiful photo. Looks almost as tho she’s hunkered down on a nest.
Good luck finding your memory. Er, memory card!
Maybe if I could find my memory card I’d have a better memory… 🙂
I think you nailed it on this photo, if that’s any consolation.
I could joke about why it’s called a memory card but that would be hypocritical since I spend some part of each week searching for something I mislaid, occasionally rooting through the garbage bins as well. The person who invents a locator chip small enough to fit on a pair of glasses will be an instant gazillionaire. And I’ll gladly chip in, no pun intended.
Yes, it is some consolation Lyle.
Hell, I’ve looked for my sunglasses that were sitting on top of my head. More than once.
I misplace or lose something everyday. It used to really bother me but now I just calm down and remember that it is 2020 Part 2!
Pat, misplacing tools when I’m working in my wood shop is a constant annoyance for me. I can use a tool, put it down, and 30 seconds later have a devil of a time finding it.
Very nice photo Ron. I saw one for the first time here last year. It was on a utility pole and then flew down and disappeared. I had never seen one before so I had no knowledge of them and did not realize that he was down on the ground somewhere in the brush. Just by chance as I was walking away I saw it and got some good shots. When I got home I read up on them and their habits.
I am sure you will find that memory card, but yes, those kinds of situations drive you crazy until you finally resolve it. Good luck.
Thanks, Everett. I’m far from sure I’ll find it. I simply cannot imagine where it might be that I haven’t already checked. Many times…
What a beauty! Everything about this shouts ‘WOW’ Those colors are really nice and the pose nestled in like that shouts comfort. I’m anxious to read where you find your wayward card… 🙂
Thanks, Kathy. IF I if find my wayward card. At this point I’m far from optimistic.
Cool hawk! It really looks snuggied down in the sage…… 🙂 ARGH! on the memory card. 🙁 My luck it would be in a pocket or slide under the computer or keyboard – places I’d be SURE it wasn’t.. Hope it turns up.
Thanks, Judy. I think there’s a mean-spirited gremlin in my house.
Know about those – you’re sure it’s not still in the camera? 😖
Yup, I’m sure. It isn’t in ANY of my cameras.
I always lose things in the door pocket of my truck, but you said you brought it in. Rats!
Mary, I’m planning on pulling my pickup out of the garage into better light this morning and looking very carefully again. But I’m sure (almost…) that I brought it into the house.
Finding a lost memory card . . . sounds like a title for another post 🙂
Could happen but not likely at this point.