From the sublime to the profane in not much more than the blink of an eye.
1/2000, f/9 (a mistake, I have no idea why my camera was set at f/9), ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Yesterday morning this Northern Harrier at Farmington Bay WMA reminded me of the “old days” at the refuge when harriers would regularly hunt next to the road in winter, seeming to mostly ignore vehicles and allow photographers wonderful opportunities for flight shots.
That’s exactly what this bird did, which allowed me to get over 100 photos as it cruised by. In this shot I like the head turn and the many-layered background produced by alternating patches of marshland, snow and bare ground. Your take on the layered background may be different but I happen to like it.
1/2000, f/9, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
My jubilation at the experience was tempered only by the fact that the darn bird kept its head down as it hunted the ground directly below, not allowing me to see either eye for nearly every shot out of the 110 or so I got. The two photos I’m including today are about the only shots I got where I could see an eye, much less a catch light.
I’ve long forgiven the transgression. After all, the harrier was hunting, trying desperately to survive a brutal winter and make it to the next breeding season.
I was feeling pretty darn good as I drove on down the road after the harrier had passed but that feeling didn’t last long.
This abomination is what greeted me soon after I photographed the harrier (this photo had been taken a few minutes earlier when I’d been driving the other way). A couple of garishly ugly mylar balloons had been snagged in the marsh by the string hanging down from them. I’ve cropped the photo this way so you can see more of the string if you look carefully.
I despise mylar and other metal-coated balloons. After they’re deflated, birds and other animals sometimes mistake them for food and either get tangled in the strings (think fishing line) or die a horrible death of digestive complications. In addition, when metallic balloons are released they often cause electrical shorts and explosions when they come in contact with power lines. In 2022, in southern California alone, metallic balloons caused 802 power outages and 97 explosions.
If I were King of the World I’d ban the damn things.
Ron
Note: If I hadn’t still been recovering from surgery I’d have at least attempted to walk out there and retrieve the balloons. I’m hopeful that someone else has done it by now. I’m far from the only one who hates metallic balloons.
That beautiful harrier. And that ugly balloon.
The thing that gets me is that so many people will release balloons — especially the mylar variety — as a memorial to a loved one who has passed on. I definitely do not want to be memorialized through littering and harming animals and the environment!
Which is why you would definitely have my vote, Ron. And I suggest we need you in office immediately so forget campaigns and let us declare you King right now for that sentiment alone. (If only it were that easy, eh?)
And BTW, that first shot is so good and I’m sure I can see a catch light in his eye.
Yes, there’s a catch light in that shot Granny Pat. One of less than a handful I got in over 100 photos.
On second thought I don’t want to be King. I’m too much of an introvert for it…
She’s an eyeful, even if you didn’t get the full views you’d have liked! I do like that “parfait” background of the first image, and her head turn, but those long wings, legs, feet and talons in the second are so impressive!
Far less impressive that stinking balloon. I’m sure it was hard for you to leave it behind. Fingers X’d April or another kind person can get to it.
““parfait” background”
I like that, Chris. Wish I’d thought of it.
I love the harrier photos Ron. I really like how the striping on the underside of the wings and tail stands out. It’s not something I notice as much with harriers, I guess because they are usually hunting low to the ground when I see them, but just one more aspect that adds to the beauty of the females.
And “abomination” is the perfect word for that balloon in the third picture.
“And “abomination” is the perfect word for that balloon in the third picture.”
I thought it was too, Bill. Glad you agree.
I collect up balloons when I can get to them, like fishing line I have seen sad consequences. I am going out this afternoon, I will look for it if you want to pm me the rough location.
April, I sent you a message with the location.
The Balloon was not there this afternoon.
Beautiful bird, beautiful photo. I agree about the balloons..I am getting so I dislike people (some) because of their ignorance and lack of regard for anything but their “wants.”
Take Care,
Kaye
Thank you, Kaye.
Oh, Mylar balloons. I find them regularly as I walk along Lake Michigan, their ribbons tangled in the scrub. Hate the blasted things.
I’m sorry to hear that, Kristine.
Shooting in the morning light as you were suggests Golden Harrier might be a more appropriate name for this beauty. The bird coming head on allows a novel perspective of the toes tucked in. I, too, like the stratified background.
The decrease in Harriers st Farmington Bay WMA, the mylar balloon, the many articles lately about the moribund GSL; “I have met the enemy…”
Lyle, all that you said in your last sentence is true. And depressing.
Between you and Michael, I learned a great deal about both mylar and
helium this morning–both subjects mighty distressing– as if crass ugliness
weren’t bad enough…..
I learned some stuff from Michael too, Kris.
Breathtaking photos of the harrier, Ron!! I have mentioned before that the Northern Harrier is my favorite hawk. The second photo is priceless with her tailfeathers fanned, her wings on a downbeat and the flight feathers spread and lifting slightly. I just love her!! Great photos!
As for the balloons, I too hope an environmental activist retrieved them. I wish that all Mylar balloons were banned. Balloon releases definitely need to be banned. It would be best if helium gas was banned from commercial use in balloons thereby solving the problem of floating balloons, saving helium for medical use in MRIs and saving wildlife from a slow, agonizing death from entanglement in the ribbons/strings or ingesting the balloon and starving.
Thank you, Ron, for another inspirational post.
Melanie, I think the balloon industry must have an aggressive lobby resisting efforts to ban mylar balloons. California has had a very hard time getting such legislation to pass but they’re finally making headway.
In photo 1, you can really see the owl-like facial ruff on the Harrier. Lovely.
Love the background! Magical.
Thanks, Sallie. Glad you like the background.
Don’t see Northern Harriers where I live. Occasionally see them when I travel to the central or northern open spaces here in California. Always enjoy seeing them hunt in that unique style of theirs. Your photos really capture that.
100% with you on the Mylar balloon issue. As if the balloon itself were not a big enough problem, there is also the fact that they most always are inflated with helium. Not many realize that helium is a limited resource that is used in many industrial, scientific, and medical applications. I will let the following sentences from the Wiki page summarize the issue.
“Terrestrial helium is a non-renewable resource because once released into the atmosphere, it promptly escapes into space. Its supply is thought to be rapidly diminishing.”
“According to helium conservationists like Nobel laureate physicist Robert Coleman Richardson, writing in 2010, the free market price of helium has contributed to “wasteful” usage (e.g. for helium balloons). Prices in the 2000s had been lowered by the decision of the U.S. Congress to sell off the country’s large helium stockpile by 2015. According to Richardson, the price needed to be multiplied by 20 to eliminate the excessive wasting of helium. In the paper Stop squandering helium published in 2012, it was also proposed to create an International Helium Agency that would build a sustainable market for “this precious commodity”.”
Interesting, Michael. Much of what you said about helium in your comment was new to me.
Outstanding photos of the Harrier – she put on a good show for you. I am envious not being as skilled as you are at doing that. We have one female Harrier at our Willow Lake who I love watching and especially when she is dive bombing the young Red-tails and Cooper’s who she does not welcome as neighbors.
I’m all for people exchanging Valentine greetings, but let’s not do it via objects like this that get away from them and end up in our wilderness and riparian areas. And I would expect all your followers to agree with you on these objects.
Everett, aggressive interactions between harriers and other birds are common. Yesterday I saw three crows giving a harrier a bad time.
Beautiful shots of the Harrier, Ron. Those balloons have no place in the environment let alone the string that is SO dangerous/deadly to wildlife….. 🙁 Balloons worthy of being “shot down and retrieved”…. 😉
Thanks, Judy.
Wonderful photos Ron!! And I too dislike Mylar – it’s bad for the environment and ugly as sin!
“it’s bad for the environment and ugly as sin!”
I couldn’t agree more, Joanne.