This Red-shouldered Hawk just finished trying to get a Limpkin for dinner. However, the Limpkin turned on him and the Hawk was relegated to perching on this fence waiting to capture something a little bit easier.Red-shouldered Hawks or Buteo lineatus are in the Hawk and Eagle family. They are resident in Florida and can be found in wooded wetlands and swamps. They prefer lowlands, especially swampy woods and bogs.
The Red-shouldered Hawk hunts by sitting in a low perch then swooping down to snatch their prey. They eat snakes, frogs, insects and small mammals. What amazes me is that the little Northern Mockingbird can set this much larger hawk on the run. I have often watched as 2 Mockingbirds working in tandem chasing these Hawks away. The do a great job of it, too; I might add.
This photo was made at ISO 200, F7.2 and 1/60th of a second in aperture priority mode. The gold on his right side is from the low, setting sun around 5:00 pm. I used partial metering off the bird to ensure a good exposure with my 55mm-250mm zoomed all the way out. Image was heavily cropped in Lightroom and his eyes were brightened in Photoshop. Other than that, no other post processing.
Posts
3 comments:
Happy Thanksgiving, Loyce. I love your red-shouldered hawk--another one of your beautiful wildlife shots! A pair of eagles are nesting on the mountain behind my house--I'd give anything to get a shot of them--I'll give it a try!
The warm color of the late day sun is a good complement to the hawk's coloration. Nice exposure on this shot.
Thank you, Jim and Margo. The part I love the most is the warm, low sunlight on his right side.
Post a Comment