Photo of the Day! Red-tail Hawk Portrait!

Nikon D40x, Nikkor 70-300VR @ 300mm, f/5.6, ISO 800, 1/1600

This beautiful light phase red-tail hawk. The white feathers make this hawk unique but it's the eyes that make the photo. The dark green background also helped.

Behind the Image: Red-tailed Hawk

Nikon D90, Sigma 150-500mm OS, f8, ISO 400, 1/2000

I made this image last spring after laying on my belly for a couple of hours photographing water fowl. I was walking to my car when this Red-tailed Hawk landed on a nearby tree. I set my gear down and got ready for it to take off. To my surprise it flew parallel to me, opposed to flying away.

I have wanted to photograph a Red-tailed hawk for years without much luck. When the opportunity arose for me I knew what I had to do. I knew my camera settings and made some quick adjustments. When the hawk did take off I was ready to shoot and I ended up with a nice in flight photo.

After the hawk flew away, I turned to the guy I was shooting with and asked if he got anything good. He missed it completely because he wasn't expecting it to fly parallel to us. I believe that if an opportunity arises you should slow down and get ready for the unexpected. You just never know what you might come up with!

Photo of the Day! Juvenile Peregrine Falcon!

Nikon D40x, 70-300VR @ 300mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/3200

This is the same juvenile peregrine falcon as yesterday. This is another great display of the juvenile coloration and pattern.

Photo of the Day! Peregrine Falcon!

Nikon D40x, Nikkor 70-300VR @ 300mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2500

Continuing with peregrine falcons, this is a juvenile peregrine. I really like the coloration and patterns of the juveniles, even more so than the adults. This one is also giving an intense look! This image was taken a few years ago and as I look at the technical specs I realized I should have lowered the ISO because my shutter speed was plenty fast.

Photo of the Day! Peregrine Falcon Portrait!

Nikon D90, Sigma 150-500 OS @ 500mm, ISO 500, f/9, 1/200

Derek has posted a few of his Peregrine Falcon photos recently, so I thought I would follow that up with a few of my own. This captive falcon posed very nicely for me. I haven't had very many opportunities to photograph Peregrines, but they are one of my favorites, so I take any chance I get!

Photo of the Day! Juvenile Peregrine Falcon

Canon XS, 70-300 @300, 5.6, ISO 100, 1/400

I took this photo when I was about a year into photography just before I switched from Canon to Nikon. I made this image at the Minnesota Wildlife Science Center in Ham Lake, MN.

Photo of the Day! Great Horned Owl!

Nikon D40x, Nikkor 70-300 VR @ 220mm, ISO 800, f/9, 1/160

This great horned owl is my favorite color morph found in this species. It's almost colored like a snowy owl. Mostly white with gray and brown markings. They are truly a beautiful bird!

Photo of the Day! Osprey in Banff!

Nikon D90, 300mm f/4 AFS + TC-17E II @ 500mm, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/1000


This image was taken in Banff National Park near Johnston Canyon. Osprey's are one of my favorite birds of prey and though common across most of the US, I only have a few photographs of them.

Photo of the Day! Bald Eagle!

Nikon D90, Nikkor 500mm f/4

Bald Eagles are one of my favorite subjects to photograph, but this year we haven't had a lot of luck with them locally. Hopefully in the coming weeks we will be able to post more eagles images! The image above was taken in early 2010 and was actually one of the first photographs I got with my 500mm lens.

Photo of the Day! Northern Hawk Owl

Nikon D90, Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 + TC 14E II @ 420mm, ISO 500, f/7.1, 1/1250 +1.3 EV

This was from our recent trip to northern Minnesota. We were lucky to have a cooperative Hawk Owl for the better part of the day. This Hawk Owl was actively hunting. It would sit on the tree top for short periods of time before changing locations or dive bombing an unsuspecting vole.

Warm Weather

It didn't even cross my mind that the "mild" weather over that last 4 days would melt the river ice. When I say mild its been in the 20's for that time period.

I was at BDR today around 7:30am looking at the spillway near the 35w bridge, and surprisingly there wasn't any ice. So, I headed further down the road to find the eagles. Near the Black Dog Power Plant is another area where there is open water even during the coldest weather. Again no eagles. So back in the car I go. I was thinking maybe they were all down near the Cedar bridge (where Chad and I have had the most luck). Well, about half way between the power plant and the Cedar bridge I found the eagles! However, I had a new problem. I wasn't able to get any shots due to the eagles (17 of them) were flying all over the place and it was difficult to predict were they would fish at. Another day as a wildlife photographer!

Image is from the frigid weather last week!

An Active Morning Indeed

There isn't much more I can add about today that Chad hasn't already said. Although I missed the morning rush that Chad witnessed. I did get a text from as I was arriving that said "YOU NEED TO BE HERE!" As I got out of the car there were two eagles fishing right in front of Chad! Anyway, a little later in the morning I got two of my best eagle shots as well.

Remember to click the image to view it larger!