I Have A Photograph

[Casey Butler]

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You suggested I post pictures again a while ago, Cate. Here is a sequence I took yesterday of Oscar, the Ferruginous Hawk (there are millions of them here for the winter, all named Oscar).

The first image is for English readers, etc, the second is for those who are more familiar with Hebrew or Arabic:
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English, etc:

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Hebrew/Arabic, etc?:

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The faster Oscar went the blurrier Oscar got.

[Cate]

Oscar is a beautiful bird Casey and it's so cool to see him both in flight and standing still. When I looked him(?) on my tablet I could see quite a bit of detail, great shot.

[Casey Butler]

Thank you, Cate. If I could remember how to work my camera he might be sharper. Have you seen the digital photos they take today of flying birds? Just incredible detail frozen in time. I can get them standing still sometimes.

Here is Oscar posing with more detail, on an irrigation wheel. I'm pretty sure it's the same Oscar.
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[Casey Butler]

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Most mornings I do my "rounds", Cate, which is to drive the long way home from McDonald's. I go through the farmland in Hurricane Fields, through the desert, then through Sand Hollow State Park. Yesterday and today there were billions of birds of prey posing for me. Easy pickings for me for once. Several Oscars, couple Red-Tailed Hawks, a Burrowing Owl, a Swainson's Hawk, a Northern Harrier female (Lady of the Marshes), and a male one, an American Kestrel (Sparrow Hawk), a Loggerhead Shrike - even a dark morph Red-Tailed Hawk. I'd like you to see...
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And those are the ones reasonably in focus. It was a phenomenal two days, anyway. The results of my daily rounds usually go up at http://www.facebook.com/hurricanebirds though recently I've fallen behind with posting.

[Cate]

Thank you Casey, so many birds, what a nice way to spend a morning - the loggerhead shrike is especially beautiful.

[Kush]

Hi Casey,

Those are some fabulous photographs of raptors. May I ask what kind of camera you are using ?

[Casey Butler]

Thanks for that. The camera is a Nikon Coolpix P900.

[Kush]

Thanks Casey. I have a 65x Canon - less zoom than the Coolpix 900 and it shows. Or I am not getting as close to the birds as you are.

[musicmania]

Casey, thank you for the wonderful photos of birds. I love birds.

[Casey Butler]

I'm usually in my car, using it as a blind. They let me get a lot closer. With the hawks I'll stop about 300 feet away, stay for a bit, then slowly move closer and stop again. I've gotten as close as 30 feet away several times, but usually 50 or so is their limit. You know they're about to take off if they poop, lightening the load. The car limits your field of view, but on un-busy roads you creatively adjust the angle.