The One That Got Away

 I have attended many air shows but have never seen any performance to equal the flying demonstration of the Northern Harrier I watched this weekend.  It was flying very low over thick grass and weeds that were about 3 feet tall.  It flew very slow and came to a complete stop at times.  Occasionally it would drop down into the vegetation.  Unfortunately, It was an unsuccessful hunt.

I wasn't totally successful in my attempt to photograph it either.  I parked along the side of the road and photographed from the open window.  The Northern Harrier is a small hawk to start with and it was many yards out in the field.  I was using a Canon 1D Mark IV with an 800mm lens coupled with a 1.4x extender.  The images above and below represent between 1/4 and 1/8 of the original image.

This setting had the potential for a prize winning photograph.  I had a great subject that was exhibiting interesting behavior.   I have years of experience with super telephotos.   I had sufficient light.  The 800mm lens is able to optically shrink the distance between the camera and subject.  The 1D Mark IV  is capable of focusing at f8.  It doesn't get much better than this.  What else could I have wanted?

I had too much hot air between me and the Harrier. The heat causes distortion.  It wasn't possible to achieve the necessary sharpness without moving closer.  I couldn't move closer to it so I needed the Harrier to move in my direction.  It didn't.

The Northern Harrier is an experienced hunter and has mastered flight.  I'm sure that it had captured a meal before the day was over.  I know from experience that if I get this close to a great photo enough times, sooner or later my subject will be in the right place at the right time.  If I'm ready I'll be rewarded with a great image.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy my time with nature and the privilege of watching animals in the wild.

A Million Goose Opportunity

The Omaha World Herald reported that one million Snow Geese were visiting Squaw Creek NWR in Missouri.  Mid-February is usually very cold in the Midwest so the shallow water at Squaw Creek in normally completely frozen.  I didn't want to miss this opportunity.

Photographers cannot get very close to the geese.  The only road open to the public runs around the perimeter.  The geese stay in the middle so they are never very close.  The one way road around the geese is ten miles long.   If you leave your position for a better view, you need to travel all the way around to get back if you were wrong.  

It is extremely difficult to take a photo that captures the noise and chaos when a million geese take flight.  The chaos is three dimensional so it's also impossible to get the entire group in sharp focus with a telephoto lens.  The truth is that they are more fun to watch than to photograph.

It's difficult to fly next to a million panicked  geese.  Occasionally an unfortunate goose tumbles out of the sky.  In the fall, Bald eagles join the migration to enjoy the goose dinners.   There were a few eagles present, but not many compared to the fall.  I did spot a Northern Harrier checking out a carcass.  When I moved my lens to photograph it, it immediately took off.

I was pleased to find Trumpeter Swans much closer to shore than the geese.  They are huge and need a long runway to take off.  I've seen the Snow Geese many times but I've never seen this many swans before.   I spent the majority of my day photographing them. 

While I watched the swans, several American Tree Sparrows were in the weeds between me and the water.  They were a challenge to photograph because they spent most of their time out of the view of my lens.