Young Cooper’s Hawk on a lichen encrusted cliff face – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Yesterday morning was a bit odd because of smoke that was pouring into far northern Utah from who knows where. The highly visible, multiple layers of smoke made the familiar landscape feel otherworldly to me. I didn’t allow the smoke in the air to ruin the morning though, I still found plenty of birds to photograph.
The first bird I photographed yesterday morning was an immature Cooper’s Hawk that I found because I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk on a cliff face that the young accipiter decided to harass. After dive bombing the Red-tailed Hawk a few times the immature Cooper’s landed on a lichen encrusted cliff face and perched there long enough for me to take a few photos of it before I aimed my lens at the larger buteo who was perched higher on the cliff.
Even though the sun was up over the horizon my shutter speeds at my default setting of ISO 500 were low due to the smoke in the east in front of the rising sun diffusing the amount of light on my subject. Of the photos I took of the young hawk on the cliff face this image was the sharpest.
I aimed my lens at the Cooper’s Hawk first because I have thousands and thousands of Red-tailed Hawk images and far fewer photos of Cooper’s Hawks. I want more photos of this species in my portfolio so making the choice to take images of this young accipiter first was a no-brainer for me.
When the immature Cooper’s Hawk flew off I paid attention to the direction the sleek bird of prey took.
Immature Cooper’s Hawk in smoky early morning light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
And I located the hawk again on top of a ranch gate. I wasn’t able to take photos of the young bird on top of the gate but when it flew down and landed on the gate railing I took a nice, long series of it in the smoky early morning light.
Immature Cooper’s Hawk in front of blooming sunflowers – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I was delight with the background in the series of photos I took of the immature Cooper’s Hawk because there were blooming wild sunflowers behind the hawk and gate railing. The spots of yellow added a nice pop of color to my photos.
Young Cooper’s Hawk looking at the ground – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/400, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
For a bit the immature Cooper’s hawk seemed focused on something I couldn’t see on the ground without taking my eyes away from the viewfinder. I wasn’t about to do that though when I had this striking, young accipiter to focus on.
Immature Cooper’s Hawk perched on a gate railing – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
The young Cooper’s Hawk looked around to the east, west and south as it perched on the railing of the gate. When the young accipiter turned towards the east in this photo I could easily see the blockiness of its head that is often used to describe this species especially when comparing it to its near look-alike relative the Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Immature Cooper’s Hawk letting poop fly – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Then I saw the immature Cooper’s Hawk get ready to defecate or as I sometimes call it “letting it fly” and captured the liquid stream of poop as fell towards the ground below the railing.
I laughed out loud when I realized I had captured poop flying. How could I not?
Young Cooper’s Hawk on a smoky September morning – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
A few frames later I was waiting for the young accipiter to lift off because they often do after releasing a load of poop. When the hawk took off it decided to face southeast towards a hillside and I didn’t get a single photo that had a clear view of its eyes.
I’m happy that I had this yellow-eyed, immature Cooper’s Hawk in my viewfinder for as long as I did and that I have been able to add more images of the species to my photo galleries.
Life is good. Stay safe.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Cooper’s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
A fun series — I’m imagining what he’s thinking and what he’s looking at. The first and fourth shots are my favorites, I think — something about the somewhat quizzical look of the slightly tilted head. And what a great “let ‘er’ rip!” shot. 😀
It’s been pretty smoky today and there’s a layer of ash over everything — we have two raging fires near us. I ranted over on Ron’s blog; I’ll spare you the details.
Lovely images Mia, love the backgrounds.
I am sorry about the smoke. And even sorrier for the wildlife and people directly in its path.
I adore these shots though – all of them.
Many, many thanks.
Beautiful images of the Cooper’s hawk. Yes, the background is indeed delightful in this series.
Very nice series. The sunflowers are nice.
Hi Mia – beautiful shots, as always. “Letting it fly” – hilarious!!
I got some good shots of a red-tailed hawk this morning in Stamford CT, where I live.
Best – John