{"id":59647,"date":"2019-08-21T04:15:07","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T10:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=59647"},"modified":"2023-11-12T14:20:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T21:20:43","slug":"nemesis-birds-american-goshawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/21\/nemesis-birds-american-goshawks\/","title":{"rendered":"Nemesis Birds – American Goshawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JuvenileJuvenile American Goshawk perched in a conifer – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It was an autumn morning on Antelope Island State Park when I spotted a juvenile American Goshawk flying fast over the Great Salt Lake with the sun behind it and I couldn’t get my camera focused soon enough to even try to take a nice backlit shot of it.<\/p>\n

Another time I found an adult goshawk in a tree out at Farmington Bay WMA’s Goose Egg Island during the winter and it took off before I could get a single shot fired, flew straight to the old nature center, landed on the roof but was gone before I could get there.<\/p>\n

Then during another autumn I found a juvenile American Goshawk in a canyon in the mountains of the West Desert. The immature goshawk was across the canyon high up in a tree which made it difficult to point out. The goshawk was so far away that I could barely make out enough features to ID it before it lifted off and disappeared into the woods.<\/p>\n

Last fall I spotted a pair of juvenile American Goshawks chasing after each other in a different West Desert mountain canyon and couldn’t get stopped soon enough to to raise my lens before they flew off into the thick forest.<\/p>\n

My luck with American Goshawks has been horrible and because of that they have earned the distinction of being a nemesis for me. These fierce accipiters are wary, forest dwelling birds and you have to be moving slow to spot them or sitting perfectly still in their habitat while waiting patiently for them to make an appearance or get lucky and catch them on the wing or out in the open.<\/p>\n

Or<\/em> <\/strong>you have to have a sharp-sighted friend like me to point goshawks out for you.<\/p>\n

Goshawks also blend into their habitat quite easily which makes them difficult to spot so having sharp eyes is a definitely an asset for me. It’s also a bonus for anyone riding with me, especially if their eyesight isn’t that good.<\/p>\n

Just last week I saw an accipiter land at the top of a conifer on the other side of a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains. Even before I took a photo of it I suspected that it was a juvenile American Goshawk<\/span><\/a> and once I got focused on the young raptor I was 99% sure of the ID but I wanted to look at the images I took on a big screen just to be 100% certain since the bird was so small in the frame. Once again my nemesis goshawk was just too far away for high quality photos.<\/p>\n

So, I decided to create a portfolio gallery on my site for American Goshawk<\/span><\/a> images using the photo I took of this juvenile last week. I’ve done that for other nemesis birds and then later have gotten more images of them that I was happy with. Perhaps the bird photography gods will smile on me and send more American Goshawks my way that will be closer, more cooperative and I will finally get the images of this species I have been dreaming of.\u00a0 It doesn’t hurt to have hope.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

American Goshawk facts and information:<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> In 2023 the common name for this species was changed to American Goshawk, the scientific name was also changed. I have updated this post to reflect those changes.<\/p>\n

Accipiter atricapillus<\/em><\/p>\n