Friday, November 21, 2008

Something To Shoot...


I really didn't know what title to use for today's photographs so I settled on "Something to shoot". These were taken the other Sunday when I was out searching for whitetail deer in rut. I only found the two deer that I posted on November 12TH, but I was out to enjoy the Pennsylvania countryside and shoot some photos and that is just what I did.

Hawks have become a common site around our area, photographing them is a different story. Often they are to far away, bad lighting or just want no part of me getting close. This guy was sitting on a pole along the road, not best of settings for shooting but he was nice enough to hang around long enough for me to get a few shots. Now for those of you out there that are knowledgeable on these subjects, what type of hawk is this? I assumed it was not a red tail because I seen a red tail a little later in the day and his tail was red.

The second photo is something I really didn't expect to be shooting, a rainbow trout. I was walking the creek bank looking for birds when I noticed this trout swimming up stream looking for food. If you look close his head is coming out of the water about to bite into the white object just in front of him.

Not the photos I expected to come back with that day but it was a beautiful day in the country and I will take any kind of wildlife.

14 comments:

gina said...

with it's squared head, my guess is a cooper's hawk?

Small City Scenes said...

Both great shots. I like raptord but the fish is cool too. MB

Dancin Fool said...

They are beautiful and, as I have been discovering recently, fish and birds are not easy to photograph!!

Becky said...

Great shot of this bird. Around here it could be either a Cooper's, Sharp shinned, or maybe a Northern Goshawk. They all look similar.
I have a Cooper's on my blog from yesterday. Not a very good image, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

Mojo said...

I"ll defer on the bird species quesiton to somebody who'd actually know. I can usually recognize a red tail because (a) they're pretty common around here and (b) I saw a master falconer do a demo with one a few years ago and got a pretty close look at her.

But whatever kind of bird this is, s/he's a beauty. Great shot!

Laura ~Peach~ said...

love your sky watch and totally love these critters they are awesome!

SandyCarlson said...

That trout is amazing! I admire your skill with the camera. Thanks for bringing these wonders of nature into my day.

Michele said...

Oh whoa... the bird I will definitely leave to the experts but as I have done fly fishing for years and tied my own flies for years as well, that beautiful trout gets me itching to get out on the streams once more.
Now that the winter has arrived, waters are freezing up and I'm not too keen on ice fishing... I just KNOW cabin fever will settle in... beautiful photos.
~Michele~
Mountain Retreat- Canada

Gattina said...

When I read your title I was shocked ! thought you want to shoot this poor thing, lol ! I didn't think about photoshooting !

Anonymous said...

Nice photos. I love to watch the hawks soar overhead.

Ivar Østtun said...

Beautiful photos. A cool hawk and it looks like the trout has feet :-)

Coy Hill said...

Brad, I think what you have here is a Broad-winged hawk. I cannot be sure of its size but from the markings that is my best guess.

Leedra said...

Both are great photos. It is so hard to get fish to show this good in the water.

Anonymous said...

This is a tough one. It is definately not an accipiter, the tail is too short. The Broad-winged doesn't belong in PA in the late fall. It could be a first year Red-shouldered, but I'd like to see some rust on the shoulders. The eye color looks yellow. I'm leaning towards Red-shoulder because of the I'm assuming it is in PA in the late Fall and the eye color.