Red-Shouldered Hawk

[Chris Calohan]

This guy was hanging out in the neighborhood, I think having a good look at a yappy Chihuahua barking at the cars passing by.

[francois]

Well done, the branches didn't help you!

[Chris Calohan]

I don't know, Francois. It was a cold, bleak winter day and I think the barness of the branches both reflect the day and the OOF little branches help to frame the bird. While some of these guys will sit high on a lone branch, I find these birds more prone to decent concealment and a much closer proximity to easy prey. The concealment issue does make it more difficult to get a clean shot. I was quite surprised at how close he let me get though with 560mm at hand, I didn't need to sit in his lap.

[Kevin Gallagher]

 Hi Chris, I agree, the branches can be infuriating! another thing I noticed when I used to shoot a lot of birds is that they invariably know how to place themselves between you & the sun! They are then backlit and it makes the shot that much harder to capture..sigh. Here's one I took several years back, there is a pair of hawks that nest on the State Office Building in Hartford CT. this was taken out a 5th floor window, mama was just returning to the nest with breakfast for the hawklings, what I didn't see was that daddy hawk was watching me from across the street and damm near got me! 

[francois]

I don't know, Francois.…

Chris,
Sometimes my writing is confusing, so to be clear: I wanted to say that taking that photo wasn't easy considering the branches in front of your subject.
It wasn't a negative comment about the final image.

[Chris Calohan]

I rarely take anything as a negative comment. I didn't take it that way a all.