Cooper's Hawk

Here's a couple of pictures taken yesterday, Tuesday, May 17, 2011, in the oak tree in my front yard. I used my new Canon 70-200mm f2.8L lens, on the Canon EOS 7D body I have.

I had stepped outside to investigate the birds screeching in the tree. They were highly agitated by the visitor below, who occupied a lower branch.

I believe that it's a Cooper's Hawk, though my bird identification skills are minimal. If you know something I don't, please leave me a message below.

You can see some fuzz (feather down) on the end of his beak. He just finished a tasty snack of blue jay. The jay's feathers peppered the ground underneath the tree, and my driveway, next to it.

His beautiful yellow eyes suggest he is a juvenile, and I think he is a male, based on the markings. These birds are known to inhabit suburban areas, and are frequently found around bird feeders for the easy meals. I don't have a bird feeder, but do have some pretty lush landscaping, which draws the birds.

Below, the "business end" of this raptor. Hawks use their talons to seize and kill their prey. The curved beak is used to strip the flesh from the carcass.

You can see a spot of blood on the middle toe of the left foot (picture right).

I like the new lens - it's fast and the image quality (IQ) is high. All in all, a nice test!

Some new pics...

Here are some recent pics, taken with my Canon EOS-7D. All of these pictures were shot with the great utility lens I got with the camera body, a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS. Recently, I've begun thinking about a telephoto with a bit more reach, say an "L series" 70-200 (with IS of course). Expensive, though, around $2,300 just for the glass. Linda's not real happy about that number...

Brick pavers, Greenwich Village, NYC

Bird of Paradise, backyard

City Hall subway station, NYC

Condo buildings, just off strip, Las Vegas, NV

Lightning strike, Deerfield Beach, FL

Morning glow, off Hollywood Beach

Carp, Lake Mead, near Las Vegas, NV

Photography and my Canon EOS-7D

If I am credited with any creativity whatsoever, I probably best express it in photography. My dad got me interested when I was a kid, because he was a newspaperman and early on, took his own photos to accompany the stories he'd write for the small Florida newspapers that employed him. He appreciated the value of a few measured words and a good picture to go with them, explaining perhaps, why he later became a copy editor. Maybe that's where my "minimalist" tendencies come from. "Never use ten words to express what you can adequately state in five." Same goes with pictures. Thanks, Dad. I miss you.

I took the picture below during our August 2010 visit with Missy in Las Vegas. It's in the Valley of Fire State Park, located on a road that goes north from the Interpretive Center, past "Mouse's Sink," to an overlook which we never even got to. If anyone actually reads this blog, give me a good title for it and I'll edit this post with whatever you come up with.

It's one of my favorites, gleaned from over several hundred I took during that week.

I bought my Canon EOS-7D a little over a year ago and, combined with the glass attached to it (Canon's 24-105mm f4 "L series" with IS) I appreciate its raw capabilities. I learn something cool about it everytime I use it, basically because it can do pretty much anything (including HD video). Great camera. I highly recommend it for those who have either signficant photography experience or lots of time to learn its functions. (I have some time).

Here's another from our Las Vegas trip, taken the same day as the above, but a little further down the road and later in the day, after we visited Lake Mead.

Creepy. I call it "The Mummy's Scream."

See any resemblance?