Red-tailed Hawk Hunting

[Dennis_Plank]

I watched this hawk for quite a while the last time I was at my favorite refuge. It was in a large open field that attracts lots of Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks, Great Blue Herons and other vole and mouse hunters. This bird was behaving oddly for a Red-tailed Hawk. It was wandering around the field on foot with an occasional quick glide, but obviously hunting. Unfortunately, it didn’t catch anything while i was there, but it was interesting to see it hunting from the ground rather than the air.

Specific Feedback Requested

Does it pop well enough from all that grass stubble?

I debated a little clockwise rotation, but never could make up my mind and there’s really not much in the image to go by.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Sony a6500, FE200-600 @ 600 mm, beanbag on car window, f/10, 1/2000, iso 640, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 3724x2600. Taken January 14th at 10:12 am.

[David_Schoen]

Nice environmental image. What I’m seeing is one leg appears to be considerably thicker and hairier than the other. I wonder if this had something to do with why it’s walking rather than flying? I think I would like to see a little more separation between the colors of the head in the background. Perhaps darkening the background a little might help.

[David_Leroy]

Interesting behavior. Several times I have seen SE’d owls hunting on the ground but not hawks.
Nice and sharp. I like David’s suggestion of a bit of separation between bg and hawk. I might bring the shadows up a bit on hawk also.