Sometimes it's a joy to go to work

[Ruggbutt 45]

I did a home in a little rural community called New River several years ago. It's out in the boonies and if you can afford to live there it's nice "country" living. I had to cross several washes to reach the home I was working on, and often hawks hunt overhead during the heat of the day riding the thermals. I rolled onto the jobsite about 5:30 a.m., the air smelled clean and crisp. I love the smell of the desert in the early morning. Anyhow, I took this shot about quarter to six from the loft in the house and photostitched it. I took some pics of my favorite subjects.

 

Edited September 28, 2010 by Ruggbutt

[ShrikeHawk 384]

Fabulous! Just beautiful pics!

[Slartibartfast 153]

True Birds of Prey... fabulous photo's...

[+Sundowner 4,813]

Excellent stuff m8.

[Ruggbutt 45]

Thanks all. I grew up in Arizona and when I was a kid we'd see stuff like this in our neighborhoods. We had desert directly across the street from us. You can still see them even today in town searching for prey. Luckily, some of our city planners haven't totally ruined the desert with "progress" and you don't have to drive very far to get shots of beautiful animals like this. These particular birds must have been related to each other cuz I saw them hunt together quite a bit, and in the shots that have pairs of them there were three others present. I just took the best shots and posted them. You can tell which of them are juvenile, as their breast feathers are all one dark color. As they mature they get a white pattern in them.

[+Fates 63]

Excellent! About the only thing I've been able to capture is Seagulls and Wild Turkeys.

[Ruggbutt 45]

No turkeys, but how about Turkey Vultures?

 

 

 

 

 

I shot these vultures going after some kind of carcass. I'm not sure what it was and I wasn't in the mood to make my way thru the barb wire fence. When I stopped watching 3 had landed in the same spot this first one did.

 

 

 

[ShrikeHawk 384]

Hey Ruggbutt, my wife loves photography too, especially nature photography. She loves your pics and wants to know what camera you're using.

[Ruggbutt 45]

I shot those with a Nikon D100 and a "Bigma" (Sigma 50x500).

[Skyviper 1,101]

Awesome photos