Red Shoulder/Tail Hawk

I'm not sure which one this is as it looks like a Red Shouldered Hawk, but when it took flight I noticed a distinct red tail, which leads me to believe it's a red tailed hawk. Can anybody clarify this for me?

Here it is first sitting atop a large pine right next to our parking lot at work (100% crop)


Then it flew over to another pine (100% crop)


Next, it looks like it lost it's head while flying (although I'm sure it was looking for lunch down on the ground)


Finally I was able to get it to fly towards me a bit (although it was the middle of the day with crappy lighting and this one has a bit of PP on it)


Then finally the best shot of the series, the banking shot.


Tall taken with D50 and 70-300 VR.

I'll have to keep an eye out for this fella when I'm driving through our parking lot in the future.

 

Excellent, thanks for the information and the links Chris. So I noticed in your signature that you have both the D50 and the D200. Do you notice a major difference in the quality of your pictures between these two cameras? I have the D50 and while it is a great camera, I feel like I might benefit from having a more robust camera like the D200. Can you give me any feedback comparing the two?

Thanks again!

 

Yeah, I was starting to realize that there is quite a difference between the two. I have been planning on buying a 2nd body (for more than anything to let my wife have a camera in her hand when we're out and about together) and the D200 seemed like the logical choice for me. I do like that it has many of the features you listed (and that I use on a daily basis) on the camera and not in the menu. I guess it's time to start saving up and start camera lusting.

Thanks for the comparison though, and the bird ID's again.

 

Yeah, I hope I can find a used D200 actually as that would be a perfect fit I feel. I like that the size of the D200 (or I should say the body style) is close to that of my D50 so it shouldn't mess with my shooting style that much. I just have to find the funds to upgrade and convince my wife that my pictures will be that much better. :biggrin: I will like having the ability to crop more with the 10 MP censor as well. Thanks again for the advice Chris, this place is so full of information!

 

Thanks Lou. Yeah I am wondering if it is the same one I saw around our building a couple of years ago. It looked a little younger then, so it might actually be the same one. I'm sure this is a good place for it to live with a couple of ponds close by and the river only a mile or two away. I wonder where the nest is...

 

I didn't like the washed out sky, so I decided to delve into the possibilities that NX provides (since I shelled out the $$$ for it, I might as well use it). Here is what it produced.