Saturday, March 13, 2010

Northern Harrier

I got some close up looks at this gorgeous female Northern Harrier! I saw 6 of them, all female hunting the prairie!

Interesting Fact: Most male Northern Harriers are mated to one or two females at the same time. Some males pair with up to five mates in a season.

I wonder if this might be the case out at Goose Lake Prairie... Lucky guy!



Click on photo above to see their intense hunting eye!



8 comments:

Brad Myers said...

I may be a little slow commenting the next week or so but I am checking you out when I can, more on that later. With any luck I will be photographing many birds this week for future post.

Great photos, most people have no idea how hard it is to photograph flying birds. I have only ever seen one Northern Harrier in the wild.

Montanagirl said...

Wonderful shots of the Harrier! You sure caught all the action!

jalynn01 said...

Catching this bird or any bird in flight is a real hard thing to do, but you always step up to the plate and yield such wonderful shots. I love the Harrier's sharp tuned eye and the wing pattern as she flies. Wish I could've seen the prey...Did you get it?

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

I am amazed at these pictures.The Harriers must be more cooperative in your area or,you have a huge lens. Don't tell me it's the lens,I can't afford a better one right now. LOL
Blessings,Ruth

Anonymous said...

That is a beautiful bird of prey and a very nice set of pictures. You always seem to be in the right place at the right time.

Chris said...

Hi,
Wow you got the diving sequence of the hunting... That's splendid and not so easy to get... So how long have you been observing before getting it? The first shot is awesome, sharp and crisp, a beauty!

Coy Hill said...

Great work Hannibal! I love watching these owl-faced hawks at work. Now I know why I see so few male harriers compared to the females, they poor guys are overworked :)

Eve said...

These are really great Hannibal! I used to watch them every day up north. Never got good pictures tho. Wonderful! Thanks.