Bird convergence: Kestrel and hawk, geese and kestrel in downtown Holyoke
(c) Greg Saulmon 2013
I captured the frame above after a Red-tailed Hawk landed on a telephone pole a little too-close-for comfort for an American Kestrel roosting on an Appleton Street building.
The kestrel made several passes dive-bombing the hawk, and soon the larger raptor flew away.
The kestrel then made the rounds of its usual perching spots along Race and Main Streets:
(c) Greg Saulmon 2013
(c) Greg Saulmon 2013
Eventually the kestrel found a utility pole of its own, and a flock of Canada Geese buzzed it:
(c) Greg Saulmon 2013
Also today, I spotted a male and female House finch in Heritage State Park. Here are a few frames of the male:
(c) Greg Saulmon 2013
(c) Greg Saulmon 2013
Beautiful shots! I saw what looked to be an Eagle across from STCC on State Street yesterday. Either that or it was an incredibly large Hawk…
Awesome pictures. I’m curious what type of camera and lens you use?
Thanks, Colleen.
Since late March 2012 I’ve been shooting the majority of the photos for this blog with a Nikon D800 and 300mm / f4 lens. The 800 is a lot of camera, but I shoot in a lot of non-birding situations where its low-light performance and other features come in handy. As a birding camera, though, the 800′s high resolution (36 megapixels) means I can crop a ton if I’m too far away to get the shot I want. The kestrel / hawk shot in this post is roughly a 100% crop, as I was really far away when I spotted them. It’s only passable at best, but on a lower-resolution body I wouldn’t be left with a usable frame at all after that much cropping.
The lens, in a lot of ways, is the more critical piece. The fixed 300mm lens is super sharp and not too expensive (about $600-$700 used). If I were on a tight budget, I’d get more of a mid-level body but I wouldn’t compromise on that lens.
Thanks for reading!
Wow, that’s an impressive camera. I have a Canon Rebel with only half that megapixel capability. My lens is okay and I’ve been thinking about upgrading sometime, but now maybe I’ll just dream about 36 megapixels.