Marsh Hawk On The Hunt

[John H]

I have been looking for a marsh hawk to photograph for a while. I looked at the bypass several times but they avoided me and the place is so big they could easily stay away. This week I was on my bike and found a pair hunting in some native grassland next to a road. I went back in the morning and found them hunting again. It is hard to get focused and stay focused on the bird, you need them close and facing the right way and you need them in good light. You also want them at eye level and land behind them makes a much better background than blue sky. Lots of things have to come together. It all worked pretty well here and I got this dive sequence which I like. The coast range near Berryessa is in the background. I don't know if the dive was a success. They disappear into the grass and don't come up for a while so you can't see what happend. I think whatever they get they eat right there. They are impressive hunters.

Striper fishing is slowly getting better. I got one about 7 pounds today but botched the photo so I don't have a fish picture. The bass bite was good on the falling tide. Hopefully it will keep getting better and a huge crowd won't show up.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Nice John,


I think that this is a great example of why we fish.

We get to see lots of Mother Nature's beauty out there.




Here in Sebastian, Florida we have lots of trees, like in Sacramento.

I think we have the Red-shouldered Hawks right in town that keep the squirrel and rabbit population in check.


It is a good thing they banned DDT in America in 1972.

[DLJeff]

Cool series of photos, John. I think most guide books now call these northern harriers, sometimes called marsh harriers or marsh hawks. Easily recognized by the white patch at the base of their tails.

[John H]

My phone IDs them as northern harriers but I have always known them as marsh hawks. It can be hard to keep up with animal and plant names. I like when they fly low and you can see the white on the tail. They are mowing the grass in that field. I think they might leave. We'll see.

I got this photo that shows the white. This is a different edit. I decided my white balance was messed up. I got some prints back and did not like them so I am working on a re-edit. Frustrating when you like your photos but the prints are a let down. Seems like it happens a lot. I might need my own printer.

[DLJeff]

I got this photo that shows the white. This is a different edit. I decided my white balance was messed up. I got some prints back and did not like them so I am working on a re-edit. Frustrating when you like your photos but the prints are a let down. Seems like it happens a lot. I might need my own printer.

Yeah, completely agree. I think some of that is because we edit them on a computer screen, which is sort of like a light box, with the photos lit from behind, the photos appear more vibrant and 3D'ish. Then when you print them, the photo is opaque and lit from the front.

And bird people are some of the worst for renaming species and claiming new sub-species, etc. They're right up there with mollusk collectors (I'm one of each so I know first hand).

There's some debate whether harriers hunt more with their eyes or with their ears like an owl. I'm more in the visual side. With the wind rushing by as they fly, I doubt they can hear the soft rustle of a vole in the grass. An owl can because an owl sits motionless, completely silent when it hunts.

There is or was a little park/nature refuge just west of the landfill near Martinez. It was always a good place for wetland birds, pheasants, the old barn had a family of barn owls living in it. We'd always see one of two harriers on patrol and they didn't mind people, fly right past us.

[John H]

The harriers at the bypass stay away from people. They see you and veer away and pretty soon are a half mile off. The two in am seeing now are okay being 100’ from the road.

Thirty years ago I looked through the bird book a lot and really liked the names of the Oregon junco and rufous sided towhee but had never seen them. By the time I got around to seeing them I was very disappointed to find that the names had been changed. I heard someone say the honorific names are going to get changed. No more Stellar’s Jay someday maybe.

I should upgrade my editing game but I don’t really want to.

[DLJeff]

I think your editing it just fine, no need to upgrade. The pics are sharp, the subject well positioned, colors not too saturated but not grey either, lighting is good - natural looking. I hate to see photos over edited, they look fake, which they are.

The Audobon/Muir/Stellar's name thing is a whole other ridiculous kettle of worms I guess we shouldn't open in a public forum.