Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: predator

I deeply apologize if any of the images in this collage offend or disturb you. It is my wish to educate, not to disgust or horrify any of you. *bows head in respect* I have posted a couple of pictures in the past of one of the Cooper's Hawks that live in our area, and about once a week we'll find one on one of our bird feeders or our porch railing, hoping for a bird to fly into its beak! (By the way, I originally incorrectly identified this bird as a Sharp-Shinned Hawk . It is actually a Cooper's Hawk! Thank you Paul Hauber for your keen eye! :D Now that I think about it, it's definitely larger than the diminuative, but similar-looking Sharpie! :) To illustrate why it's easy to confuse these two birds, take a look at this wonderful picture from Wiki! Side-by-side comparative illustrations of a Cooper's and a Sharp-Shinned Hawk.. ) I'd also like to give thanks to the gang over at BirdForum , who are always so fast and helpful with identification and confirmation! On this day, I came downstairs first thing in the morning and found a Sharp-Shin content and happy near a feeder, and you can see one of the pictures I took on the upper left of this collage. In the afternoon, I went into the kitchen for a snack and did a double-take...the Sharp-Shin was back, and to my amazement, it had a catch on top of the feeder! As I quietly took pictures, I realized that it caught a vole or mouse, not a bird! That actually made us feel better because we dearly love our avian friends who visit every day! The upper right and lower left show the hawk eating its meal, and finally, on the lower right, the last of the vole has disappeared down the hawk's throat and it took off just a second later. I hope that this collage isn't too disturbing to see. It shows the cycle of life and is a reminder that just outside, it's a very dangerous place for the small animals that live here. At the same time, it is an incredible thing to witness the cycle of life taking place before our eyes. This experience was amazing to me and I feel so lucky to have gotten pictures too. I've always wanted to live in the country side, next to wilderness and near animals I would never see in a city. I love to watch the animals here and see how they behave. It's very special to be in a place where you get the chance to see the joy of new life, and although it's very sad for the vole, it was fascinating to witness this successful kill and to imagine the possible baby chicks this meal would help to feed! :) If you would like to know more about Cooper's Hawks, you can find a great source of information here: Wiki: Cooper's Hawk .If you would like to know more about Sharp-Shinned Hawks, you can find a great source of information here: Wiki: Sharp-Shinned Hawk . This image was taken in April, 2012.

I looked out the window today and found this gorgeous hawk sitting on one of our feeders. We get to see hawks sitting on our bird feeders fairly often, but usually we don't have time to get pictures. This lovely bird, who I expect we've photographed before, stayed there for many moments and allowed me the time to take many images with the hopes that just one would come out! Happily, I got a few winners and this is my pick! :) It never fails to amuse me that these gorgeous predators seem to think a finch or junco will just fly over to get some seeds while such a menace is lording over the feeders! Within a minute of its departure, a bold junco alighted upon a feeder and began munching away, giving an understoond all-clear signal when it wasn't gobbled by a predator on the wing! I have 3 pictures in my upload today, I hope you will see them all! :) Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) This image was taken on Friday, December 30, 2011.

This image was taken by my husband, Steve!

[best appreciated at full size against black] Steve and I are incredibly fortunate to live in such a lovely area of southern Oregon. We live about 25 minutes from the nearest town and there are perhaps 50 people in a mile radius from our house. It is very rural, very wild, and very close to nature here, and that means we get visits from many wild animals that stay away from urban areas. This beautiful raptor is one of the several birds of prey in our area and every once in a while, a Cooper's or Sharp-Shinned Hawk will land on one of our bird feeders, our deck, or, as illustrated by my beautiful model, our bird bath! Steve and I are always amused at these silly birds. Do they actually think a bird will just fly into their beak? :D It's always a ghost town around here after the raptor flies away...for about five minutes, that is! Then it's back to little birdies yelling at each other about the best spot for eating, birds getting back to flinging seeds merrily to the doves on the ground below, and happiness returns! And if we're lucky, Steve or I will have gotten a picture like this to share with all of you! :) If you would like to know more about Sharp-Shinned Hawks, you can find a great source of information here: Wiki: Cooper's Hawk . This image was taken in March, 2012.

My alternate is from lunchtime today! Steve was making sandwiches when he saw this beauty land on one of our bird feeders. It stayed long enough for me to grab my camera and take some pictures! I wished I had time to use the 300mm lens and tripod but at least I got this one! :)

This afternoon I came downstairs with Pumpkin (my parrot) and I saw a flash of something out the kitchen window. A tiny Sharp-Shinned Hawk had just landed on one of our plant hooks, hoping for a finch or junco to fly up to one of our bird feeders for a snack. My camera was right there so I grabbed it and started taking pictures while Pumpkin proceeded to crawl from my hand up to my shoulder and down the other arm to my camera...silly bird! After about a minute the hawk flew off and it was then I realized to my horror that I'd left the ISO at 1000 from this morning!! I was taking pictures of the sunrise and needed the higher ISO because I didn't have time to set up a tri-pod...and I didn't set it back. DRAT AND BLOODY H...well you get the drift! When I looked up, the hawk was back again! However, this time it was on a pole about 20 feet further away. I lowered my ISO and got a bunch of pictures, but when I compared all the shots on my computer, the best pair were with the high ISO...go figure! Anyway, I had to deal with a lot of noise and you'll see it in the wings, but I was able to alleviate most of it. This picture is another example of having a separate layer for the bird and another for the background. The background is smooth and noise-free and has only a bit of tint in it with soft vignetting. The bird has only as much noise reduction as I could get away with before I started losing too much detail. I then applied a light detail filter. Charles Robert Darwin, (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Wikipedia: Charles Darwin Explored on Flickr on February 27, 2013. Highest position: #85.

Talk about a funny position!! I managed to get this picture just as the Sharp-Shin spotted something and took off like a bullet! All it needs is a cape!