Many of my fellow photographers will know I have tracked down and photographed Goshawk in Europe which was relatively easy as they are confiding birds in some outskirts of towns. My real wish however was to photograph Goshawk in Scotland, not an easy task.
Easy enough if ringing the young or trapping to get close pics, but no satisfaction.
At last my wish came true, following a year of dreaming and lots of hard work, long journeys to the Scottish Borders region, lots of walking through marshland and dense woodland and early mornings.
Sometimes spending up to 10 hours in a freezing hide 0600 till sunset twice a week with nothing to show during the long winter months, I just had to time things right, and with luck on my side I knew I would succeed if the weather turned colder. The cold had a downside though, as I couldn't move apart from wriggling my toes to keep warm, and no drinks or food either !
Doubts crept in... was the self-made hide good enough? A Goshawk is one of the most difficult raptors to see never mind get close to, and one little chink in the armour would mean failure.
Silent shutter single shot at 16 metres @ 600mm on a full frame Canon 1DX was my choice, but some wind in the tree canopy above might be needed to mask the shutter noise.
Plenty cammo netting around the hide and camera would mean the difference between success and failure.
And so she came in, at 14:00 hours after an eight hour spell in the hide I saw the yellow legs appear in the viewfinder... she stayed for 90 minutes devouring a pheasant provided for her (no lead or contamination)
She was slightly wary, but soon settled down with her backside facing me for 20 minutes! Ive got lots of shots of her saying "does my bum look big in this " :-)
It was a bit of an anti-climax when I left the hide at 17:00 hours with 510 images...what next?
Special thanks to Mike Warburton for his encouragement and to Mark Molloy for telling me to get out of bed and get the shots ! You’re next Mark :-)
Oh, and Chris Packham, this is THE top bird , Sparrowhawks don’t even come close :-)
Canon 1DX , 300mm Mk2 f2.8 +2x TC Mk111 , tripod , Manual settings varying between 1/80 - 1/320 , f6.3 - f 7.1 , iso on auto.. 1250- 4000 . Pop up hide inside man made hide 510 single shots on silent shutter , which isn't very silent !
Tags: ngc wild goshawk bird scotland chas moonie raptor accipiter gentilis
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