Raptors

A Sharp-Shinned Hawk heading in one direction, and a Great Blue Heron in the opposite one.

Flight

Only a moment more, and it was time. Off he flew. I was pleased with one of these two images immediately; the other looked like a 'just missed' shot, but in the days since I have come to love it, too. It sure shows the terrific beauty in the intracy of the feathers.
As he flies off, we head to Kline Creek Farm to harvest some ice.

Still Posing

My hawk shot as posted yesterday was unexpected; I never thought he would wait for me. But then he kept watching, posing, so I snapped another. I can't decide whether I like yesterday's or today's better. But in both cases I enjoyed developing the vector images (cartoon styles) that join them.
The hawk flies in the next post.

Across Maple Lake

At Meacham Grove, an asphalt loop runs around Maple Lake beginning quite near to the parking lot. In January, the path is all ice, flattened by many feet but not conducive to running or walking quickly. I had walked up and started to the left, thne noticed a light color smudge in the bare trees across the lake. Through the telephoto, I could tell it was a large bird, probably a hawk, but I was too far away for a decent shot. Waiting, I did see the bird fly a short route to another branch, still across the lake. I waited again, then set out, walking carefully and assuming I would never make it around the lake, perhaps a half-mile trudge. As this image shows, I did make it.
The Red-Tail waited, posed, stared at me. I got at least two close shots I like and I had some fun with generating a vector image from this one. The other shot is set for the next post.