Ready to Strike, a photo from New Caledonia, Other

Photographer's Note

The White-bellied Goshawk (Accipiter haplochrous) is a species of bird of prey in the Accipitridae family. It is endemic to New Caledonia. The species is also known as the New Caledonia Goshawk or New Caledonia Sparrowhawk.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, dry savanna, and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.

The story behind the picture: We (my wife and I) have a "birdtree" in our garden, there are many different small birds visting it for feeding. For five days three Goshawks have been around our garden to chase the birds. This shot is taken about 5 meters from the hawk trying to hit the tree. I was very lucky cos I only have a 18-105 zoomlens!

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daddo (28748) 2013-03-21 18:32

Hi Hans. This is an incredible shot, especially since the bird doesn't seem to have jesses on its feet, so I presume it is wild. Yet I don't know how you manged to photograph it since if the goshawk in N.C. is as shy as the goshawk in Australia, it must have been far from you. Whatever the situation was, it is a great action shot of a raptor. best wishes. Klaudio.

ACL1978 (7511) 2013-03-21 18:42

Really outstanding nature capture, Hans - the motion is perfectly shown, but it is clear and sharp right where it needs to be: the head and talons. Technically outstanding shot. Would have loved to see your EXIF data and settings for this one. Thanks for posting it!

Andrew

Antipodean (666) 2013-03-21 21:05

Kia ora Hans,

Great shot of this amazing bird. The blurr of the wings gives a sense of motion while the sharpness of the eye & beak shows the intesity of the bird's strike. Well done. Cheers, Neil

energypolice (190) 2013-03-21 23:13

Hello Hans,
Outstanding photograph of White-bellied Goshawk, outstanding sharpness, excellent composition, outstanding background and lighting.
Tfs,
Daystar-7

CLODO (45116) 2013-03-22 1:38

hi Hans

Superb bird flying action, well spotted, sharp on the eye! Data is missing to appreciate your skills.
Cheers
CLODO