Jake's <2020 - a look backwards

BackdoorArts

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First off, yes, I changed my forum name since Backdoor Arts is how I (almost) do business and the old name doesn't really mean much 7 years down the road. RIP the Backdoorhippie.

OK, so what is this? It's a combination of a commitment to myself to actually finish processing photos that have sat for months/years to be given their (in)justice. In recent years I've tended to shoot in bursts where I'll have a couple dozen great shots taken in a day but I'll only finish the top 3 or 4 and the rest sit flagged in my Lightroom catalog. So I'm hoping to get to one to three a day over the winter months as I stay inside in the warmth, working back through 2019 and then hopefully beyond.

I've also settled into a new, more straight forward post-processing routine, at least for wildlife, that should make things quicker. And the latest Topaz Denoise AI has made it possible for me to actually clean up some of the high ISO wildlife stuff. I'm hoping to actually blog some of these where the post processing is particularly interesting, at which times I will at least post a link to it, if not only do that. :)

And in a way it's a subtle acquiescence to @hark who has asked me to post more of my stuff.

So here goes. Here's one from Florida last April, a Red Shouldered Hawk. I have at least a half dozen more of this bird from the 5-10 minutes it was around that are worth working on, not to mention I've already published 3 or 4 last year.

Let's see how long this lasts.

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hark

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Nice to see you posting images here, Jake. Thank you so much! I learned the most about post processing when you were active and will be highly interested in reading your blog entries about Topaz. :)

If you do wind up editing more images of this red-shouldered hawk, I'd really like to see a good view of its face (if you have one). It looks so much different from a Cooper's Hawk and a Red-Tailed Hawk (both of which seem to be darker and more speckled thru their chests). But only if and when you might have an image. ;)
 

BackdoorArts

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If you do wind up editing more images of this red-shouldered hawk, I'd really like to see a good view of its face (if you have one). It looks so much different from a Cooper's Hawk and a Red-Tailed Hawk (both of which seem to be darker and more speckled thru their chests). But only if and when you might have an image. ;)

Here are 3 more that should give you a good look at it from a few sides...

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We live right about at the top of the Red-shouldered Hawk's year-round habitat, though with temps warming those lines are shifting, but you can definitely find them throughout the lands east of the Mississippi during the summer. It's appearance is a combination of other similar hawks, with the chest of a Coopers/Sharp-shinned, the wings of a Red-tailed, and a tail that's Coopers-esque in its shape and striping but more like a juvenile Red-tailed. The head is what gives it away as it's rather plain and pale in comparison to the others. I don't often see them near me as it's more Red-tailed country, but we had one either in the tree or flying over at one point this year (if I actually had tags in my catalog done properly I could find it - another thing I'm trying to fix over the winter).
 

hark

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Here are 3 more that should give you a good look at it from a few sides...

We live right about at the top of the Red-shouldered Hawk's year-round habitat, though with temps warming those lines are shifting, but you can definitely find them throughout the lands east of the Mississippi during the summer. It's appearance is a combination of other similar hawks, with the chest of a Coopers/Sharp-shinned, the wings of a Red-tailed, and a tail that's Coopers-esque in its shape and striping but more like a juvenile Red-tailed. The head is what gives it away as it's rather plain and pale in comparison to the others. I don't often see them near me as it's more Red-tailed country, but we had one either in the tree or flying over at one point this year (if I actually had tags in my catalog done properly I could find it - another thing I'm trying to fix over the winter).

Thank you so much, Jake. The descriptive info is very helpful in learning differences between them. Seeing its head and hearing that it is plainer is what I wanted to learn. I don't think I've seen any Red-Shouldered Hawks yet. Great images! :)
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
As the kids say, or said at some point before I got old, "It's been a hella busy day". So I haven't had time to dig deep today. But I did happen upon an image that plays into the whole hawk identification thing that @hark started. This is an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk (on the newel post of a neighbor's deck doing a bit of dancing). Not a great shot, but it shows some very characteristic signs of a "Sharpie" when trying to differentiate from a Coopers Hawk. First thing is the straight-edged tail when it goes in flight (yes, it's not flying, but in anticipation they fan). Second is the less-shrouded head (the dark areas on the Coopers will descend a bit more). But for backyard birders once of the toughest things to figure is which is which when they're sitting on a branch and the squirrels are chipping at them.

Catching them flying is surely the easiest way to figure out what is what, but...

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BackdoorArts

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I should add, look at the wider tail feathers. A Coopers Hawk will have more of them, slimmer, and with another stripe or two, though that's hard to see in most poses.
 

hark

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...Second is the less-shrouded head (the dark areas on the Coopers will descend a bit more).

Ahh...also very good info, Jake! I see what you mean with that. I posted a photo in the Can you help ID this bird please? thread. Kevin H confirmed it was a Sharpie. And the bird in my post seems very similar with the head as the one in yours. So this will be helpful in spotting differences. Thanks! :encouragement:

https://nikonites.com/wild-life/27639-can-you-help-id-bird-please-27.html#post716537
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Ahh...also very good info, Jake! I see what you mean with that. I posted a photo in the Can you help ID this bird please? thread. Kevin H confirmed it was a Sharpie. And the bird in my post seems very similar with the head as the one in yours. So this will be helpful in spotting differences. Thanks! :encouragement:

https://nikonites.com/wild-life/27639-can-you-help-id-bird-please-27.html#post716537

Actually I'm 100% sure that the shot linked is a Cooper's Hawk. The coloring of the heads is soooo similar, but when you can catch them in flight there are tell tale signs that make it much easier. Here's a good link to telling them apart. Coopers Hawk vs. Sharp-Shinned Hawk Identification
 

hark

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Actually I'm 100% sure that the shot linked is a Cooper's Hawk. The coloring of the heads is soooo similar, but when you can catch them in flight there are tell tale signs that make it much easier. Here's a good link to telling them apart. Coopers Hawk vs. Sharp-Shinned Hawk Identification

Thanks for the link, Jake. It took me a while to read thru the differences, but the info is very de-tailed (haha - joke). :beguiled: When I have time, I want to peruse the site further. :encouragement:
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Been a while. Here's a pair of Burrowing Owls from Cape Coral, FL that I shot in 2016. Didn't have the D500 yet so it was shot with the D750 so I lost some of the focal length of the 150-600mm here. I believe I tried processing it back then and wasn't happy with the results, but a friend reminded me of it yesterday (she was shooting them for the first time) so I dug it up and sure enough I was able to get something decent, even from a severe crop.

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