Cooper’s Hawk - Épervier de Cooper
There is something odd about a Hawk in a River.
I have been spending any time I can get outdoors down by the Ottawa River. Open water becomes more important as the winter progresses, and more creatures - the ones still around and active - are drawn there.
I saw this bird well before I took this photograph. That meant I had a brief window in which to strategize how best to get closer. Of course that meant getting as low as possible (belly crawl) and trying to get a decent angle as the sun was setting.
The shore of the Ottawa River is not a straight line. There are nooks and crannies all along the waterline. In this case, the Hawk had sought some shelter in a tiny bay. That enabled me to crawl to a position almost directly opposite the bird.
It was a great look at the bird in the unusual setting. Because it was late in the afternoon I felt little risk of someone’s dog or kids flushing the bird (there are adjacent trails). I rarely get decent opportunities to photograph this species, and watching its extensive bathing regime was pretty cool.
It looks like it is in a small pool or pond. In fact, it is standing in the River that connects the northern Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, the River visited by Samuel Champlain, the River that forms for a long part of its course the border between the provinces of Ontario and Québec.
Cooper’s Hawk - Épervier de Cooper
There is something odd about a Hawk in a River.
I have been spending any time I can get outdoors down by the Ottawa River. Open water becomes more important as the winter progresses, and more creatures - the ones still around and active - are drawn there.
I saw this bird well before I took this photograph. That meant I had a brief window in which to strategize how best to get closer. Of course that meant getting as low as possible (belly crawl) and trying to get a decent angle as the sun was setting.
The shore of the Ottawa River is not a straight line. There are nooks and crannies all along the waterline. In this case, the Hawk had sought some shelter in a tiny bay. That enabled me to crawl to a position almost directly opposite the bird.
It was a great look at the bird in the unusual setting. Because it was late in the afternoon I felt little risk of someone’s dog or kids flushing the bird (there are adjacent trails). I rarely get decent opportunities to photograph this species, and watching its extensive bathing regime was pretty cool.
It looks like it is in a small pool or pond. In fact, it is standing in the River that connects the northern Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, the River visited by Samuel Champlain, the River that forms for a long part of its course the border between the provinces of Ontario and Québec.