www.texastargetbirds.com

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Accipiter striatus

Debated between Cooper's hawk and Sharp-shinned hawk. Had settled on Cooper's hawk but was happy to be corrected as it is a lifer for me. It was perched on a branch overlooking a large bird feeder and was not at all bothered by my presence.

April 9th_2019

Forgive me when I post too many photos of the grouse!

On April 9th 3 friends and I drove south of the city to a Sharp-tailed Grouse lek. I hadn't thought about the degree of difficulty that might challenge me in climbing over the stile with a knee replacement. I really struggled so I do not think I will be returning to see the grouse in future years.

Thanks for your visits, comments and faves! They are all appreciated!

Peering over the edge of a glass sculpture

#Sharp

Theme du #macroMondays

Branche de sapin 4cm.

This peculiar, forty-five degree angle of a pasture corner casts a different shadow. The boulders inside the fence are evidence of hydraulic mining for gold in Tuolumne County, California.

Calidris acuminata, with Least Sandpiper in foreground.

Morro Bay salt marsh as a 6.2 ft. tide was receding,

Seen from marina boardwalk,

Morro Bay, California

The bird had been found the previous day at about high tide by Kilian Hampl and identified by Will Knowlton. This species breeds in northeast Asia and after a long migration, winters in southeast Asia and Australasia. A few birds migrate down the other side of the Pacific Ocean and it is considered a rare autumn migrant in North America.

www.texastargetbirds.com

Yesterday I had an opportunity to spend the morning out at Smith Point for the hawk watch and it ended up being a great experience with plenty of raptors seen and photographed. This young Sharp-shinned Hawk flew right over us at close range and definitely checked us out.

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Accipiter striatus

Sharp pocket computers, PC1350 and PC1360. These were the only two PC13XX models released by Sharp in 1984 and 1987. Both had 4 lines of 24 characters and were very capable in their day for BASIC programming, graphing, etc.

The key differences between the two were increased memory, an additional RAM port, as well as improved BASIC and faster CPU in the PC1360.

This view captures the essence of a walk through York’s historic center. On the left, you can see the imposing columns of the Yorkshire Museum entrance, while the red-brick building on the right is the Visit York Information Centre, a staple for any traveler.

The true star, however, is the York Minster rising in the distance. The contrast between the soft green of the trees and the sharp, intricate stonework of the cathedral's Gothic towers creates a classic "York" atmosphere, especially under those heavy, dramatic clouds.

Mr R Keet was wondering if he looked sharp or not. He is quite fussy about his looks in photos.

At home

Taken @ 30mm with a cheap 2x TC and the canon 1.4x to make 840mm LOL

Another small flock of sandpipers flew in.

Have a mouth as sharp as a dagger,

but a heart as soft as tofu.

(Chinese Proverb)

Weekly Theme Challenge - Something Fluffy

Looking close... on Friday! - Combination of Soft & Sharp

(photo by Freya, edit by me)

Thanks for views, faves and comments!

This looks like a sharp-shinned to me. Cannot say who it's victim was.

A group of 6 sharp-tails showed up in the yard today and feasted on sunflower seeds under the feeder.

Shot as a JPEG, as the camera was still in factory default settings!

shot with a fujifilm x-s10 and a 7artisans 35mm f1.2 mark i lens

Decided to scout along the River Severn on the south eastern side.

Not knowing this part,as i always headed down the otherside,i came across this place of Sharpness.

It has a dock, this wooden structure being the entrance to it via a tidal basin.

The actual docks had an entrance with notices of no entry to the public,but i was able to get to this part as it had a picnic area.

Le using Lee Big Stopper ( 10 ND )

Hepatica acutiloba

Thank you to everyone who visits, faves, and comments.

Cooper's Hawk

Accipiter cooperii

A visitor to my back yard early this past fall. I think it sees me, I am lucky to have not spooked it.

So, Sharpie or Coop? The top blocks of the retaining wall it landed on are about three inches thick, putting the bird at roughly 12-14 inches head to tail. The tail appears to be rather squared off, plus the streaking looks more like Sharp-shinned rather than Cooper's. All things considered I'm calling it a Sharpie. What do you think?

CORRECTION: A couple sharp-eyed Flickr friends provided evidence that this hawk is a Cooper's, not a Sharp-shinned. See the comments below. I stand corrected.

View large

Grand Traverse County, Michigan

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after the rain......

Photographed at my home in Yakima County, Washington. This bird was here at my house at least 3 times yesterday, probably more. IMG_4513

Hooded Merganser, upright. I enjoyed my morning last week watching their behavior and interaction. A little slower shutter allowed just a bit of wing blur and still kept the head sharp.

Southern NJ Fall 2017

On this day I had been invited to visit my friend Barb who lives in the Millarville area. She has many feeders and quite a bit of garden as well as a greenhouse. There was lots to see! The evening before had been quite chilly providing lots of dew on the flowers.

This Sharp-shinned Hawk was chasing after the Blue Jays. There was constant commotion as the Jays chased it around and around.

Thanks for your visits, and comments! They are all appreciated!

Sharpness

Sharp Shinned Hawk had an unsuccessful hunt in the yard. Maybe next time.

Coyote teeth, very sharp also. Taxidermy.

Sharp-tailed Grouse are frequent visitors to my bird feeder. They nibble on the sunflower seeds that fall on the ground under a big evergreen tree. Unfortunately there is a very domineering little red squirrel who seems to think that he is the czar of the bird feeder and he comes flying out of nowhere to chase them away.

(taken from a window)

Manitoba - Canada

for the Macro Mondays challenge “Sweet Spot Squared” (September 19th 2016)

I like a little sharp and tangy taste with my sugar, so I chose raspberries ;o)

Finding and shooting the sweet spot!

I've got 3 macro 1:1 lenses now - but when I started out there was only one to fit my new Sony NEX-6, and it was Sony's eMount 30mm/3.5. That was March 2013, and I learned macro work through that lens for the next 2 years. So that was the lens I chose for this challenge.

I shoot macro in Manual, and have never explored the 'sweet spot' before - so I followed Janet's directions and used Aperture mode and shot all 17 F stop settings the lens has on two 2cm raspberries. I scattered sugar granules of various sizes both in front and behind the raspberries, to give me an idea of just how the overall image sharpness changes with the F/stop change.

Comparing the shots I used Janet's direction again: "You will be looking for the shot that has the sharpest details with as little blurring as possible". I thought it would be simple - F22 is the inevitable choice to offer minimal blurring, while keeping the subject in focus.

But I found a puzzling oddity. From F16 through to F22 the sharpness of the background elements increased, but the sharpness of the 'in focus' elements fell off. I repeated the experiment with a strawberry (a much larger subject) and the same result emerged - past F16 the 'in focus' elements of the shot suffered!

I went online to see if I could find an explanation. And the trusty B&H website came through with an article:

www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/content/rules-thumb-finding-...

I needed to compromise and take 2 or 3 stops back from F22 to find the best balance. There was little to choose between F16 and F18. This shot uses F16. And yes - I did then crop the original shot I used, to highlight the main raspberry, and leaving out most of the background sugar 'scatter'.

I hope it hits the sweet spot with you too :o)

Following on from the discussion Where do you draw the line? I've taken an old credit card as my guide, which is 3"x2" and added measures in cm too. I do SO hope that this will become the standard for Macro Mondays! My 2 raspberries are set on this 'new' format for my regular establishing shot in the first comment field

My 2016 Macro Mondays set: 2016 Macro Mondays

My Food and drink set: Food and Drink

Sharp ravine look...!!"

*created with Photoshop

On EXPLORE June 17, 2025 www.flickr.com/explore/2025/06/17/

Werribee

Victoria, Australia

Meadow Pipit - Anthus Pratensis

Barcaldine Castle - Argyll

Thanks as always to all those kind enough to stop by to view, fave and comment on my photos. It is as always most appreciated and welcome.

DSC_9987

Shooting around Mobile Bay.

Jan Palach Memorial in Prague, Czechia

More information about the monument here.

Pretty sure this is a sharp-shinned hawk Accipiter striatus, just guessing. Another possibility might be a Merlin, though this bird's head is not quite shaped right, nor does it have any 'eyebrow' mark, as a merlin might (but not always) have.

I just don't see either of them often enough to know.

This little (crow size) raptor has been hanging around my little pond for several days, swooping rapidly from under cover likely grabbing little songbirds.

We first noticed the flickers completely disappeared from our backyard, including the mating pair, as well as an unusual disapperance and silence for long stretches of time, from other songbirds.

Perhaps the result of this bird taking the opportunity to ambush feed on the numerous little songbirds that have arrived.

Eckschwanzsperber - Accipiter striatus - Épervier brun

Canon 1000D, ND3.0 + CPL, Tokina 12-24

Pakowki Lake, Alberta.