I was driving back home when I spied a Cooper’s Hawk perched on a line. Remember how I mentioned on last Saturday’s post that my camera had the telephoto lens attached? That’s because I try to be prepared for the shots that require speed – and birds are definitely in that category. It’s always dubious to try and park, get out, find the guy you noticed which driving by and finally photograph him but I gave it a go and, much to my surprise, had some luck. He’d moved from the line and was in a tree. Of course, he immediately took off as I swung the camera over to get the focus (birds do this ALL the time) but for once I was able to get him in the viewfinder fast enough and long enough to give me some pics.
The reason for sharing this particular pic is that it really shows off his claws very nicely. Kind of monstrous, aren’t they? When you’re a predator you don’t fool around with dinky claws – you need serious tools for the job. Gives you a good idea of why those song birds often seem on edge. They know if they’re not careful they’ll be seeing those claws from a much closer vantage point than they’d like.
- And that’s today’s word from the bird
it's not the claws that'll kill ya, it's that beak. O_O
looks like it could cut through steel
That bird is VERY well designed for what it does – hunt and destroy.