I’ll be perfectly honest: with perhaps the most important U.S. presidential election I can recall only one day away, my mind is not exactly on my writing at the moment. Thus in lieu of a few pithy paragraphs, I’d like to take the opportunity to share a few of the photos I captured just a few weeks ago on the bottom lands just outside Scappoose, Oregon.
The farm fields and their irrigation ditches of Scappoose Bottoms provide excellent hunting territory for numerous Norther Harriers, Circus cyaneus.
I was out testing a new Canon EF 100-400 L IS lens while walking along the old yarding road that bisects two of the largest fields. This road provides an excellent vantage point for viewing the variety of sparrows, jays, raptors, and other lowland open field birds common to norhtwest Oregon.
While my technique needs improvement, I was quite pleased with the lens’ capacity to allow me to take these off-hand (stabilizer on) shots at 400mm extension of a female harrier in flight and hunting at roughtly 75 meters distance from me.
Peace and good bird watching.
