AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR (2018) < Previous | Next >
Let me start off by saying: wildlife photography and I haven't had a very successful partnership, which can be aptly proven through the sheer number of blurry, out of focus images I have accumulated on my hard drives over the years. Some of those might be attributed to the equipment but most are largely because I bumble about on such expeditions with the stealth of a hippo, startling everything within earshot. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to assimilate these images into some form of masterful abstract art.
Every now and then, however, my luck changes. On this day, as I was leaving to pick up my wife (then partner) from the airport after a long 2 week overseas work trip, I looked outside as I was locking the back door and saw this beautiful broad winged hawk perched right on my property's fence line. The next few minutes were a panic stricken blur as I raced around the house trying to find the camera and the unwieldy telephoto lens whilst simultaneously hissing at the dog to shut up his barking (who was riled up from my hustling about) and doing mental arithmetic on how much time I had to spare before I'd be late to the airport.
To my immense surprise, the hawk continued to stay perched on the fence even as I slowly inched closer to it. It looked at me with curiosity a few times but otherwise was totally dismissive of my presence there. He was rightfully more concerned about the mouse activity in the leaf litter that surrounded us. After a good 20 minutes or so, the hawk finally flew off, but by then, I had captured the best moments of this unexpected, yet welcome visit.
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