How d'ya do!

[Birdsong]

This guy came to visit yesterday afternoon. Reasonably polite, don't you think? He sat on a low branch right off the deck. The first photo has pretty messed up eyes, but I couldn't resist the pose. Halo-y line to right of his head is in original photo, but I did do a fair bit of cropping/tightening/repair unfortunately. I suppose because he was just getting ready to scratch his head. Second photo is not processed, but shot through the window at 140mm. The fuzz at the top is the eave--just to show you how close he sat. Then I ran upstairs and took some shots through an open window. It put me a little farther away, but I thought it would be fun to be at eye level instead of shooting up at him. Very patient subject.

[Steve Foss]

Now that's a great encounter, Christmas or not! You took full advantage of the moment, Birdsong. Congrats on the images.

[MN Shutterbug]

Sweeeeeet. It looks like he's waving to you in the first shot.

[mmeyer]

Great shot Birdsong. What's the ID on that guy?

[Dbl]

Nicely done, great capture!

[MN Shutterbug]

I believe that's her neighborhood "friend", the Sharp-shinned Hawk. When he comes around, everything else disappears, for good reason.

[Jim Almquist]

I really like the way his leg is sticking up in the first shot. All great captures.

[JayinMN]

Nice shots, he sure looks like a well fed hawk.

[Birdsong]

As Mike said, it is my neighborhood friend the sharp-shinned. He comes to the feeding station for lunch, only he lunches on the other guests. That isn't quite so polite. He does look like he is waving to me. "Hey. lady, you can take the picture now." I thought it looked like he wanted to shake hands. I like the imprint of that talon on his breast feathers where he was keeping it warm.

Thanks for your comments!

[jonny_redhorse]

Wonderful images Birdsong!.....that first image is sweet!....not your conventional bird pose!.....beautiful birds those sharp shinned!!

[finnbay]

Some great shots - nice series!