Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-shouldered hawk perched above Centennial Park in search of a potential fish meal on January 15, 2019. I had just received my new camera several days prior and spent several hours both learning the camera and shooting. I had already gone out both to Lake Artemesia and Wilde Lake with slightly disappointing results shooting in less-than-desirable conditions (no sun on Saturday and shooting into the sun on Monday). Since I had good luck with hawks recently at Centennial and we were to have a little sun, I headed out there mid-morning.

I ran into many birdwatchers and photographers as there were 3 redhead ducks in the lake from the prior day. As I was chatting with a few of them that I knew as we watched the redheads, I mentioned the luck I'd been having with hawks and offered to walk down the path with them to show them a consistent spot. One of the photographers spotted one of the red-shouldered hanging above the shoreline. We walked a short distance off the path through 10" of snow to get better angles. There were 3 of us initially and a 4th photographer I also know joined in. We stood around for about 25 minutes shooting it without it minding our presence before it flew off deep into the woods.

Lens - Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD @ 400mm on Nikon D500