Sometimes it all just comes together, luck is with you, the stars align, and the universe is in a giving mood. I drove up to Lackawanna State Park in mid-February, on a sunny, mild afternoon, intending to walk the old south shore road and see if I could turn up some of the regulra winter birds. My expectations were measured: chickadees, sparrows, juncos, titmice, maybe even another flock of waxwings.
Not even out of the parking lot, and I watched this red-tailed hawk swoop in and alight in a tree only a meter or two above my head, and already at nearly perfect range for my lens. The whole thing almost felt staged, and I had a moment of open-mouthed disbelief before I got down to the work of taking photos, least he decide to leave again.
If you look closely, there is blood in the feathers around the hawk’s beak, a messy reminder of his last meal. It seems likely that he may have just finished eating, and landed here to rest for a moment, with a full belly.
I captured a lot of frames. Certainly more than I needed, considering that he only moved his head a few times over several minutes. But you take advantage of these lucky moments when they come, and revel in them. The more you put yourself out there, the more chances there are for a close, meaningful encounter with a wild creature. But even then, looking back across the my years of photography, it averages out to one, or maybe two, such encounters a year.
If you’re lucky.