Notes To My Mother

I love taking images of birds.  If I have a choice I would much rather capture a bird in flight, just taking off or just landing rather than sitting on a perch. I find these images more interesting than a still image.  Small birds are the hardest to catch in flight because they fly so fast and often with irregular flight patterns and because they are so small you have to be fairly close, all of which adds to the difficulty in getting decent images. Raptors are a different story since they are normally larger, have smoother flight patterns, and are often quite elegant even when sitting still.  Where I have a problem is in identifying which raptor is which.  So if I get the name wrong please correct me.  The first two images above are, I believe, of a Red Tail Hawk just coming off its perch. This is a Northern Harrier.  He seemed to have a nest near by and worked this same field every evening, flying characteristically low, hovering, and descending to the the...