Sometimes you get an assignment that doesn’t go the way you think it should go. On Wednesday Dec. 15 I had one of those.
I was sent to photograph a red tailed hawk that had been shot in the leg, rescued by a good samaritan, rehabilitated and set free. My assignment was to photograph the release of the hawk. I wanted to get an image of the raptor flying out of the box, wings fully extended. Everything was good…but apparently the bird didn’t get my memo that it was to fly right over me.
I don’t want to make any bird folks mad here; I must confess that a red tailed hawk looks a lot like a chicken from the backside.
A former boss of mine used to say.”Guess what, chicken butt.”
I think that aptly applies here.
This bird was a little shy of the camera....(Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2010
By the way, the hawk flew up and out and landed on a fence post 200 yards away. I’m pretty certain the bird was happy to be out and about again.
-Kent Porter
