The big winter storm rolled in last night, though for our region (mid NC and towards the coast) it wasn’t very impressive. A dusting of snow where we used to live (and where The Girlfriend’s Sprog presently lives,) while out our way, it was merely sleet which has changed to rain – not even photogenic enough to make for decent pics, either way. But the red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) that has been missing for a few days showed back up this morning on the spinner.
The location of the spinner, about a meter-and-a-half off the ground, is too prominent in the yard; I have to shoot through the dining room window because her perch is in plain sight of the front door, and I can’t slip out without her noticing and flying off. But at least you can see a hint of the ice on the spinner, and the hunched and fluffed pose indicating that it’s right around freezing out there. What she was hoping to find – what she’s ever been hoping to find once the temperature dips below 10°c – we’re never quite sure, but we suspect it might be the moles in the yard. She’s certainly dropped to the ground and pawed around gently several times, making us think she’s been seeing the movement of the ground or leaves, but the moles remain stubbornly under the surface. Still, she keeps returning.
She will peer around as if bored, and I know she can see me through the window so I keep my movements to a minimum, generally when she’s turned away, but occasionally her attention will be drawn by something and she’ll peer intently at the ground for a few moments. Makes me want to throw some food out for her, but their diet of reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals would necessitate a trip to the pet store, which isn’t going to happen.
As usual, I had left the white-balance on ‘Full Sunlight,’ which also means ‘As Is,’ no alteration or compensation, but I tweaked one of the frames in post to bring it more to what it appears to us (we tend to have our own internal white-balance):
Overcast skies let mostly blue light through, with a significant reduction in the others, so this required a decrease in Blue (which in RGB color space means in increase in Yellow,) and an increase in Red – still not warm-looking, especially with the low-contrast light, but not quite as frigid.
And yes, I think her weight is gradually leaning the pole over – she really does like the perch we so thoughtfully provided for her.