WildView™

May 6, 2025

Getting Ahead of the Harrier

- as seen by -

John Delaney

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Capturing a great wildlife shot on camera often depends on good planning, and sometimes a bit of advance notice of what might be headed your way. I found this out while driving back from a hike with my wife and mother-in-law. As we headed home, which is located on a small peninsula in Lubec, Maine, I glanced to my left and saw the distinctive silhouette of one of my favorite birds of prey flying up the coast along with us.

The long tail and white spot on the rump identified the flyer: a northern harrier (Circus hudsonius). These handsome raptors are migratory, and the appearance of one in mid-April meant that the birds had arrived from their winter range (the southern US down to northern South America). They are usually solitary, and they hunt by gliding low to the ground over fields and marshland in search of small birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

Realizing that I could probably get a great photo of the bird from our deck if I could just get ahead of it, I sped up. As we pulled into our driveway, I leapt out of the car and dashed into the house, my wife and mother-in-law looking at me as if I had gone crazy. Undeterred, I grabbed my camera, positioned myself on the deck, and waited. I had tried to photograph harriers before, but I was always just a bit too late, or too slow to get a decent shot. If I was right, and if previous experience with this bird was correct, the harrier would simply hug the coast past our house.

After five minutes, and on the verge of giving up, I was met with a most agreeable sight: a V-shaped bird slowly gliding its way over the houses and rocks toward ours. As it got closer, I could see it was a male, which is gray with black wingtips (the female is brown in color). I started snapping and managed to get good images of the bird that had evaded my lens for years.

Nikon D850 with Nikkor 200-500 lens

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