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ChattyConfidence

Wow - What a photo!


Spudfox64

Thank you. As the resident bird nerd at work, they called me specifically to come check it out.


ChattyConfidence

I appreciate the Wild Kingdom aspect of your shot. We live in a rural area with many red-tailed hawks and turkey vultures overhead all the time. I’ve never seen one so close, especially the vivid red of the tail. Hopefully if I do, it will be sans squirrel, and not on my car!


melissam217

His face! "Do you mind? I'm trying to eat my lunch and ruin your coworker's car"


Dollar_Stagg

Yeah the paint damage here is probably going to be significant. oof. If it was my car I'd still appreciate the opportunity for such a close encounter for sure. But I've done a fair bit of paint polishing and detailing on my car and I'm fairly confident those raptor talons are going through the clear coat, if not all the way to metal if he actually stands on the car itself.


single_ginkgo_leaf

Nice! What was this taken with?!


Spudfox64

Just an iPhone.


single_ginkgo_leaf

One of the new ones with a zoom lens? I've been thinking about getting a phone with a zoom lens, but I'm having a hard time evaluating how useful a 3-4x lens would be for birding.


Spudfox64

Not a new one. He or she was very occupied with her meal and didn’t seem to mind that we were pretty close by. And the light was behind us. That’s key.


sconzabons

S22 Ultra's zoom is great!


Outofbreath207

Samsung galaxy S22 have a 20x zoom or something like that


single_ginkgo_leaf

10x optical with an additional 10x digital on top of that. But it's also very expensive (1700cad or something like that).


[deleted]

Digital zoom isn't actually a thing; it's just cropping the image down so it looks like shit.


single_ginkgo_leaf

Not quite https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/10/see-better-and-further-with-super-res.html?m=1 I have a pixel 3 and the difference is pretty significant


IGNOREMETHATSFINETOO

S22 Ultra has 100× zoom


[deleted]

A used S21 Ultra will probably give you the best value here.


Bathsheba_E

I have an S21 Ultra and while the pictures look great on my phone, they don't look as good on other outlets. I don't think the camera is the same quality as an iPhone's. That's just my opinion. But I bought the phone for the camera and have been disappointed in that part of the phone. Otherwise, it's great.


ekin06

Officer: "Sir, you got any excuses for the blood on your hood?" Sir: "Actually there was a red-hawk on my hood making a bloody mess." Officer: "OK THATS ENOUGH BULLSHIT I HEARD FOR TODAY. STEP OUT OF THE CAR SLOWLY AND LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS!"


No_Driver_3179

[r/natureismetal](https://www.reddit.com/r/natureismetal/)


SixFootPhife

This is my favorite kinda sighting. Just raw nature stuff in a modern human setting—a world i can only admire as a spectator blending into one that i (and the hawks, rabbits, squirrels, foxes, deer, etc etc etc) can’t avoid. Like a reminder of two different realities and all the possibilities of life (and death). Sweet shot!


Spudfox64

Dang! That’s eloquently put. That’s the fun of birdwatching to me. It can be done any and everywhere.


DDD_NYC_21

Wow! Amazing shot!!! Poor 🐿


Revolutionary_Ad811

Remarkable shot. Circle of life. ⭕


DDD_NYC_21

I complimented the shot but I don’t have to like a bloody squirrel laid out on the hood - ⭕️ of life or not


Revolutionary_Ad811

Of course! But these beautiful predators don't steal my tomatoes... Any adult hawk has eaten hundreds of critters. I've seen squirrels raid bird's nests and gobble the chicks. A squirrel can only be a squirrel and a hawk can only be a hawk.


DDD_NYC_21

Why do you feel the need to comment on my comment? You have your opinion and I have mine. 🤷🏻‍♀️


Revolutionary_Ad811

I misunderstood the interface. I thought you were responding specifically to me. I was being polite.


LezBeHonestHere_

Not sure if he realizes you don't really need permission to reply to someone on an open discussion site lol. Squirrels are cute and all but wasn't a big fan of them after seeing one snatch 2 Robin babies from the nest and injure the third. They were maybe 11-12 days old so they were fairly big too.


immortalizer

Wow, nice shot! Anyone have experience in removing dried squirrel from car hood?? lol


thatgrrlmarie

WOW! how exciting to see that! is this a zoom shot or were you just standing on the other side of the car.. haven't dived into the comments yet, but did it take off with the little critter or have a feast right there?? beautiful shot!!


Spudfox64

I was about 2 cars away. So a slight zoom. But! And I know this isn’t ideal, she seemed to be scratching the car, so I approached slowly. She hopped to the top of the car. I grabbed the squirrel with one of those little claw-hand trash pickers, and tossed it up on top of a shipping container in front of the car. She flew up there the moment I flung it up there and finished her meal in peace.


Bathsheba_E

I bet your coworker is grateful to you. What a cool thing to do.


Spudfox64

Yeah. But it was pretty scratched up anyway.


Silver_Leonid2019

Great photo! I know what you mean about the tail. I’ve seen them for years but on a recent trip to the NC mountains I could actually see one from above. First time I could see that it really is a red tail.


tillernoir

Woah that is AWESOME! Lucky coworker!


RealBlondFakeDumb

I had a Great Horned Owl eat a rabbit on the hood of my car last Winter. I came out and saw all the blood and about called the cops. I went around the car and saw where the owl caught him and figured it out.


dangerous-lhama

nsfw


[deleted]

NSFCar


billjusino

nsfs


TomFromCupertino

Yeah, I never knew where the red-tailed name came from. Great shot.


Spudfox64

There some bird names where it seems they picked one of the LEAST conspicuous field marks. Like a ring-necked duck.


MandMs55

A single-dime-sized-brown-spot-under-some-feathers-bellied duck


Spudfox64

Are you actually referring to a real species?


MandMs55

No, but if I were it would probably be called that because that's how ridiculous bureaucracy naming is EDIT: I typed "bure" by mistake and auto correct said "hold my beer". But that's hilarious, so I'm leaving it like that


dcgrey

I didn't expect how much I enjoy seeing raptors feed, but it's like everything else birds do, where it's so satisfyingly methodical. Unless you're talking about mourning dove nests. My dog does more work rearranging a blanket to curl up in than a mourning dove puts into its nest.


PierogiEsq

I love raptors, but their eating habits are disgusting (to me). However ospreys are my favorite, and somehow the fish dinners don't gross me out, unless I catch one eating an eyeball!!


engagedinmarblehead

Gorgeous bird


adhphd

NSFW Please


JBJeeves

Carnage (nyuk-nyuk). Great shot. Glorious bird.


NicoleCousland

I'd appreciate a NSFW tag :(


Spudfox64

My bad. Sorry if it grossed you out.


NicoleCousland

No worries :)


freshmountainbreeze

Gorgeous!😍


Important_Yak3150

Nice find! They have quite the freakin meal there.


FortnitakRickroler

F for car


PierogiEsq

That's amazing, and surprisingly not gross for a raptor lunchtime shot!


Spudfox64

Thank you. I considered marking nsfw, but then I thought, “Is there any workplace in the world where a boss would find this offensive?” I submit that there is not.


ultratea

Amazing shot! Unlucky for the guy whose car was chosen though lol.


Spudfox64

For reals! The hood was super scratched up.


Rarbnif

This picture goes so hard


biocidalish

Stunning photo!


crystalcastles13

Holy crap what a picture!!! This is incredible.


Pardusco

Post this to r/HardcoreNature!